SLAS E-Newsletter, October 2016
The eNewsletter is compiled and sent out to you by Christy Palmer. If you have an up-coming event or items that you would like included in the next eNewsletter, then please send the details to: christy_palmer@mac.com
PLEASE NOTE: not all 'Call for Papers', are listed in the section 'Call for Papers'. Many are within the conference and seminar notices in the 'Conference and Seminars' section of the eNewsletter. All deadlines have been highlighted or emboldened in red.
NOTICE BOARD | CONFERENCES & SEMINARS | EVENTS | CALL FOR PAPERS | SCHOLARSHIPS / FUNDING / GRANTS / AWARDS / PRIZES | JOBS / INTERNSHIPS / STUDENTSHIPS / FELLOWSHIPS
Web-Map of Latin American collections in the UK
Latin American Hub, Goldsmiths, University of London
http://www.laarchives.com/
This project is the first version of the Latin American Web-Map that aims to visualize physical special collections -including archives, artworks and other relevant materials- of Latin America in the United Kingdom. Its objective is to become a useful tool for current researches, future students and general audiences concerned with Latin America within the UK. It also has a more analytical aim: contributing to the reflection on the everyday ‘making’ of these collections, their production and the ways in which they are used, therefore, reflecting upon their role in the construction of knowledge about Latin America.
The current website is a pilot of a larger project carried out by the Latin American Hub (LINK) set at the Sociology Department at Goldsmiths, University of London and the product of several months of work. By the end of 2015, the Graduate School at Goldsmiths granted our project ‘A Web Map of Latin American Collections in the UK’ with funds to release this pilot with two different collections: ESCALA (Essex Collection of Arts from Latin America) and Latin American Political Pamphlets (Senate House). These collections were selected on the basis of their relevance in terms of the material they hold, their international recognition, but also because of the scarce knowledge about them within the Latin American context. During the first half of 2016 our team created a visual-lead website and researched on these two collections. Thus, the information provided here does not only include the collections’ general information and their history but also reflections on the conditions of their production, their social use, circulation and the ways in which they depict Latin America. These descriptions are displayed in a visual format and provide links to the catalogues and the institutions who hold the collections.
In the near future we intent to include not only the special collections on Latin America in the UK but also different archives with relevant sections on the sub-continent. We also intend to add a section where researchers from elsewhere can express their comments on how and why they have used each collection. The idea is to make the web-map a dynamic space for contributing to critical reflections on the role of materiality on the production of knowledge about Latin America within the UK. We kindly invite you to explore the website and circulate it among academic, political and cultural networks within the UK and abroad.
We really hope you enjoy it!
The Quipu Project
Alec Clegg Studio, School of Performance and Cultural Industries, University of Leeds
4 October 2016 | 17.30 - 18.30
Sebastian Melo, executive producer Chaka Studios
Chair: Rebecca Jarman, Teaching Fellow in Latin American Studies (School of Languages Culture and Society, University of Leeds).
Abstract
Quipu is a transmedia documentary and storytelling project that makes visible the stories of 272,000 women and 21,000 men who were sterilised in Peru in the mid¬ 1990s during Alberto Fujimori's regime as a way of reducing poverty. Thousands have claimed this happened without their consent, but until now they have been repeatedly silenced and denied justice. An interplay between a low-tech telephone line and a high-tech digital interface, the Quipu Project enables communities that are politically, geographically and digitally marginalised to tell their stories in their own words. The project is inspired by a ‘Quipu’ - an Incan artefact in which the colours of the strings and the formation of the knots across them is used to convey information, from numeric data to historical narratives. Audiences can explore the archive listening to individual voices following ‘strings’ that display the entire unedited testimonies. They are also able to listen across the archive following coloured ‘knots’ and hear the multi-vocal narrative that emerges from the repetition of themes and events. https://interactive.quipu-project.com/#/en/quipu/intro
Sebastian Melo
Born in Santiago, Chile in 1976, Melo has directed and produced documentary films since 2005. His first project “From Afar” was awarded the Grand Prix at the Santiago International Documentary Film Festival (FIDOCS) and distributed by Canal Arte (France). Melo is also a digital performance media artist. Recent works includes the Kinect video dance Structured Light (2013) the digital performance piece Flatland (2013) and Labanimations (2012). He is currently working on a multimedia installation using drone cameras to visualise military and mined zones in Northern Chile.
The event is Free. To book a place please contact: Linda Watson l.m.watson@leeds.ac.uk
The Graduate Forum
Institute of Modern Languages Research, Room 246, Senate House, London
6th October, 2016 | 18:00 - 19:30
Cinthya Oliveira, Dana Lungu, Sinan Richards (IMLR Graduate Forum Co-ordinators, 2015/2016).
The Forum is a great opportunity for postgraduates across languages and universities to come together and support each other's research. Our first session of the new term will feature presentations on Italian Poetry and South Asian literature and Queer Theory, by Adele Bardazzi (Oxford), and Jonathan Daniel Luther (SOAS) - (see abstracts below).
The following two sessions are on 17th November and 8th December - detailed programme to follow.
Adele Bardazzi (Oxford), ‘Eugenio Montale and his canzoniere in morte: a reading of Xenia (Satura, 1971) between myth and poetic tradition’
The myth of Orpheus and Eurydice and the myth of Persephone, the soon-to-be ‘dreadful’ queen of the underworld, represent two of the most influential myths in Western culture and lyric poetry in particular. This paper looks at Eugenio Montale’s re-writing and revision of these two complex myths, something that allows not only to trace how their cultural transmission and reception have developed and transformed in the Twentieth century, but also to clarify the nature of his absentpresent female figures – a core element in Montale’s poetry. The thought of the feminist political philosopher Adriana Cavarero provides the theoretical framework through which the analysis is undertaken.
By focusing on Mosca, Montale’s most complex embodiment of the Eurydice-Persephonean archetype, this paper sustains that Montale’s female tu, as it is traditional in lyric discourse, becomes the pre-text for the development and articulation of the male poet-creator’s text (and self). In doing so the female poetic beloved is condemned to dissolve into nothingness and thus continues and preserves that long-standing tradition inaugurated by the mythical figure of Orpheus that wants the loved woman to be a dead woman, something that remains traceable in Montale’s poetry. In her transiting towards some other places the female tu loses herself and becomes the custodian of this beyond in which she is now confined. Mosca thus presents herself as a propitiatory figure towards a beyond with which the male poet-creator yearns to enter in order to dialogue with it. Here lies her Eurydice-Persephonean nature.
Jonathan Daniel Luther (SOAS), ‘Towards a history of normativity at the intersects of 'queer' and Tagore’’
How is the production of canonical literary texts reinforced by normative ways of reading? What are the limits of 'queering' canonical literature in India? What are the normative reading practices that are disrupted when Tagore and queer are forcibly yoked together? In this paper I seek to examine the ways in which such a disruption can alert us to the hegemonic matrices of norms (Jakobsen, 1998) that govern ways of reading at the intersections of nation, canon and sexuality.
My argument is guided by the recent controversy over Chinese author Feng Tang's translations of Tagore's Stray Birds (Tagore, 1916) which encountered fierce criticism and public opprobrium over three ostensibly sexualised translations. In the light the many ways in which Tagore himself was severely attacked in the early 20th century over his contra-normative portrayal of sexuality in the middle-class Hindu home (Chattopadhyay, 2003; S. Sarkar, 2003; T. Sarkar, 2003), particularly in his novels, I situate the importance of questioning the norms that govern what can be articulated, even in literary texts.
My paper seeks to surface a prominent contra-norm aesthetic in Tagore's novels (that can be extended to his poetry as well). I argue that such an aesthetic is necessarily effaced within the articulations of Tagore as canon, and his incorporation within the symbolism of the nation - in spite of his protestations against the nation's "pious hymns, blasphemous prayers . . .literary mock thunders of its patriotic bragging" (Tagore, 1917). Thus in highlighting a contra-normative aesthetic within some of Tagore's important novels - The Home and the World, Grain of Sand, Relationships (in translation) - my aims is to ask whether, in surfacing these moments of contradiction, we can see the workings of a matrix of norms; whether such moments of contradiction offer the possibility of tracing a history of normativity; and whether such a history can offer a possible alternative and parallel to the recovery of non-normative sexualities and identities from the fraught sites of the colonial and national archive (Arondekar, 2005, 2010).
Geography Matters
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), 1 Kensington Gore, London, SW7 2AR
8 October 2016 | 10:30 - 16:30
This event will explore the geo-political ideas developed by Doreen Massey.
Doreen was exhilarated by the possibilities offered by Jeremy Corbyn’s election as leader of the Labour Party while at the same time, she was infuriated by the impact of neoliberalism and its associated veneration of finance capital.
At this event, we will work with Doreen’s ideas in order to analyse this current state of affairs.
Honouring her legacy, we hope to generate new insights and action. We are using her ideas to generate new insights and action for political possibilities in the contemporary conjuncture.
The event will focus on four themes: spatial justice and the state, political solidarities, new spatial divisions of labour, and environmental politics. There will be a mix of keynote speakers and workshops to enable participants to engage in collective thinking and debate about spatial politics today.
PROGRAMME | |
10.30 | Arrive / coffee |
11.00 | Opening Remarks: Joe Painter |
Framings 1: Dave Featherstone | |
Framings 2: Marina Prentoulis | |
Framings 3: Bob Colenutt | |
12.30 | Lunch |
13.30 | Workshops: |
Spatial Justice and the State. Led by: Joe Painter, Athina Arampatzi |
|
Political Solidarities. Led by: Ellie Jupp, Diarmaid Kelliher |
|
New spatial divisions of labour. Led by: Ashok Kumar, Jo Littler |
|
Environmental politics. Led by: Kathryn Yusoff, James Marriott |
|
15.00 | Discussants: Jeremy Gilbert, Jane Wills, Richard Meegan |
16.00 | Tea |
17.00 | END |
REGISTER
Due to demand we have opened up a few more places. Please register quickly as there are only very few places open.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/geography-matters-doreen-massey-and-the-ecology-of-the-left-tickets-26298705135
Open Research Seminars Michaelmas Term 2016
Centre of Latin American Studies, University of Cambridge
Seminar Room SG2 Ground Floor, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DT
Mondays, 17.15
- 17 October *SG1*
National formations of race and class
Antônio Sérgio Guimarães, Simón Bolívar Chair (CLAS, Cambridge; Sociology, Universidade de São Paulo)
- 24 October
The ‘chola’ bourgeoisie: identity, displacement and urban change in La Paz, Bolivia
Kate Maclean (Social Geography, Birkbeck, University of London)
- 31 October
Latin American photography: methods, genres and functions
John Mraz (Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Mexico)
- 7 November
Colombia after peace with the FARC: a perspective from the peripheries
Annette Idler (The Changing Character of War Programme, University of Oxford & Centre on Conflict, Development & Peacebuilding, The Graduate Institute Geneva)
- 14 November
Journeys in contemporary Argentine and Brazilian cinema
Natália Pinazza (Cultures and Languages, Birkbeck, University of London)
- 21 November
New directions in welfare? Remaking social policies in Latin America through rights and recognition
Jean Grugel (Politics, York University)
Refreshments served after the seminar, all welcome! Further Events at the Centre of Latin American Studies, Cambridge: http://www.latin-american.cam.ac.uk/latest-news-and-events
London Latin American Anthropology Seminar Series, Autumn Term 2016
Rm. 234, Senate House, South Block, Malet St, London WC1E 7HU
Alternate Thursdays, 17.30 onwards
- Monday, 10 October
Inaugural lecture (Room G26), Followed by drinks.
Sian Lazar, (University of Cambridge)
A Political Economy of Many Worlds? Latinamericanizing the Onto-Crowd.
- 27 October
Giuliana Borea, (ILAS).
Off/On the Map and Beyond: Recalibrating Lima’s art scene and the Networking of Latin America.
- 10 November
Flavia Kremer, (University of Manchester).
‘Is A Non-Bororo Man A Mr. Wrong?’ Exploring Gender and Kinship Through the Generation of Filmic Knowledge.
- 1 December
Miranda Shield Johansson, (UCL).
Taxing the Indigenous: A History of Barriers to Fiscal Inclusion in the Bolivian Highlands.
This seminar series is jointly run by the Institute of Latin American Studies and the Anthropology departments of LSE, Goldsmiths and UCL.
For more information about the seminar, you can visit our blog: http://anthropologyseminarilas.blogs.sas.ac.uk
IHR Latin American History Seminars, Schedule, Autumn term
Peter Marshall Room N204, 2nd floor, IHR, North block, Senate House
Tuesdays, 17:30
Convenors: Professor Nicola Miller (UCL), Dr Alejandra Irigoin (LSE), Paulo Drinot (UCL), Dr Natalia Sobrevilla (Kent), Dr Thomas Rath (UCL), Professor James Dunkerley (QMU)
- 4 October
Cristiana Fachinetti (Fiocruz)
Psychiatry in Context: the Problem of Degeneration in Brazil
This paper aims to analyse the circulation of the concept of degeneration in the first half of the twentieth century. More precisely, I'll discuss the appropriation of the concept by psychiatrists who were members of the Brazilian League of Mental Hygiene. In this process, I want to demonstrate the selection of some theories made by local psychiatrists from the vast existing psychological repertoire, in order to consider the appropriation choices in relation to the social, political and scientific context of the period. Several studies have indicated the central role of the concept of reception for the analysis of science in different contexts from which they were produced. However, as Roelcke, Weindling and Westwood (2010) show, international knowledge transfers often end up being perceived as neutral operations, failing to consider local regulations in the process. I therefore propose, in agreement with the authors, that concepts and practices are adopted in one country for particular reasons, and this particular selection is intended to boost expansion strategies of professional skills and application of new practices and technologies that allow the solution of local scientific and social issues.It is from this framework that I’ll seek to present the theories that guided the understanding of degeneration in Brazilian population at the beginning of the twentieth century, its impact to psychopathology, as well as theoretical solutions found by local psychiatry considering regeneration.
- 18 October
Claudia Agostoni (UNAM)
Actors, Strategies and Vaccines: Smallpox Campaigns in Mexico (1920-1952)
The diffusion of the smallpox vaccine during the course of the nineteenth century, the practice of vaccination throughout the nineteenth century and most of the twentieth century, and the 1980 declaration of smallpox eradication by the World Health Organization, have outstood among the most studied topics among social historians of medicine and medical doctors in Mexico, and other nations. Traditional medical and public health Mexican historiography has devoted considerable attention to examine smallpox vaccination and the eradication of that disease, and has characterized the success of smallpox control and eradication as a lineal, conflict-free and homogeneous process that began in 1804, with the arrival of the Royal Philanthropic Vaccine Expedition to New Spain, and that concluded in 1952, during the government of Miguel Aleman Valdés when smallpox eradication was declared. The aims of this paper will be to examine some of the different strategies employed during the smallpox vaccination campaigns organized between 1920 and 1952 in both urban and rural settings; to shed light on the diverse activities carried out by the heterogeneous medical and non-medical personnel, and to underline the social, cultural and technical problems that formed part of the struggle to contain that disease.
- 1 November
Ed Shawcross (UCL)
The Party of Order and Progress: The European revolutions of 1848 and the Mexican Conservative Party
The study of conservatism has often been seen as a topic of secondary importance; historians have conventionally preferred to research groups that played a “progressive” role in society. This is particularly the case in Mexico where the Conservative Party, founded in 1849, was caricatured by its liberal opponents as supporting a blind reaction that looked backwards to Mexico’s colonial past. The defeat of conservatives by liberals in the War of Reform (1858-61) and again with the execution of the Emperor Maximilian followed by the collapse of the Second Mexico Empire (1867) saw this negative interpretation become embedded within Mexican national discourse and accepted by many historians. However, this paper argues that rather than focussing on Mexico’s past, conservatives proposed a path to modernity that embraced a distinctively post-1848 mode of politics. This was characterised by a technocratic vision of progress, the adoption of elements of democratic politics, and was influenced by events in Europe, particularly the example of Louis-Napoléon in France and the French Second Empire. Far from being caught up in a parochial obsession with national issues, Mexican conservatives understood themselves to be part of what they termed an “international reaction” against the ideas and doctrines of the European revolutions of 1848. This paper explores the international events and transnational currents of thought which influenced Mexican conservatism in the mid-nineteenth century.
- 15 November
Nat Morris (University of Warwick),
Soldiers, Saints and Shamans: An Ethnohistory of Antistate Alliances in El Gran Nayar, Mexico (1926-1940)
The Huichol Indians of northern Jalisco enjoy a remarkable level of cultural and political autonomy from both Mexican state and Catholic Church, and are often presented by anthropologists, New Agers and environmentalists as isolated mountain tribesmen who have preserved an ‘uncorrupted’ pre-Hispanic culture. However, the Huichols were active participants in the Mexican Revolution, and in the Catholic uprisings that wracked Mexico between 1926 and 1940. Drawing on extensive archival research and ethnographic fieldwork, the paper shows how revolutionary upheaval, mestizo abuses, and post-revolutionary nation-building eventually pushed many of these ‘pagan’ Indians into an unlikely alliance with Catholic mestizo rebels in the 1920s. However, in the 1930s Cardenista efforts at pacification and integration ultimately proved more successful. Huichol participation not only shaped the course of the Cristero rebellions in their own ‘patria chica’, but helped to define the post-revolutionary settlement across Western Mexico as a whole, and continues to shape the distinct political and cultural identities of today's Huichol communities.
- 29 November
Tobias Rupprecht (Exeter)
The Export of the 'modelo chileno' to Post-socialist Countries after 1989
During the transformation period in the (post-)socialist world of the late 1980s and early 1990s, reformers from Eastern Europe to Asia were looking for role models for a transition from socialist to market economies. Many took inspiration from Chile's authoritarian-capitalist path, and Chilean liberals as well as the retired Pinochet himself actively promoted it on their travels around the world in the 1990s.
- 13 December
Gregorio Alonso (Leeds)
Imperial rivalries, insurgents and spies: Britain and Spain during Latin American Independence
The aim of this paper is to unravel some of the less well-known dimensions of British and Spanish policies towards Latin America in the 1810s and 1820s. The central role played by Latin America in the complex diplomatic, economic and political relationships between both colonial powers will be explored by focusing on the activities and schemes devised by the agents and informants working for them. In so doing, some new light will be shed on some hidden aspects of the politics of recognition of Latin American independence.
October Events at ILAS
University of London
Unless otherwise specified, please contact olga.jimenez@sas.ac.uk for additional information.
- Indigenous Peoples of Brazil: human rights and environment in crisis
Room 349, Third Floor, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU
4 October 2016 | 17:30 - 20:30
Elizeu Lopes – Guarani Kaiowá
Flávio Machado – Cimi
Ruy Sposati – Cimi
Valéria Buriti – Fian Brasil
Kindly organised by Amnesty International in collaboration with the Human Rights Consortium
For additional information please contact lesly.lila@amnesty.org.
- Britain & Latin America in the 20th Century: An overview of the political relationship, with Laurence Whitehead
The Court Room, First Floor, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU
4 October 2016 | 18:00 - 20:00
Canning House in conjunction with the Institute of Latin American Studies is pleased to announce a new series of talks taking a look at Britain’s relationship with Latin America throughout the 20th Century. The series will cover various themes including political, economic and business ties; British communities living in Latin America, as well as the Latin American diaspora in the UK; and sporting and cultural ties.Indeed, it could prove timely given the recent Brexit vote to look at our recent past relationship with the region as it enters a phase where the UK might need to ramp up or renew its engagement with countries outside of the EU.
We are delighted to announce the first talk on the ‘political relationship’ entitled, ‘Britain’s long and discontinuous link with Latin America: An overview of the last century, with some thoughts about the present one’, will be delivered by Laurence Whitehead, Senior Research Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford University, and author of Latin America: A New Interpretation (2010).
Laurence will highlight the persistence of a strong British influence until the big break of the Second World War, and trace the fitful and uneven process of reclaiming lost ground until the 1982 debt crisis. His talk will also reflect on the legacy of the Falklands War, as well as the consequences of EU membership, before bringing us up-to-date by touching on the new scenario in the relationship which has been created by ‘Brexit’.
To book your place at this talk, please use this link: https://www.canninghouse.org/events/britain-latin-america-in-the-20th-century-an-overview-of-the-political-relationship/
- A Political Economy of Many Worlds? Latinamericanizing the Onto-Crowd.
Montague room, G26, Ground Floor, Senate House, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HU
10 October 2016 | 17:30 - 19:30
Sian Lazar, University of Cambridge
The somewhat flippant title of my talk indicates its exploratory nature. These are first thoughts, resulting from a sense that recent ontological anthropologies from and of Latin America have an important intellectual and political history that is too rarely acknowledged. What does that mean for the politics of the ‘ontological turn’? Can this work be truly radical or is it little more than a sterile re-working of much older versions of identity politics? Could we imagine an alternative ‘cholo’ anthropology, one that privileges mixing, change, and the simultaneous occupation of different positionalities and perspectives?
Inaugural lecture. Followed by drinks.
For more information about the seminar, you can visit our blog: http://anthropologyseminarilas.blogs.sas.ac.uk
For additional information please contact ainhoa.montoya@london.ac.uk.
- The Potato and The Enlightenment
Torrington Room 104, First Floor, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU
12 October 2016 | 18:00 onwards
Professor Rebecca Earle (University of Warwick)
In this first autumn 2016 session of the London Andean Studies Seminar, Rebecca Earle shares her ongoing research on the global history of that irrepressible Andean gift to the world, the potato.
Abstract: The potato, insisted 18th-century Spanish savants, was a 'precious fruit', a panacea against poverty and dearth, a source of state strength and security. Enormous effort was therefore invested in promoting its consumption in Europe, as part of larger campaigns to improve national health and productivity. Comparable enlightened campaigns were launched in Europe’s American colonies. Via the geographically-mobile new world potato, this paper contrasts colonial and metropolitan visions of health, nutrition and science to help rethink the Americas’ place in the global Enlightenment.
Convenor: Dr Mark Thurner | https://andeanstudiesseminarilas.blogs.sas.ac.uk/
For additional information please contact mark.thurner@sas.ac.uk.
- The "Changing Politics" of Brazil's foreign policy
Room 234, Second Floor, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU
13 October 2016 | 17:00 - 19:00
Carlos Milani, IESP-UERJ
Convenor: Dr. Ana Margheritis, Director of PAIR Programmes, University of Southampton
All welcome!
- Propagatio fidei per scientias: Forging ‘American Wonders’ through Icon-Vehicles
Room 243, Second Floor, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU
13 October 2016 | 18:00 - 20:00
Dr Linda Báez-Rubí, Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas, UNAM and Bilderfahrzeuge Project, Warburg Institute, SAS, University of London.
Convenor: Dr Mark Thurner | https://laglobal.blogs.sas.ac.uk/
Ever since the Discovery of the New World by Columbus in 1492 ideas coming from Europe, imbedded within a legacy of Arabic science and Classical heritage, were ‘shipped’ and transported by means of images and texts to America and Asia. Not only prints and engravings were one of the many vehicles used for the transmission of religious and political imaginaries as well as of specific worldviews and conceptions, but also another kind of artifacts or what we could consider to be ‘icon-vehicles’ (Bilderfahrzeuge), such as optical and mechanical instruments. Jesuit culture put special interest in promoting these devices, because they were framed in a particular program of conversion in regions far beyond Europe under the motto propagatio fidei per scientias (to propagate faith through science). Under this frame it is possible to explore how, during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Jesuits influenced the process of forging one of the most popular symbol of American identity: the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Jesuit erudition was characterized by its capacity for integrating science - or ‘natural philosophy’ as it was understood in those times - and religion in the resolution of theological problems. Epistemological models, originated on the basis of a geometrical optics, were meant to give a scientific explanation of the way in which the apparition of the Virgin took place. The interest of this culture in optical-catoptrical instruments played an essential role in the establishment of models of vision, which inevitably influenced the establishment of the novohispano religious narrative. Utilizing the Warburg model of ‘icon-vehicles,’ I explore the different possibilities of iconic potentiality as generated by the particular characteristics of these vehicles, and how this iconicity is transformed in its cultural exchange along geographical routes and, finally, how these devices transform attitudes in the interior of a determined cultural sphere.
For additional information please contact mark.thurner@sas.ac.uk.
- Seminar on Cuban art and culture
The Senate Room, First Floor, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU
14 October 2016 | 18:00 - 20:30
Orgaised by Cuba Solidarity Campaign
Presentation and round table discussion about contemporary Cuban art and culture with special guests:
Visiting Cuban artists, Adislen Reyes Pino and Luis E Camejo, and visiting Cuban art specialist and curator, Chrislie Perez Perez from Havana. Plus Cuban writer, Pedro Perez Sarduy and the Cuban ambassador, Teresita Vicente Sotolongo.
To reserve a place contact office@cuba-solidarity.org.uk or call 020 7490 5715
For additional information please contact admin@cuba-solidarity.org.uk.
- ‘Fleshy Textualities: the laughing body in Caribbean fiction'
Room 234, Second Floor, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU
19 October 2016 | 17:30 onwards
Dr Patricia Noxolo, University of Birmingham
Convenor: William Tantam, Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute of Latin American Studies
http://cicr.blogs.sas.ac.uk/
All welcome!
- Britain & Latin America in the 20th Century: The Business Relationship with Rory Miller
Gordon Room, G34, Ground Floor, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU
19 October 2016 | 18:00 - 20:00
Dr Rory Miller, Reader in International Business History at the University of Liverpool Management School
Canning House in conjunction with the Institute of Latin American Studies is pleased to announce a new series of talks taking a look at Britain’s relationship with Latin America throughout the 20th Century. This is the second instalment of the series.
Ever since the Worthington Mission of 1899, British government officials have been concerned with the apparently inexorable decline in the UK’s share of Latin American trade. Commercial missions and commitments by Foreign Secretaries to pay more attention to the region and reverse the trend have followed at frequent intervals but the country’s export performance has remained disappointing compared with the UK’s competitors. However, governments have paid much less attention to invisible exports and, except a brief period between the wars, to British investment. While returns on the old investments in sovereign debt, railways and public utilities faded in the 1930s, and many were nationalised or sold after the Second World War, several large industrial companies made significant investments, especially in Argentina and Brazil. Although important firms such as ICI, Coats Viyella and Plessey have since disappeared from the region (as have Lloyds Bank and HSBC), others like Shell, Unilever, Reckitt Benckiser, GSK, Rolls Royce and BAT have persisted and frequently made good returns.
Rory Miller is Reader in International Business History at the University of Liverpool Management School, and the author of Britain and Latin America in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries (Longman 1993), as well as many articles on the UK-Latin American relationship. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Canning House.
To book your place at this talk, please use this link: https://www.canninghouse.org/events/britain-latin-america-20th-century-business-relationship/
- Ruben Dario (working title)
The Senate Room, First Floor, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU
20 October 2016 | 18:00 onwards
In collaboration with The Embassy of Nicaragua and Canning House
- Off/On the Map and Beyond: Recalibrating Lima’s art scene and the Networking of Latin America
Room 234, Second Floor, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU
27 October 2016 | 17:30 - 19:30
Off/On the Map and Beyond: Recalibrating Lima’s art scene and the Networking of Latin America
by Giuliana Borea, ILAS.
With a focus on references to be “on the art map” and other topographic announcements as the “new geographies of art,” I show how the expanding visibility and repositioning of Latin American art needs to be traced not only to strategies and projects in Euro-American circuits or in local art scenes but to art agents’ simultaneous multi-scale work. After explaining three key moments of the reconfiguration of the Lima art scene since the late 1990’s, I focus on the second period of institutional reinforcement and the expansion of networks, when Peruvian and other stakeholders initiated a set of strategic transnational practices in connection to the strengthening of Latin American art networks and platforms. I conclude that while new possibilities of participation and some different narratives of art have been addressed, the getting “on the map” has required adjusting to “global” standards and protocols: therefore, this expanded cartography lacks still of diversity.
For more information about the seminar, you can visit our blog: http://anthropologyseminarilas.blogs.sas.ac.uk
For additional information please contact ainhoa.montoya@london.ac.uk.
- Masterclass: How to Rewrite the History of Knowledge with Latin American Materials
Torrington Room 104, First Floor, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU
27 October 2016 | 18:00 - 20:00
Professor Nicola Miller (UCL) and Dr Mark Thurner (ILAS)
Convenor: Dr Mark Thurner | https://laglobal.blogs.sas.ac.uk/
The History of Knowledge (HoK) is an emerging interdisciplinary field that differs in key ways from the more established fields of History of Science and Sociology of Knowledge. Often combining anthropological and historical approaches, this new field reflects the ‘epistemological turn’ in the humanities and sciences, and also the critical desire to historicise the ‘knowledge society.’ The field is now undergoing a global turn, as new research on the extra-European world challenges established ‘Western’ narratives of science and knowledge. In this masterclass, Professors Miller and Thurner share new research on Latin America that promises to rewrite the global history of knowledge. The class will focus on several related fields of knowledge and their source materials, including anthropology, historiography, natural history, and political economy. This masterclass is designed in particular for doctoral and postdoctoral students who are developing or extending research projects. This event is co-sponsored by LLACTA (London Latin American History Consortium), LAGLOBAL and ILAS.
For additional information please contact mark.thurner@sas.ac.uk.
- Women, Democracy and Cold War in Central America (1945-1970)
The Court Room, First Floor, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU
28 October 2016 | 17:30 - 19:30
Eugenia Rodríguez, Ph.D., Catedrática Humboldt 2016, Universidad de Costa Rica
Abstract
The paper analyzes what was the impact that the Cold War had on women’s political mobilization in Central America, during 1945-1970. This period has been less studied than the period of 1970-1999, because the research has focused on women’s mobilization in the revolutionary and “guerrilla” movements in Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Chiapas and Cuba. In this sense, this paper will try to answer the following questions:- When, how and why Central American women politically mobilized during the Cold War and to what extend they contributed to democratize politics?
- To what extend Central American women’s political mobilization during the Cold War transformed their organizational strategies and construction of citizenship?
- What were the differences and similitudes in the process of Central American women’s political mobilization during the Cold War and other women from Latin America, North America and Europe?
- To what extend Central American women developed transnational connections during the Cold War with other women from Latin America, North America and Europe?
Documentary’s presentation:
Women’s Citizens in Movement. The Conquest of Suffrage in Costa Rica (1888-1953)
Duration: 19 minutes
Producer: Ague’Pipa Producciones, San José Costa Rica, 2014
Executive Producer: Eugenia Rodríguez Sáenz
Abstract
The documentary “Women’s Citizens in Movement. The Conquest of Suffrage in Costa Rica (1888-1953)” was based on an exhibition from the same name, that was organized to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the Centro de Investigación en Identidad y Cultura Latinoamericanas (CIICLA) and the Museo de la Universidad de Costa Rica (museo+UCR).
Events at UCL, October
- Cuba: Redefining the Model
UCL Institute of the Americas, 51 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PN
3 October 2016 | 17.30 - 20.00
Laurence Whitehead (Oxford), Bert Hoffmann (GIGA, Hamburg), Vegard Bye (Oslo) - Socialist Cuba is undergoing profound change. As the “historic generation” of the Revolution’s leaders is preparing its departure from center stage of politics, the island is in the midst of an ambivalent process of crisis and reform. Where is Cuba heading? What impact will the economic reforms have, and how far will they go? How much change is in store for US-Cuban relations after Obama’s historic visit this year? Cuban and international authors have addressed these and other questions in a recent issue of Third World Quarterly. The editors of this special section will present its key findings and discuss the perspectives of Cuba’s quest to re-define its political, social and economic model.- Laurence Whitehead is a Senior Research Fellow in Politics at Nuffield College, Oxford University, and author of numerous books on politics in Latin America. In the TWQ issue he wrote about “The ‘puzzle’ of autocratic resilience/regime collapse: the case of Cuba“
- Bert Hoffmann is a political scientist at GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, and author of numerous publications on Cuba. In the TWQ issue he wrote about 'Bureaucratic socialism in reform mode: the changing politics of Cuba’s post-Fidel era'
- Vegard Bye is the coordinator of the Cuba Academic Programme at the University of Oslo
Jointly, Laurence Whitehead and Bert Hoffmann published the volume Debating Cuban Exceptionalism in the Studies of the Americas series (Palgrave 2007).
Discussant: Maxine Molyneux, Professor of Sociology, UCL Institute of the Americas.
Attendance is free of charge but registration is required. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cuba-redefining-the-model-registration-27673603493
- Variedades de capitalismo y crisis en América Latina: ¿persisten aún las diferencias entre política laboral y poder sindical?
UCL Institute of the Americas, 51 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PN
5 October 2016 | 17.30 - 19.00
**PLEASE NOTE THIS PRESENTATION WILL BE IN SPANISH ONLY**
Graciela Bensusán (UAM Xochimilco, Mexico; FLACSO Mexico) - En esta presentación, desde el enfoque de variedades de capitalismo, se revisan las trayectorias en seis países de la región (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Costa Rica y México) por lo que se refiere a las políticas laborales y el poder sindical y sus consecuencias en términos de la pobreza y desigualdad social. Dadas las diferencias identificadas entre estos países en la década pasada, por lo que se refiere a estos fenómenos, se discute si estas persisten en la actualidad o si, ante la crisis económica y política que se experimenta en estos países, se estaría configurando un escenario dominado nuevamente por las convergencias, al igual que sucedió en la década de los noventa. ¿Serán revertidas las recientes mejoras en términos de pobreza o desigualdad? O los legados laborales y sociales del modelo neodesarrollista adoptado en algunos de estos países impondrán un freno a las tendencias globales?
ABSTRACT IN ENGLISH:
This presentation, from a ‘varieties of capitalism’ approach, examines the trajectories of labor policies and union power in six Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, Costa Rica and Mexico) and their consequences in terms of poverty and social inequality. Do the differences identified amoung these countries in the past decade still persist today? Or has the economic and political crisis experienced during the past two or three years caused a reversion to the convergences observed during the 1990s? Are recent improvements in terms of poverty and inequality likely to be reversed, or will the labor legacies of the neo-developmentalist model impose a brake on global trends?
Professor Graciela Bensusán holds appointments as Research Professor at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Xochimilco and at FLACSO-México. She is a member of Mexico’s prestigious 'Sistema Nacional de Investigadores' (Level III). Professor Bensusán has won numerous international research awards, and she has held visiting research appointments in Chile and the UK. She has written extensively on labor and social policy issues in Mexico and Latin America. Her co-edited book Trabajo y trabajadores en el México contemporáneo won the Latin American Studies Association Labor Section’s book prize in 2001.
Attendance is free of charge but registration is required: http://variedades-de-capitalismo.eventbrite.co.uk/
- Drug violence and human rights in Mexico
UCL Institute of the Americas, 51 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PN
11 October 2016 | 17.30 - 19.00
Mónica Serrano (El Colegio de Mexico) - This talk will examine the changing nature of drug-related violence in Mexico with a view to providing an analytical framework to account for the country´s human rights crisis. The presentation traces the main trends observed in drug-trafficking and drug-related violence against the backdrop of transition to democracy.
Three points are especially salient. First, while there can be no doubt that President Calderón declared a war on drugs and drug-trafficking, the militarization of drug policy long preceded his administration. Secondly, while drug-related violence had already erupted during the first transition Fox government, it definitely accelerated under the Calderón administration. And third, the context in which human rights violations take place, and international human rights law and international humanitarian law operate, in practice matters. By looking at the character and changing nature of the violence since transition to democracy, the presentation outlines the case for a more contextual understanding of Mexico´s human rights crisis.
Mónica Serrano is Professor of International Relations at El Colegio de México, Senior Research Associate at the Centre for International Studies at the University of Oxford, and a Senior Fellow at the Ralph Bunche Institute for International Studies. She was the founding Executive Director of the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (2008-2011), Research and Honorary Fellow at the Institute of Latin American Studies, University of London (1990-97), Research Associate at the IISS (1996) and a MacArthur Research Fellow at the University of Oxford’s Centre for International Studies (1999-2002). She has published extensively on international security and Latin America, with particular reference to international institutions, security, human rights, transnational crime and civil-military relations. Her recent books include: Human Rights Regimes in the Americas (2009); After Oppression: Transitional Justice in Latin America and Eastern Europe (2012); Mexico’s Security Failure: Collapse into Criminal Violence (2012); The International Politics of Human Rights. Rallying to the R2P Cause? (2014). She is a member of the International Advisory Board of the FRAME Project 'Fostering Human Rights Among European (External and Internal) Policies', co-editor of Global Governance and member of the editorial board of Global Responsibility to Protect and Conflict, Security and Development.
This event is organised in collaboration with the UCL Global Governance Institute: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/global-governance/
Attendance is free of charge but registration is required: http://drug-violence-human-rights-mexico.eventbrite.co.uk/
'Connected Histories of Neoliberalisation'
Goldsmiths, University of London, New Cross, SE14 6NW
17 October 2016 | 09.30 - 18.00
Organised by Goldsmiths Latin American Hub (http://sites.gold.ac.uk/lahub). The conference is split into four thematic sessions and will explore the process of neoliberalisation from transregional and transdisciplinary perspectives:
- Neoliberalisation as (Political) Economy
- Intersectionality in Neoliberal Times
- Neoliberalism and the Coloniality of Power
- Memory and Trauma under Neoliberalism
PROGRAMME | |
ROOM: PSH LG01 | |
09:30 | Welcome remarks |
10:00 | PANEL 1: Neoliberalisation as (Political) Economy |
Jose Mauricio Domingues (Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro) | |
Lucia Pradella (Kings’ College) | |
Pedro Mendes Loureiro (SOAS) | |
11:45 | PANEL 2 Memory and Trauma Under Neoliberalism |
Alicia Salomone (Universidad de Chile) | |
Edward King (University of Bristol) | |
Discussant: Vikki Bell (Goldsmiths) | |
13:15 | Lunch Break |
ROOM: RHB 309 | |
14:30 | PANEL 3 Neoliberalism and the Coloniality of Power |
Oscar Guardiola Rivera (Birkbeck) | |
Shela Sheikh (Goldsmiths) | |
Hannah Meszaros Martin (Goldsmiths) | |
16:15 | PANEL 4 Intersectionality in Neoliberal Times |
Leticia Sabsay (LSE) | |
Sara Farris (Goldsmiths) | |
17:45 | Closing Remarks |
18:00 | New X House |
Fleshy Textualities: the laughing body in Caribbean fiction
The Caribbean Regional Seminar @ The CICR
Rm. 234, ILAS, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU
19 October 2016 | 17.30 - 19.30
Dr Patricia Noxolo, Birmingham University, @patnoxolo
The Centre for Integrated Caribbean Research’s (CICR) Caribbean Regional Studies Seminar is an academic forum for advanced interdisciplinary, comparative, and integrated research on the entire Caribbean region, which includes the Dutch, French, English and Spanish cultural spheres. The scope of the seminar extends from the Humanities to the cognate Social Sciences in addition to Law.
The Centre and the Seminar seek to promote research and debate that connects cutting-edge, transnational and multi-disciplinary Caribbean and Area Studies scholarship with global issues and broad theoretical questions of significance to the wider academic community and non-scholarly public.
All are welcome to participate in the regular meetings in London.
**Scholars, young and old, wishing to present their work to the Seminar are invited to contact the convener.
All are welcome. It is not necessary to RSVP.
Beyond ‘The Wall’ – Analysing the US presidential election and its impact on Latin Americans both sides of the border
Canning House, 14/15 Belgrave Square, SW1X 8PS
26 October 2016 | 18.00 - 19.30
Canning House is organising a panel of speakers to discuss the US presidential election and the potential impacts of its result on US-Latin America relations, as well as the implications for, and the voting tendencies of, the Latin American diaspora in the United States.
There is a lot of rhetoric from the Trump campaign on Latin America and Mexico whereas Hillary Clinton has been less vocal on her foreign policy plans for the region. Before the election takes place on 8th November it will be fascinating to hear from our panel of experts and to discuss how the relationship between Latin America and the US could change after the result.
Canning House is delighted to welcome Professor Kevin Middlebrook, Professor of Latin American Politics at UCL; Iwan Morgan, Professor of United States Studies; plus more speakers TBC.
To book your place at this talk, please use this link: https://www.canninghouse.org/events/wall-wall-street-us-presidential-election-significance-latin-america/
Spanish, Portuguese & Latin American Studies Research Seminar Series
Common Room, Department of Spanish, Portuguese & Latin American Studies, Foster Court 307, UCL
26 October 2016 | 17.00 onwards
- Alia Trabucco Zerán (UCL)
Desmembramiento de un cuerpo, deriva de un país: El caso de Rosa Faundes Cavieres
- Denisse Lazo González (Oxford)
Alberto Fuguet y su novela Aeropuertos: Una lectura de la igualdad política de las mujeres en la literatura chilena de la post-transición a la democracia
The Anthropology of Political Violence In Columbia: Masterclass with Professor Aldo Civico
Rm. 243, Senate House, University of London, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU
21 November 2016, 11.00 – 14.00
Professor Aldo Civico: Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Rutgers University and Director of the Centre of International Conflict Resolution (CICR) at Columbia University.
This session is orientated to postgraduates in early career scholars who conduct research on the relationship between political violence and the state in that in Latin America. Readings by Professor Aldo Civico will be circulated among participants prior to the session and masterclass will consist of discussion of these readings as well as the participants' research.
The two-hour session will be concluded by a one hour working lunch. We hope to address the following Questions:
- What are the impacts of political violence on social life?
- What is the paramilitary violence - according to perpetrators’ narratives - and why is this important within Latin American states?
- What approaches to ethnographies of political violence are in evidence in Latin America?
Readings to be discussed are:
(2016) Limpieza: The Expenditure of Spectacular Violence, in The para-state: An ethnography of Columbia's death squads. Oakland, California: University of California Press
(2012) We are illegal, but not illegitimate. Modes of Policing in Medellin, Colombia. poLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review, 35(1), 77-93.
(2011) Eluding Peace: Negotiation with Colombian ELN, in Engaging Extremist Trade-Offs, Timing, and Diplomacy, W. Zartman and G.O. Faure, Eds. Institute of Peace, US.
This event is free of charge for places are limited and registration is quiet. In order to register, please submit a max of 250 words of your research on a few questions that you would like to discuss during the session Alexander curry (Alexander.curry at postgrad.SAS.A/C.uk); the readings will be circulated to all the 10 days ahead of the seminar.
This masterclass is organised by the UCL Colombian society with the sport of my last, UCL Institute of America's, and the UCL anthropology Department.
Book launch: Transformations of Freedom in the Land of the Maroons: Creolization in the Cockpits, Jamaica
UCL Institute of the Americas, 51 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PN
12 October 2016 | 17.30 - 19.00
Jean Besson (Goldsmiths) - Despite outstanding histories and ethnographies on maroons (escaped slaves and their descendants), there has been little attempt to compare the cultures of modern maroons with the cultures of the descendants of emancipated slaves who are the majority of African-Americans today. There is therefore a gap in the comparative exploration of creolization (‘indigenization’ in Europe’s ‘New World’) in maroon and non-maroon derivations of African-American slave cultures.
This book fills that gap through a comparative ethnography of three post-slavery communities – Accompong, Aberdeen and Maroon Town – that stand fast in the Jamaican Cockpit Country, at the heart of African-America’s Caribbean core. Accompong is the oldest corporate maroon society in the Americas enduring on common treaty land. Aberdeen is a free village descended mainly from emancipated slaves, who created and transmitted family lands. Maroon Town, with its range of tenures, is a community claiming descent from colonists, slaves and maroons.
Consolidating over 30 years of research in these villages, the book provides a sweeping yet all-encompassing examination of comparative creolization (especially through rooting identities, kin groups and communities in Caribbean land) and the complexities of ethnicity at the maroon/non-maroon interface.
Flier of the book is available here: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/americas/events/land-of-maroons
Discussant: David Lowenthal, Emeritus Professor of Geography, University College London.
Jean Besson is Emeritus Professor of Anthropology, Goldsmiths, University of London. She has carried out research in Jamaica and the Eastern Caribbean, publishing on cultural history, land, law, development, kinship, gender, narratives, religion, migration and ethnicity.
Attendandance to this event is free of charge but registration is required: http://freedom-land-maroons.eventbrite.co.uk/
Oxford Argentine Contemporary Film Festival
St Catherine’s College, Oxford, JCR Theatre
29 - 30 October 2016
The Argentine Cultural Forum in Oxford, with the support of the Argentine Embassy in London, the sub-Faculty of Spanish of the University of Oxford, and Directores Argentinos Cinematográficos (MIDACC).
PROGRAMME | ||
Saturday 29 October | ||
12.00 | Las viudas de los jueves (Thursday Night Widows) | More info |
14.20 | Cassandra | More info |
16.00 | Papeles en el viento (Papers in the Wind) | More info |
18.00 | Kryptonita - with an intro by Dr Jordana Blejmar (University of Liverpool) | More info |
Sunday 30 October | ||
14.00 | Cronopios y famas (Cronopios and Famas) | More info |
16.00 | Abzurdah | More info |
18.00 | El día trajo la oscuridad (Daytime Brought Darkness) | More info |
All films are shown in Spanish with English subtitles. Entrance is free and open to all over-18s. Booking is recommended.
To book:https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/oxford-argentine-contemporary-film-festival-tickets-26799976451
Radical Americas Journal
DEADLINE not given
Following our successful 2016 conference, the Radical Americas Network is delighted to announce the Radical Americas Journal, forthcoming this winter with UCL Press. The Radical Americas Journal explores the historical, political, cultural and social contexts that have underpinned radicalism in the Americas, engaging fully with the cross-currents of activism which connect North, Central and South America along with the Caribbean. The interconnected histories of power and protest are rarely contained within national boundaries. A full understanding of radicalism in the Americas, therefore, requires that we make the widespread rhetoric about the need for hemispheric scholarly approaches a reality. While we offer articles, reviews and other content which focus on national or sub-national case studies, they are presented in a wider transnational setting.
Our definition of radicalism is broad. Taking inspiration from the words of José Martí we understand radicalism to include any action or interpretation which “goes to the roots”, and we welcome all scholarship which takes a radical approach, even if it is not concerned with the study of radical activism per se. Any work which provides a truly systemic critique of existing structures of power, or challenges conventional interpretations of the past, will find a home at the Radical Americas Journal.
Despite disciplinary divides, scholarship on all regions of the Americas has recently been characterised by a preoccupation with culture and cultural analysis. This domination has come at the expense of interpretations which favour economic or social factors, though there are some signs that the impact of the global financial crisis has begun to reverse that trend. Our position is that the kind of holistic critique we hope to promote can never be achieved by isolating a single variable. For that reason we are particularly interested in work which attempts the difficult and painstaking task of fully integrating different facets of human experience, including economic, social, political and cultural factors.
Call for submissions
We are now accepting submissions for future issues; we welcome new submissions from early career and established scholars worldwide. We will consider work in a number of different formats: in addition to peer-reviewed articles on all aspects of Western Hemisphere radicalism, the journal will run a variety of regular features, including opinion pieces, photo essays, reviews and archival notes. In the first instance please submit abstracts of 250-300 words to editors@radicalamericasjournal.org - when submitting, please indicate whether the work is to be peer-reviewed as an article or whether you would like to offer something in a different format. Articles for peer review should be between 4,000 and 12,000 words; other pieces should be between 2,000 and 5,000 words. Please consult UCL Press house style in advance of submission: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ucl-press/publish/docs/house-style.pdf
Geographies of Memory - Conflict, Culture and Commemoration in Latin America
Society for Latin American Studies (SLAS) Conference
Glasgow
6 - 7 April 2017
DEADLINE 17 October 2016
Organiser: Daniel Willis, UCL Institute of the Americas
This panel well reflect on the relationship between space, violence and memory in Latin American history. In particular, there will be a focus on the ways in which geography has shaped periods of political conflict on the continent, and how the commemoration of violence has culturally shaped spaces of violence and the people who live there.
Papers within the panel, and the panel as a whole, will aim to deal with the idea of a geography of memory. This can refer to the ways in which memories of political violence are geographically contingent, shaped by the varying topography, regional boundaries, or uneven socioeconomic development within (and sometimes transcending) the nation-state. The concept can also refer to the array of sites of memory created around particular episodes of violence. Where these sites are emplaced, the ways in which they make use of the space around them, and the degree to which they engage with their local neighbourhood and with each other, are all crucial elements for understanding the spatiality of such sites.
Whilst taking influence from historical and geographical studies, the panel will take an interdisciplinary approach to explore the range of ways in which space and geography have played a key role in the construction of ethnic identities, historical processes such as state formation, and in the production of numerous forms of violence (political, sexual, societal).
Papers are encouraged which engage with, but are not limited to, the following themes and questions:
- To what extent are indigeneity and ethnic identities linked to ideas about geography and experiences of violence?
- In what ways are gender identities constructed spatially?
- How does space and geography inform the ideologies of resistance or insurgent movements?
- How have sites of violence and spaces of exception been memorialised and turned into sites of memory?
- How are forms of societal violence shaped by space?
- How do sites of memory construct narratives of violence, and what role does their spatiality play in this?
- What are the differences and similarities between episodes of political violence and subsequent memory practice across Latin America?
- Papers also welcome on: the politics of coca trafficking, the politics of space in the barriadas, memories of agrarian reform and the issue of the land.
Please send paper proposals including your name, email address, institutional affiliation, a paper title, and paper abstract (max. 200 words) to Daniel Willis (daniel.willis.13@ucl.ac.uk) by Monday 17th October 2016.
Daniel Willis | PhD Candidate | UCL Institute of the Americas
W: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/americas/people/research-students | http://ucl.academia.edu/DanielWillis
M: +44 (0) 7595054391
Cine americano: The Cinema of Latin America and the United States.
National University of Ireland Maynooth
8-9 November 2016
DEADLINE 20 October 2016
Whether working against it or within it, Latin American and Latina/o cineastes and actors have had a long and complex relationship with Hollywood. The apparent contradiction between the criticism of the Oscars in 2016 for excluding people of colour when, for the second consecutive year, the Best Director Award was presented to a Mexican, makes this a timely moment to consider the relationship between the cinemas of Latin America and North America. Papers do not necessarily have to compare North American and Latin American cinemas, but in the interest of establishing a dialogue between the two, presenters are asked to relate their papers to the following topics:
- Music and Cinema
- Transnational Cinema
- Conflict and Violence
- Marginalised Voices
- Race and Ethnicity
- Independent and ‘arthouse’ cinema
- Gender and Sexuality
- Star Studies
- Picturing Politics
- Documentary Cinema
The conference will feature a retrospective of the work of renowned Chicano director Jesús Treviño, who will screen his work and discuss his films and TV career as the director of internationally renowned series including Law and Order Criminal Intent, Star Trek: Voyager and ER. We will also host a screening and discussion of the Paraguayan documentary Feliciano Centurión: Abrazo Íntimo al natural (2016), followed by a discussion with its producer Fabián Bozzolo.
Abstracts for papers of no more than 20 minutes in length should be sent to Catherine.m.leen@nuim.ie no later than October 20, 2016.
Conversatorio. ´Rethinking difference: beyond language, culture, and indigeneity’
Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS), Newcastle University
30-31 March 2017
DEADLINE 28 October 2016
Keynote speaker: Prof. Marisol de la Cadena (University of California, Davis)
Lead panelists: Prof. Andrew Canessa (University of Essex), Prof. Catherine J. Allen (George Washington University), Prof. Martin Holbraad (University College London)
We invite papers for this innovative Conversatorio, a roundtable style event that will seek to examine and further develop ways of theorising difference in the main disciplines of the Humanities and the Social Sciences. The event will place special focus on ideas about language, culture and indigeneity. In particular, we invite contributors to engage with, and critique, emergent debates in cosmopolitics (Stengers, de la Cadena) and political ontology (Blaser), in relation to the scholarly representation of Latin American and Caribbean societies.
These debates are grounded in basic arguments about knowledge politics and how adequately to give voice to actors whose lives are historically rooted in diversity. In line with the work of the above scholars, we regard the notions of ‘cultural difference’ and ‘world view’ to be symptomatic of the modernist ontological assumption that there exists one singular reality or world and multiple perspectives of it. We welcome papers that seek to question this assumption.
The interdisciplinary Conversatorio will aim to develop potential conceptual frameworks within which to represent and analyse the lived experiences of those we engage with in our research. If we approach identity and difference from a cosmopolitical point of view, acknowledging multiple worlds, then what does this mean for State approaches to managing diversity? And what are the political and theoretical implications of taking non-human beings into account in the domains of academia, international law, State rhetoric and legislation, among others?
Possible topics for papers include, but are not limited to:
- Case-studies that problematise dominant categorisations of identity in relation to language, culture, indigeneity, and other perspectives
- Reading the channels of communication between human and non-human worlds: ritual, oral narrative, healing, music and others
- Translating words and worlds in academic research and ‘giving voice’ to non-human beings
- Attitudes towards, and representations of, non-human beings through time
- Points of tension in current debates relating to the ontological turn
- The methodological and theoretical implications of balancing diverse ways of knowing throughout the research process.
Submission of abstracts
Abstracts should be of 250 words maximum in length and should be submitted on our web form by Friday 28 October 2016 via this link: http://forms.ncl.ac.uk/view.php?id=10401. Any enquiries about the event can be sent to CLAC.Studies@ncl.ac.uk, citing ‘Rethinking difference’ in the subject heading.
Social Policies and the Welfare State in the Global South in the 19th and 20th Century
International Conference, University of Bremen
13-15 September 2017
DEADLINE 31 October 2016
Organizers: Dr. Teresa Huhle & Prof. Dr. Delia González de Reufels, Latin American History (History Department, Faculty 8), Universität Bremen, in cooperation with the Research Center on Inequality and Social Policy: SOCIUM, Universität Bremen
The conference aims to bring together an international group of junior and senior scholars from history and related fields who are working on the history of social policies and the welfare state in the Global South from a transnational, entangled or global history perspective.
Together, we would like to discuss current trends of research as well as map out open questions of the field. During the last ten years, the historiography on social policies and the welfare state has started to participate in the transnational turn. However, the exchanges of knowledge, ideas and institutions have been predominantly studied among countries and regions of the Global North, also highlighting transfers from north to south. The way European powers have intervened within their colonial domains in Africa and Asia in social policy issues can serve as an example.
We attempt to broaden these perspectives on the directions of transfer and communication. We are especially interested in research that focuses on exchanges and processes of transfer which have worked in the south-south and south-north direction. These can include questions on the effects that colonial contestations of welfare measures had on the policies in the respective ‘motherlands’, on regional exchanges during moments of crisis (e.g. in Latin America during the Great Depression) or on how delegates from the Global South shaped the social policies of international bodies like the International Labor Organization (ILO) or the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR).
In this context, we consider it promising to use a broad concept of the welfare state and its policies, including not only the classical domains of labor security and public health, but also encompassing fields like nutrition, reproduction, education, recreation and other emerging research perspectives.
The integration of a cultural history perspective will further enable us to look at representations and constructions of social problems in diverse spatial configurations. We consider these as directly intertwined with the policies directed at them and want to highlight that ‘welfare problems’ and their underlying social and moral assumptions traveled just as much.
We are furthermore particularly interested in discussing the role of policies and welfare measures in the processes of nation building, which both on an institutional and an identity level must be conceptualized as a global phenomena and transnational endeavor. At the same time, we consider it important to look at the formation and exchange of social policy ideas and institutions beyond the national level, highlighting both exchanges on the communal and provincial level and within regional cooperation and international organizations.
In sum, we are particularly interested in case studies which fit into this general framework. We invited contributions which pay particular attention to the following methodological and thematic aspects:
- Transnational networks and actors who promoted and conceptualized social policies and their mobility, especially beyond the realm of policy makers and experts, highlighting the role of social movements, labor unions and health activists among others
- The development and transfer of visual and graphic depictions of social problems and social policies
- The gendered dimensions of social policies and political demands
- Colonial and imperial social policies and their possible afterlives during nationhood
- Cross-border struggles for the recognition of social rights
The discussion will be stimulated by keynote lectures, including Prof. Dr. Christoph Conrad (University of Geneva).
If you wish to participate in the conference, please send in an abstract (maximum length 300 words) and a short CV by October 31st, 2016 to teresa.huhle@uni-bremen.de. Notifications of acceptance will be sent out by mid-November 2016. A small travel allowance may be granted but funds are limited.
For further information please contact: teresa.huhle@uni-bremen.de
Visible Evidence XXIV
Buenos Aires
2-5 August, 2017
DEADLINE 4 Novemeber 2016, 17.00 (PST)
Organizing committee: Javier Campo, Tomás Crowder-Taraborrelli, Clara Garavelli, Pablo Piedras, and Kristi M. Wilson
Visible Evidence, the international conference on documentary film and media, will convene for its 24th year in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, August 2-5, 2017. VE2017 is hosted in collaboration with the National University of Tres de Febrero (UNTREF), Revista Cine Documental and the Argentine Association of Cinema and Audiovisual Studies (AsAECA). The conference will take place at the Centro Cultural Borges (Borges Cultural Center) above the traditional Galerías Pacífico and at the Margarita Xirgu theater in the historical neighborhood of San Telmo.
Visible Evidence Buenos Aires (2017) coincides with the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution and marks fifty years since Che Guevara’s assassination in Bolivia. These two transcendental events compel us to contemplate anew the relationship between documentary film and revolutionary movements. In the 1960s, Argentina and other Latin American nations were at the center of a transnational debate about the role of film as a tool for social change in a regional movement called “New Latin American Cinema.” In the next decade, many filmmakers were disappeared or killed and many others were forced into exile. From abroad, or clandestinely in their own countries, filmmakers thought deeply about the ethical, moral, aesthetic, and political dimensions of their practices, in particular about how to represent individuals as political agents. An important aspect of their work was to foster political alliances with their colleagues, producers and film distributors in other developing countries. In spite of the brutal political persecution, their activist approach to filmmaking had an enormous influence on younger generations, particularly after the economic crisis at the turn of the twenty first century and the popular insurrections that disrupted the neoliberal takeover of the economy, society, and culture in many Latin American countries. The Latin American documentary film tradition followed these popular revolts closely, gradually incorporating many of the organizing structures of progressive social movements. Thus, while notions of Third Cinema or Political Cinema may seem less prominent in recent years, it is productive to think about the elements of the traditions that live on in contemporary Latin American film and beyond in the ‘Global South.’
At the beginning of the new millennium, one sees a fruitful and combative debate about the efficacy of documentation, understood within the historiography of human rights abuses, indigenous rights, marginalized communitiesand genocide. There has also been an increase in interest in documentary film in the last two decades in Argentina and other countries in Latin America. Progressive governments throughout the continent have increased funding for non-fiction films, strengthening ongoing discussions in academic circles about the role of the state as a patron of the arts. We believe that the time is ripe to rethink the relations between documentary film and national cinemas, as currently, state-funded progressive films are not always in agreement with transnational trends in contemporary cinema.
In line with previous conferences, Visible Evidence XXIV will address the history, theory, and practice of documentary cinema, television, video, digital media, photography, and performance. Proposals for panels and workshops may address, but are not limited to, the following themes:
- Documenting social movements
- Revolutionary filmographies
- Documenting Latin America, documenting “the South”
- Experimental and non-conventional non-fiction cinema
- Documenting the “global North” and/or “the global South”
- Hypertextuality practices in documentary cinema
- First person documentary film
- Frictions between performativity, fiction and documentary
- New technology issues: dispositives, interfaces, internet, television and other media experiences
- Documentary between national/regional tradition and transnational trends
- Scopes and limits of contemporary documentary theory
- Transmedia and Interactive Documentary. New Problems
- Documenting human rights abuses
- Discourses of neo-colonialism in the 21st century
Panels, Papers and Workshops
Presentations will take place within 90-minute blocks shared by between 3 – 4 presenters and chaired either by a presenter or a moderator. Panels and workshops may be pre-constituted, either through individual solicitation or public calls. Conveners of pre-constituted panels and their participants should coordinate their session to allow time for discussion, limiting individual contributions to 20-minutes.
- Pre-constituted panels
Pre-constituted panels are organized around a well-defined critical, theoretical or historical topic that aims to generate dialogue among the panelists and audience members.Conveners are asked to submit a proposal that outlines the event as a whole (400 words max) and also provides for each presenter:- A title and abstract for the presentation (300 words max)
- An autobiographical blurb (100 words max)
- A five-item bibliography
- Individual papers
Please follow the same format as above for individual paper submissions. Presenters will be grouped into panels constituted by the Programming Committee.
Individual papers submission form (Word)
- Pre-constituted workshops
Pre-constituted workshops may include up to six (6) presenters making short opening statements leading to interaction among themselves and the audience. Conveners are asked to submit a proposal that outlines the event as a whole and provides for each presenter: a title and abstract for the presentation; an autobiographical paragraph and a five-item bibliography.
Pre-constituted workshops submission form (Word)
Deadlines
Submission deadlines: (by 5:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time)
- Pre-Constituted Panels and Workshops: November 4, 2016
- Individual Papers: November 4, 2016
The Programming Committee will respond to all proposals by January 15, 2017.
Contact
For information please contact: ve2017@cinedocumental.com.ar
Internet y Redes Sociales: Nuevas Libertades, Nuevas Esclavitudes
Facultad de Comunicación, Universidad de Sevilla
5 - 7 de abril de 2017
DEADLINES (propuestas de simposio): 15 de noviembre de 2016 | (resúmenes de ponencias): 12 de enero de 2017
De convocatoria al II Congreso Internacional Comunicación y Pensamiento son los El Laboratorio de Estudios en Comunicación (LADECOM) en colaboración con el grupo de investigación en Estructura, Historia y Contenidos de la Comunicación (GREHCCO), el Grupo Comunicar y la Asociación Cultural de Investigadores sobre Análisis de Medios, Imágenes y Relatos Audiovisuales (ADMIRA).
Esta vez nuestra propuesta es invitar a la reflexión en torno al uso de internet y las redes sociales como mecanismos imprescindibles de interacción en nuestros días. Esperamos para esta segunda edición del Congreso, la participación de investigadores/as en cualquier área relacionada con el Periodismo, la Comunicación Audiovisual, la Publicidad y las Relaciones Públicas, la Filosofía, la Pedagogía, el Derecho, la Antropología, la Sociología, u otras ramas análogas.
Las comunicaciones pueden entregarse tanto en inglés como en castellano y portugués.
Para esta segunda edición la Organización ha tenido a bien considerar las peticiones de muchos de los participantes de la edición anterior, y hemos situado el Congreso en fechas muy próximas a la Semana Santa, fiesta de interés turístico internacional (http://www.semana-santa.org). Esto hace más atractiva si cabe la visita a Sevilla, si bien es deseable que los viajes y reservas hoteleras se planifiquen con algo de antelación.
Puede ampliar información sobre los Simposios y Áreas Temáticas propuestas, así como las diferentes fórmulas de participación, en el documento "Call for Papers 2017", descargable desde este enlace.
Desde la Organización rogamos encarecidamente su colaboración reenviando esta información a las personas que considere pudieran estar interesadas en participar en el evento.
Puede acceder a la web del congreso con el resto de la información disponible en: http://comunicacionypensamiento.org
Legacies of Conquest: Transnational perspectives on the conquest and colonisation of Latin America
CRASSH, University of Cambridge
11-12 April 2017
DEADLINE 30 November 2016
Conveners
- Jenny Mander (University of Cambridge)
- David Midgley (University of Cambridge)
- Maya Feile Tomes (University of Cambridge)
Summary
The discovery of the ‘New World’ is one of the standard reference points for defining ‘modernity’ from a European perspective. It is also a historical event that has had manifest repercussions for the interaction of human cultures around the globe. This symposium will provide the opportunity for a comparative inquiry into the ways in which key aspects of the conquest and colonisation of Latin America by Europeans have been represented and transmitted in writing, in visual culture, and in performance culture down the centuries and across a range of national cultures.
Two keynote speakers will provide the symposium with perspectives that run beyond the European. Dr Stefanie Gänger (Assistant Professor at Cologne University) is the author of Relics of the Past. The Collecting and Studying of Pre-Columbian Antiquities in Peru and Chile, 1837–1911 (2014), and she will be speaking on the historical constraints on understanding the native cultures of Latin America through archaeology and ethnography. Professor João Cezar de Castro Rocha (Rio de Janeiro) is President of the Brazilian Association of Comparative Literature. His latest book is Shakespearean Cultures. The Challenge of Mimesis (forthcoming 2017), and he will speak on the role that reflections of European traditions have played within the development of Latin American cultures.
Call for papers
The aim of the conference is to discover, by comparing a selection of particular cases, where there is common ground among the national cultures of Europe and Latin America in the treatment of key issues, where there are significant differences, and what the nature of those differences is. Proposals from scholars at any career stage and with expertise in any relevant area,including areas of research that are currently in the process of development, will be welcome. We particularly invite contributions on cases that have presented themselves, within the cultures in which they have arisen, as innovative, provocative or controversial with regard to the long-term significance of the conquest and colonisation of Latin America. The following list is a guide to the broad areas that particularly interest us:
- Representations that relate to the perception of a utopian potential in the settlement of South America.
- Representations of the slave trade with Africa, particularly those that relate to the unsuccessful attempts to extend the principles of the French Revolution to the West Indies.
- Representations of the landscape of South America, its wild life and its indigenous human populations that relate to the accounts of European explorers from the 16th to the 20th century.
- Representations from within the cultures of Latin America, including the native cultures, that challenge or complement European treatments of the issues.
- Commemorative practices relating to historical events associated with the conquest, and the critical or revisionary approaches to established historiography that may be reflected in such practices.
Proposals, with an abstract no longer than 200 words please, should be sent to legaciesofconquest@gmail.com by 30 November 2016. Inquiries may be sent to the same address, or to any of the conveners.
This conference is being funded by CRASSH, the Modern Humanities Research Association, and the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages at Cambridge University. It is anticipated that a publication in a peer-reviewed series will arise from the symposium.
http://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/events/26941
Borders vs Bridges: (Trans)nationalism in the Americas since 1968
3rd Annual Conference
UCL
11-12 May 2017
DEADLINE 2 Demeber 2016
Keynote Speakers: Prof. Cathy McIlwaine (QMUL) & Dr. Nick Witham (UCL-IA)
For a long time, transnational trends have inspired social, political, economic and cultural transformations across the globe. In the Americas, and particularly since 1968, there have been numerous examples of bridge-building across borders. From Human Rights and transitional justice processes to solidarity movements and the international trade agreements of more recent times, building bridges between nations has been seen as a means of progress across the Americas.
Today, developments across the region seem to signal a 'centrifugal' tendency towards isolationism and nationalism. Propelled by complex social phenomena such as migration, human displacement, economic instability and political upheaval, many are turning to the erection of barriers - real and imagined - as a means to cope with uncertainty. In the US, discourses based on nationalism are on the rise...
Read more here:
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/americas/research-fields/uclia-resnet/cfp-resnet2017-final.pdf
Please send your abstracts of between 250-300 words to ia.americasresnet@ucl.ac.uk by 5pm on Friday 2nd December
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/americas/research-fields/index/edit/uclia-resnet
SCHOLARSHIPS / FUNDING / GRANTS / AWARDS / PRIZES
Spanish Film Club Grant
DEADLINE 15 October, 2016
Twice a year, Spanish Film Club offers grants to help universities bring the very best in contemporary Ibero American cinema to campuses and to introduce students to the language and cultures of these territories. Universities must choose a minimum of five films from a catalog of more than 40 titles to create a film festival on campus. Representing 21 countries, the films have been carefully selected by a team of experts and are backed by the most important festivals and film critics.
New films this cycle include award-winning titles like The Second Mother (Brazil), Ixcanul (Guatemala, France), True Smile (Spain), A Moonless Night (Uruguay, Argentina), Everybody Leaves (Colombia), 3 Beauties (Venezuela), The Boss, Anatomy Of A Crime (Argentina, Venezuela), The Travel Agent (Cuba, Spain, Italy), The Country Of Fear (Spain), Guarani (Paraguay, Argentina), Nn (Peru). Other Acclaimed Titles Include The Liberator (Venezuela), Mr. Kaplan (Uruguay), Bad Hair (Venezuela), Chico & Rita (Spain), Who Is Dayani Cristal? (Mexico), And 7 Boxes (Paraguay).
Grants cover between 30% and 50% of the costs. And you will get programming advice, as well as the possibility of scheduling a Q&A with a filmmaker. If you would like to apply, or just to learn more about the program, please fill out the online application form: https://pragda.com/spanish-film-club/.
JOBS / INTERNSHIPS / STUDENTSHIPS / FELLOWSHIPS
Research Associate
University of Sheffield - Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Full Time, Fixed-term 2 years, £29,847 Per annum
Ref: UOS014477
DEADLINE 12 October 2016
An exciting opportunity has arisen for Research Associates to work in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities and Faculty of Social Science in English, History, Urban Studies & Planning and the Sheffield Institute for International Development.
The Department of Urban Studies and Planning (USP) is a global leader in planning research and teaching, with ambitious plans for future development. We are widely recognised as a centre of international research excellence, reflected in our high level performance in successive Research Assessment Exercises. The results of the 2014 Research Excellence Framework confirm the Department’s position as a world class centre for research into urban issues. The Department has a distinctive mode of operation and outlook. Our success to date has been built on a tradition of collegiality and a deeply embedded, shared commitment to excellence.
You will make a significant contribution to the project ‘War in peacetime: Investigating urban violence and social trauma’. The main aim of this project is to examine life in cities experiencing high levels of violence in non-war contexts with investigations in both high and low violent crime cities in Europe, the USA and Latin America. The project will offer an analysis of the roots of violence, as well as community-based interventions and policies effective in increasing the relative peace of community life.
The posts offer excellent opportunities for publications, project visits and conference trips. Candidates must have, or be close to completing, a PhD or have equivalent experience; as well as a good track record of successful research writing. In addition to this, candidates need to have experience of and skills in conducting research relevant to the project. Experience and knowledge of interdisciplinary research and funded research projects is highly desirable.
To apply, please use this link.
Assistant Professor in International Relations
Pontifical Catholic University of Chile - Institute of Political Science (ICP)
Permanent, Full Time
DEADLINE 17 October 2016
The Institute of Political Science (ICP) of the Pontiicia Universidad Católica de Chile invites applications for a full-time tenure-track position as Assistant Professor in International Relations. We welcome applicants with diverse regional focuses. The University strongly values diversity and we encourage members of all nationalities and backgrounds to apply.
The ICP is among the highest ranked political science departments in Latin America. Comprised of a highly international group of scholars, it is a hub of theoretical, empirical and applied research in the region. The ICP o‑ers undergraduate, M.A. and Ph.D. programs. It admits the most talented Chilean students to its undergraduate and graduate programs, and hosts a large number of exchange students and a steady stream of visiting professors from all over the world. Santiago is a vibrant metropolitan area and a short drive from Chile’s renowned pacific coast and spectacular Andean mountain range.
Applicants must demonstrate a strong commitment to high quality research, publication and teaching. Teaching obligations are limited to three courses per year. Fluency in Spanish is valued, but candidates who express the willingness to perfect basic proficiency are encouraged to apply. The ICP offers financial support for language classes and courses may initially be taught in English.
Salary is competitive and complemented by research grants, travel stipends, and support for international exchanges. Applicants must hold a Ph.D. degree in Political Science (or its equivalent). ABDs are welcome to apply as long as they obtain their degree by the position’s starting date.
Applications should include a personal letter, curriculum vitae and a writing sample (journal article, book or dissertation chapter) that provides evidence of research performance. Applicants should also include teaching evaluations and course syllabi to assess teaching potential, graduate transcripts, an official copy of their B.A., M.A, and Ph. D. degrees, and three letters of recommendation.
Please direct informal inquiries or application packages (in either English or Spanish) via e-mail to Carsten-Andreas Schulz (searchicp@uc.cl), Chair of the Search Committee until October 17th, 2016. The position’s starting date is March 1st, 2017.
Research Fellow
University of Surrey - School of English and Languages
Full Time, 3 year contract
Ref: 071416
DEADLINE 30 October 2016
Interview Date: Wednesday 30 November 2016
The School of English and Languages is seeking to appoint a post-doctoral Research Fellow for a three-year Arts and Humanities Research Council funded project “Seri verbs: multiple complexities”. The project investigators are Matthew Baerman (Surrey), Carolyn O’Meara (National Autonomous University of Mexico) and Patricia Cabredo Hofherr (Centre national de la recherche scientifique, France).
The project involves the study of Seri, a language isolate spoken by approximately 900 people on the Sonoran coast in Mexico. In particular, we will be investigating the verbal system, which is noteworthy for two reasons. First, it is characterized by an extraordinary degree of morphological complexity: by our estimate, there are over 500 morphologically distinct inflection classes. Second, the categories underlying this system are themselves typologically interesting, involving the parallel marking of subject and event number whose interaction we seek to clarify. This project thus offers the opportunity to explore the relationship between complex morphology and a rich system of morphosyntactic and semantic properties.
The successful candidate should have experience in language description, and the elicitation and analysis of spoken language data, and be willing to engage in fieldwork in Mexico (which will also require a command of Spanish). A background in morphology, typology or semantics would be a plus. Candidates must have the ability to work independently while functioning as part of a research team. The position is available from 01 February 2017.
Information about the Surrey Morphology Group and their current research projects is available at http://www.smg.surrey.ac.uk/.
Applications should be submitted using the online form at the application website (https://jobs.surrey.ac.uk). Informal enquiries may be made to Dr Matthew Baerman (m.baerman@surrey.ac.uk).
We acknowledge, understand and embrace diversity.