Editor’s Letter: Mexico in Translation

You are holding in your hands the first issue of ReVista, formerly known as DRCLAS NEWS.

Over the last couple of years, DRCLAS NEWS has examined different Latin American themes in depth. Topics have included art, women, immigration, Latin@s, food, health, Cuba, social policy, the Internet, environment, education, and economy. And increasingly, readers had been asking, “How can you call something with such substance a newsletter? And how do you pronounce that name anyway?”

After endless contests, constant consultations, and lots of soul-searching, we came up with the name ReVista. Our talented designer Kelly McMurray invented the slightly different look to reflect ReVista’s in-depth and highly visual content.

ReVista is a pun in Spanish, meaning booth Seen Again or magazine. In English, we hope it conveys the sense of a multiplicity of panoramas, a plethora of perspectives. Here, in this issue on Mexico, you’ll find those different viewpoints from the fields of history, government, political science, international development, economics, anthropology, sociology, education, religion, biology, zoology, and health. The authors are professors, visiting scholars, doctoral students, undergraduates, governmental and non-governmental officials, and journalists.

With ReVista, we hope to create a magazine-style Latin American review that will create dialogue and understanding among its readers. We also hope that ReVista, as the thematic publication of the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, will help build community, linking those who are interested in Latin American issues at Harvard and beyond.