Luis Prieto is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Yale University. He is also a Section Editor of Variantes, a digital magazine produced collaboratively by graduate students, faculty, and undergraduates. Luis studies Latin American art, history, and philosophy with a special focus on Caribbean cultural and literary production. His research interests also include Latinx art and activism, diaspora and migration studies, and political and economic theory. Before joining Yale, he completed his M.A. in Latin American Literatures, Cultures, and Languages at the University of Connecticut, where he also served as Financial Secretary of the Graduate Employee & Postdoc Union. He has collaborated as a writer with El Estornudo, a Cuban digital magazine of narrative journalism. Moreover, he has received several awards as a burgeoning scholar and teacher, including the Gold medal from Columbia Scholastic Press Association for his work in Urbana Literary and Arts (2018), and the New Teacher of the Year Award from Keys Gates Charter Schools USA (2021). Through interdisciplinary collaboration, both at Yale and beyond, Luis intends to explore how literature and the arts can challenge societal structures, encourage cross-cultural understanding, and reshape narratives of power and resistance. His goal is to combine investigative, creative, and political outreaches in his career, finding strategic ways to connect with and across the fields of scientific investigation, artistic creation, and social organization.