Lina Britto, professor in the Department of History, changed career paths from journalism to academia. In 2020 she published a book titled Marijuana Boom: The Rise and Fall of Colombia’s First Drug Paradise.
Britto shares that her inspiration in academia stems from her childhood in Medellín, Colombia. Her experience in that complex society as a child prompts her to ask questions and seek to understand the larger meaning. Britto describes her inspiration in the story, “What Inspires Me: The Dance of History” in Northwestern Magazine.
“I’m always in a dialectical conversation between past and present, seeing how the past is reflected in the present, but also how the present reframes and rewrites the past. That dance between past and present is a source of fascination, curiosity and inspiration for me,” says Dr. Britto