{"691729":{"#nid":"691729","#data":{"type":"news","title":"\u2018An Extraordinary Capacity to Build Bridges\u2019 \u2014 Remembering Juan Carlos Rodriguez","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETo truly understand Juan Carlos Rodr\u00edguez was to watch him walk into a room of musicians in his beloved Puerto Rico. The bond, the mutual respect, and the shared understanding were palpable, said Miguel Rosas Buendia, Rodriguez\u2019 colleague in the School of Modern Languages.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cBecause Caribbean music was such a central part of Juan Carlos\u2019 life, his social world, and his teaching, he possessed a singular gift: the ability to transform sounds into the syllables of a shared language of humanity,\u201d Buendia said. \u201cEvery encounter revealed the affection and respect that local communities had for him, as well as his own remarkable ability to communicate that sense of connection to his students.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERodriguez recently passed away, leaving a legacy of scholarship and human connection that his colleagues say will live on in the work he did.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Just as his scholarship linked diverse struggles in Puerto Rico and across Latin America to broader global concerns, the social spaces in which his interests flourished also brought people together in deeply meaningful ways,\u0022 Buendia said. \u0022Juan Carlos had an extraordinary capacity to build bridges, creating communities of friendship, learning, and mutual understanding wherever he went.\u0022\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERodriguez joined Georgia Tech in 2008 following teaching stints at Rice University and the University of Puerto Rico, R\u00edo Piedras. He earned his Ph.D. in Literature and a certificate in Latin American Studies from Duke University. While at Duke, he wrote a dissertation using the films of documentarian Patricio Guzm\u00e1n to explore how Chile navigated its transition to democracy after the fall of the Pinochet regime.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith later research on Caribbean culture, documentary media, and digital archives, Rodriguez continued to follow his interest in understanding how audiovisual media captures collective memory, and historical trauma.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThrough his work, Rodriguez consistently illuminated the human, environmental, and political struggles of marginalized Latin American communities, connecting local history to global concerns of human rights and justice.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0027Positive Energy and Enthusiasm\u0027\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA prime example of this was his 2024 documentary, \u003Cem\u003EVieques: Archivo Vivo\u003C\/em\u003E (\u003Cem\u003EVieques: A Living Archive\u003C\/em\u003E). The film examines the human, environmental, and health consequences of the U.S. Navy\u2019s decades-long use of the Puerto Rican island of Vieques as a bombing range.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI had heard about the U.S. military occupation of the island, but I didn\u0027t fully understand the human and environmental toll until I saw his film,\u201d said Rodriguez\u2019 Modern Languages colleague Malaika Serrano. \u201cIt\u0027s beautifully made, but what has stayed with me is the way Juan Carlos centered voices that have too often been overlooked.\u0022\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERodriguez also helped make global and language learning opportunities possible for thousands of students and hundreds of faculty and staff members across many Atlanta colleges and universities as part of his work with the Atlanta Global Studies Center (AGSC), said his co-director, Tony Lemieux of Georgia State University.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cJuan Carlos brought a positive energy and enthusiasm to our work, and his impact will live on through the stories and lives of not only those who knew him but also those who benefit from the things that he built,\u201d Lemieux said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMore Than a Mentor\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile Rodriguez was eminently respected in his field, he was also revered as a coworker and mentor.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESerrano, who succeeded Rodriguez as co-director of the AGSC, said Rodriguez backed her as the new director of the center.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cTo me, that\u0027s sponsorship \u2014\u0026nbsp; a mentor who risks their own social capital to help someone else advance,\u201d Serrano said. \u201cWe\u0027d only known each other for a couple of months, but he was already championing me behind the scenes. Looking back, I know I wasn\u2019t the only person he did that for. It came so naturally to him.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Ch2\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u2018Making People Feel Seen, Welcomed, and Valued\u2019\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThat spirit of partnership extended directly into how he worked alongside his peers; he demonstrated genuine collaboration in which teamwork was never a formality, but rather a foundational philosophy.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022For Juan Carlos, collaboration was essential,\u201d said Modern Languages colleague Osvaldo Cleger.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHis deep commitment to shared work also meant cultivating a culture of open, honest dialogue where ideas could be rigorously tested and disagreements discussed without compromising personal bonds, Cleger said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u0022I will deeply miss the man with whom disagreement was never something to avoid, but one of the ways we thought together,\u0022 Cleger said. \u0022We could debate, challenge each other, and push our ideas as far as they would go, never fearing that our friendship would fracture because we saw things differently.\u0022\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHe also lived with a deep commitment to empathy and generosity, said colleague Antonio Cardentey.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cHe had a rare gift for making people feel seen, welcomed, and valued,\u201d Cardentey said. \u201cBeing around him was always a genuine joy, and those of us who had the privilege of knowing him are better people for having shared a part of our lives with him.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EColleagues say Rodriguez was a caring colleague and excellent scholar.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Colleagues say Rodriguez was a caring colleague and excellent scholar."}],"uid":"34600","created_gmt":"2026-08-17 16:42:54","changed_gmt":"2026-08-17 16:49:30","author":"mpearson34","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-08-17T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-08-17T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"680892":{"id":"680892","type":"image","title":"juan-carlos-rodriguez-memorial.jpg","body":null,"created":"1786984981","gmt_created":"2026-08-17 16:43:01","changed":"1786984981","gmt_changed":"2026-08-17 16:43:01","alt":"School of Modern Languages Associate Professor Juan Carlos Rodriguez.","file":{"fid":"265224","name":"juan-carlos-rodriguez-memorial.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/17\/juan-carlos-rodriguez-memorial.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/08\/17\/juan-carlos-rodriguez-memorial.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":310881,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/08\/17\/juan-carlos-rodriguez-memorial.jpg?itok=vAIsGmtX"}}},"media_ids":["680892"],"groups":[{"id":"1281","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"},{"id":"1284","name":"School of Modern Languages"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:michael.pearson@iac.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EMichael Pearson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EIvan Allen College of Liberal Arts\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["michael.pearson@iac.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}