Spring 2008

Symposia & Conferences

BRASA IX
Tulane University
March 27 - 29, 2008
Tulane University is proud to host the Brazilian Studies Association IX international conference in New Orleans Louisiana this year. Check out the website: http://www.brasa.org/ for more information.

Virtual Caribbeans
Tulane University
February 27- March 1, 2008
The Cuban and Caribbean Studies Institute at Tulane University, in conjunction with the Stone Center for Latin American Studies, is pleased to announce Virtual Caribbeans, to be held in New Orleans, Louisiana February 27 - March 1, 2008. A Conference on Representation, Diaspora, and Performance in and on the Caribbean. Please visit: <http://cuba.tulane.edu/events.html> for more information.

Fifth Annual Maya Symposium and Workshop: Sacred Cenotes, Hidden Caverns: Rituals, Beliefs, and Everyday Life Relating to Caves and Cenotes Among the Maya
Tulane University
February 15- February 17, 2007
We invite you to join us on February 15-17, 2008 as we explore the physical and sacred geography of the Maya region, Maya origin stories and beliefs focusing on caves and cenotes, and rituals associated with these locales.  For more information, contact Denise Woltering or visit: http://stonecenter.tulane.edu/MayaSymposium/

TUCLA V Annual Tulane Undergraduate Conference on Latin America
Saturday, December 1, 2007, 9:00 AM -4:00 PM
Jones Hall, Rooms 102 & 108
The Stone Center’s annual TUCLA conference is an interdisciplinary undergraduate symposium in which seniors from the Latin American Studies core seminar present their individual research projects.  TUCLA is designed to provide LAST undergraduates with an opportunity to present papers in the style and atmosphere of an academic conference with faculty discussants.  We invite students, faculty, administrators and the public to attend this year’s V annual conference Dec. 1, 2007 and to discuss the panelists’ research with them.  This event is free and open to the public.  This event is sponsored by the Stone Center for Latin American Studies. For more information contact Edie Wolfe at lastadv@tulane.edu or Jimmy Huck at jhuck@tulane.edu. To see the conference schedule, paper abstracts and participant biographies, click here.

Department of Spanish & Portuguese Graduate Colloquium
November 8-9 , 2007
The Department of Spanish & Portuguese presents a two-day Colloquium which includes a performance of La Vida Loca by Carlos Manuel, two roundtable discussions and a lecture by Dr. Solomon from the University of Pennsylvania. Click here for a complete schedule of events. For more information contact Nilda Rivera at nrivera@tulane.edu.

Media and Democratization in Latin America
Lavin-Bernick Center, Stibbs 203, Tulane University
November 2, 2007
10am - 5pm
The seminar will gather a selected group of scholars from seven different countries to discuss the role of the mass media in processes of democratization in Latin America. There will be three different panels and attendance is free and open to the general public. For more information, contact Professor Mauro Porto at mporto@tulane.edu.

Summer Research Symposium
Greenleaf Conference Room, Jones 100A, Tulane University
October 20, 2007
Graduate students who received summer research grants through the Stone Center will present their experiences. The event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Professor Jimmy Huck at jhuck@tulane.edu.

LAGO Graduate Student Conference
Lavin-Bernick Center, Race 201, Tulane University
October 12-13, 2007
The Stone Center's Latin American Graduate Organization (LAGO) is presenting a paper conference. Graduate students from Tulane and other universities will present on different Latin American themes such as Identity and Class, Health and Development, Neopopulism, Violence and Latin American Arts. Click here for a complete schedule of events. The conference is free and open to the public. For more information, contact lagoconference@gmail.com.

Seminars & Films

International Human Rights Film Festival
April 9 - 20, 2008
The Stone Center for Latin American Studies is sponsoring film from Latin America at this year's festival. Click here for the full schedule.

Third Brazil-US Colloquium on Communication Studies: Global Spaces and Borders: Towards Unified and Interdisciplinary Studies of Communication
March 25 - 26, 2008
The study of communication has always been an interdisciplinary endeavor, its roots located in the humanities and social sciences. The Third Brazil-U.S. Colloquium will thus focus on the spaces of convergence that make for a unified study of communication, from geographic and regional comparisons to shared models for communication research. Located in the city of New Orleans, which itself sits both geographically and culturally between the U.S. and the Caribbean, the colloquium asks its participants to consider: What are the points of our mutual convergences and the borders that still separate and delineate communication scholarship in the current moment? Click here for full schedule.

LATIN AMERICAN FILM SERIES
All films are free and are sponsored by the Stone Center for Latin American Studies and the Cuban and Caribbean Studies Institute. For more information please contact Natalia Porto <nporto@tulane.edu> To view the flyer for each movie, click on the title.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008, 7:00 PM
“O ano em que meus pais sairam de ferias” (Brazil, d. Cao Hamburger) / Jones 102

Wednesday, March 5, 2008, 7:00 PM
“XXY” (Argentina, 2007, d. Lucía Puenzo) / Jones 102

Wednesday, March 12, 2008, 7:00 PM
"Fuga" (Chile, 2006, d. Pablo Larraín) / Jones 102

Wednesday, April 2, 2008, 7:00 PM
"Tropa de elite" (Brazil, 2007, d. José Padilha) / Jones 102

Wednesday, April 9, 2008, 7:00 PM
"Play" (Chile, 2006, d.  Alicia Scherson) / Jones 102

Wednesday, April 16, 2008, 7:00 PM
"Familia Rodante " (Argentina, 2004, d. Pablo Tropero) / Jones 102

Wednesday, April 23, 2008, 7:00 PM
"Madrigal" (Cuba, 2007, d. Fernando Pérez) / Jones 102

Student Events 

TULASO Elections and Movie Night
Thursday, May 1, 2008, 6:45 PM-9:00 PM
Jones Hall 100A
The Tulane Undergraduate Latin American Studies Organization (TULASO) invites you to participate in the organization’s Executive Committee elections for the 2008-2009 Academic Year.  Elections are open to all TULASO members.  If you are not currently a TULASO member, come and sign up to become one!  

Capoeira Demonstration and Class
Monday, April 28, 2008, 7:30 PM-8:30 PM
Lakside Room, Reily Student Recreation Center
Capoeira is a Brazilian martial art characterized by music, rhythm, kicks, dodging and subterfuge. It was originally developed in the 16th century by Angolan slaves in Brazil.  Some scholars argue that capoeira emerged as a way to conceal the fact that slaves were practicing to fight (against their owners), concealing it with a seemingly happy dance routine. This explains why today's capoeira appears to be a mix of both fighting techniques and flowing artful dance. Come and join us for a fun evening and wear comfortable clothes that you can move easily in. This event is sponsored by the Tulane Undergraduate Latin American Studies Organization (TULASO) and the Stone Center for Latin American Studies.

PACHANGA
Friday, February 8, 2008, 4:30 PM-6:30 PM
Jones Hall Patio
Please join us for the first Pachanga of the Spring semester in the patio of Jones Hall. The event, hosted by TULASO (Tulane University Latin American Student Organization) is free and open to the public. Come and enjoy music by one of New Orleans' finest latin bands, Vivaz. Food and drinks will be available.

LAGO Soccer Tournament
Sunday, November 18, 2007, 10:00 AM-5:00 PM
Soccer Field between Mcalister and Audubon Place, behind LBC
Get ready for the 2nd Annual soccer tournament, hosted by the Latin American Graduate Organization! We welcome teams of 8-9 to sign up before November 4th. Click here to complete the registration form. Everyone is welcome to come watch and support the teams. Update: View photos from the soccer tournament.

TULASO School of the Americas Protest Trip
November 17-18, 2007
Fort Benning, GA
The Tulane Undergraduate Latin American Studies Organization will travel to Fort Benning, GA to join thousands of students and activists in the annual protest to close the School of the Americas (now the “Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation.”)  To participate in the event or for more information contact Amy Brown at Abrown6@tulane.edu

Pachanga en el Patio with OTRA
Friday, November 16, 2007 4:30 PM – 6:30 PM
Jones Hall Patio
The Stone Center for Latin American Studies and the Tulane Undergraduate Latin American Studies Organization (TULASO) invite you to the final pachanga of the fall Semester.  Come enjoy tacos and beverages and Otra’s Afro-Cuban grooves with fellow LAST undergrads, faculty and Stone Center staff.  This event is free and open to the public.  For more information contact Edie Wolfe, ewolfe@tulane.edu or 865-5164.

Grant Writing Workshop for Graduate Students
Friday, October 19, 2007, 12:00 PM-2:00 PM
Greenleaf Conference Room, 100 Jones Hall
Justin Wolfe from the History Department will give a Q&A workshop for graduate students on how to write a successful grant application. This is extremely useful for students looking to receive Stone Center funding this summer as well as students looking to apply for money from outside foundations as well. Please come and bring your questions! A pizza lunch will be provided courtesy of LAGO. Please RSVP to Lauren Nussbaum at lauren.nussbaum@gmail.com.

Pachanga with Fredy Omar con su Bandita
Friday, September 28 , 2007, 4:30 PM - 7:00 PM
Jones Hall Patio
Please join us for the first Pachanga of the school year in the patio of Jones Hall. The event, hosted by TULASO (Tulane University Latin American Student Organization) is free and open to the public. Food and drinks will be available.

New Graduate Student Orientation
August 27-28, 2007
Please see schedule for more information or contact the Stone Center.

Lectures

“Belize and the Central American Federation, 1821-1839”Lecture by Dr Herman Byrd .
Tuesday April 29, 2008, 3:00 - 4:00 PM
Howard-Tilton Memorial Library, Latin American Library, Seminar Room 4th floor
Dr. Herman Byrd is a 2007-2008 Richard E. Greenleaf Fellow from the University of Belize.  The copious literature on the territorial dispute between Guatemala and Belize focuses considerable attention on Guatemala’s mid-1940s declaration that its 1859 boundary treaty with Great Britain was “null and void.”  However, recently Guatemala shifted the basis of its stance, arguing that half of Belize was an integral part of Verapaz and that, after 1821, Belize came under the jurisdiction of the Central American Federation and then later the Republic of Guatemala. Given that recent works have allotted little attention to the pre-1859 period, a study of the status of Belize in relation to the Federation is needed to fill a gap and shed light on Guatemala’s new contention.  After providing an update on the recent efforts to resolve the long-standing border dispute, Dr. Byrd will examine Guatemala’s recent contention that Belize was a part of Verapaz and, by extension, the Audiencia of Guatemala, and review the relationship that developed between Belize and the Central American Federation.  Dr. Byrd has been an Assistant Professor of Belizean History and Education Studies at the University of Belize since 2005. Before that he served for many years as editor and then co-editor of Belizean Studies, the country’s leading academic journal, and as an administrator at St. John’s College. Admission is free of charge and open to the public. Refreshments will follow the talk. This event is made possible through an endowment from Tulane Emeritus Professor Richard E. Greenleaf.  For more information please contact the Latin American Library, lal@tulane.edu or 865-5681. 

“El Puente:  Transnationalism Among Cubans of English-Speaking Caribbean Descent” Seminar on Historical Change and Social theory given by Andrea Queeley.
Monday April 28, 2008, 6:00 - 8:00 PM
Greenleaf Conference Room, Jones Hall 100A
Join us for the final session of the Spring 2008 semester with a paper presented by Andrea Queeley, Zemurray-Stone Post Doc (Anthropology).  Papers are pre-circulated.  This event is being hosted by the Stone Center for Latin American Studies, and sponsored by the Department of History and the Department of Political Science. A reception will follow.

"Nexos musicoculturales Cuba-Nueva Orleans-Estados Unidos en aspectos medulares de su trasfondo histórico" Lecture by Cuban professor Dr. Danilo Orozco
Monday April 28, 2008, 3:00 - 4:30 PM
Howard-Tilton Memorial Library, Latin American Library, Seminar Room 4th floor
Dr. Orozco is professor, researcher and consultant at the Instituto Cubano de la Música and at the Universidad de las Artes (ISA) in Habana, Cuba.  He also directs the Taller Musicológico Multitemático de la Habana for advanced students and scholars.  He has published five books and many articles on Cuban and global music, links between Classical European and Latin American music and, more recently, on music and culture within the framework of globalization and post-modernity. The lecture will be delivered in Spanish.

"Marcus Garvey, The UNIA, and the Hidden Political History of African Americans" Lecture by Steven Hahn
Thursday April 24, 2008, 4:00 - 5:30 PM
Gibson Hall 216
Steven Hahn is the author of the Pulitzer Prize winning book, A Nation Under Our Feet:  Black Political Struggles in the Rural South from Slavery to the Great Migration (Harvard University Press, 2003).  Admission is free of charge and open to the public. 

"Education, Earnings, Welfare, and Gender in Honduras"
Tuesday April 22, 2008, 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Greenleaf Conference Room, Jones Hall 100A
Authors present an overview of results from two empirical papers based on the 2004 MECOVI survey of 31,000 Hondurans.  The first paper examines school cost and household characteristics as determinants of school enrollment. The second paper estimates returns to education in Honduras. This paper focuses on the average rate of return to schooling and the returns to each level of schooling that an individual completes. It also analyzes differential returns on the basis of gender and geographic area of residence (rural or urban). Critique and comments are by Cristián Aedo of the World Bank Task Manager for Education in Honduras.  This event is being sponsored by Tulane University Department of Economics and the Stone Center for Latin American Studies.  Admission is free of charge and open to the public.  For advanced copies of papers email John Edwards, edwards@tulane.edu, write “Honduras Paper Request” in the subject line.

Model OAS Presentation
Monday April 21, 2008, 5:30 - 7 PM
Greenleaf Conference Room, Jones Hall 100A
The undergraduate Tulane/Panama Model OAS team will hold a debriefing and panel presentation on their experiences at the Model Organization of American States Conference in Washington, D.C., April 6-12^th.  Admission is free of charge and open to the public.  This event is being sponsored by the Stone Center for Latin American Studies.  For more information please contact Maureen Long at mlong2@tulane.edu.

Into the Community: Religion and Social Change among Women in Nicaragua
Thursday April 17, 2008, 1:00 PM
Anna Mae Lounge, Newcomb College Center for Research on Women
Christine Hernandez, a visiting fellow at the Newcomb College Center for Research on Women will present her lecture this Thursday on the intersection of religion and social change in the lives of women in Nicaragua, both foreign and native, prior to the revolution of 1979.

Social Experiments and Indigenous Education in Mexico
Friday March 14, 2008, 3:30 - 5 PM
The Latin American Library Semianr Room, Howard-Tilton Library
Marco Calderón will give an informal talk this Friday. He is currently the Richard Greenleaf Library Fellow. He is professor and researcher at the Centro de Estudios Antropológicos, El Colegio de Michoacán, México. He holds a Ph.D in Anthropology from the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Unidad Iztapalapa, Mexico City, with a dissertation on History and Political Processes in Cheran and Sierra P'urhepecha. He has published widely on political violence and local elections in Mexico, and on political culture and state transformation in Latin America.  In 2002-03 he was a visiting scholar in History at Cambridge University at the Center for Latin American Studies. For more information please contact the Latin American Library 504-865-5681.

“Mi Canto Nace en el Campo:  Traditional Music, Regional Identity, and Transnational Connections in Aisén, Chile” Guest Speaker Gregory Robinson
Wednesday, March 12, 2008, 12:30 PM
Dixon Hall 201
Gregory Robinson is in the process of completing his dissertation, "Entre Gauchos No Hay Fronteras Traditional Music, Aesthetics, and the Transnational in Chilean Patagonia,"at the University of Pennsylvania. In the region of Aisen, in southern Chile, musicians and listeners lay claim to Argentine popular music from the early twentieth century and treat it as local traditional music. Gregory's dissertation interrogates the frameworks Aiseninos use to cast this music as local tradition. It outlines the ways locals use music to construct regional and transnational identifications and narratives of heritage, and discusses how these narratives contest a homogenizing Chilean national discourse on culture.

An Evening with Ned Sublette, author of "The World that Made New Orleans:
From Spanish Silver to Congo Square"
Tuesday, March 4, 2008, 6:00 PM-7:30 PM
Greenleaf Conference Room, Jones Hall 100A
Ned Sublette is a New York-based writer, photographer, producer, and musician. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Miami Herald, The Nation, American Legacy, World Policy Journal, Vibe and Counterpunch. His first book "Cuba and Its Music: From the First Drums to the Mambo" received the ASCAP Deems Taylor Award in 2005. He has recorded several albums, including Cowboy Rumba (Palm Pictures, 1999). As a producer, he has worked with Los Muñequitos de Matanzas, Los Van Van, Maraca y Otra Visión, Viento de Agua, Adewale Ayuba, and Kanda Bongo Man. In 2006, Willie Nelson recorded his song “Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly.” In 2004-2005 he was a Rockefeller Humanities Fellow at Tulane University.

“Masters of the Trade: Native Artisans and the Construction of Colonial Quito” Monday, February 25, 2008, 6:00 PM-7:30 PM
Tulane University’s Woldenberg Art Center, Room 210
Please join us as we explore the role of indigenous master artists andarchitects in the construction of colonial Quito, Ecuador. Dr. Susan V.Webster, professor of Art History and American Studies at the College of William and Mary, will present work from her forthcoming book entitled Building Colonial Quito: Architects, Patrons, and the Profession, 1600- 1750. Dr. Webster’s research has been instrumental in developing a more complete understanding of the role of confraternities in the creation of art and architecture in both the Americas and Europe. Her groundbreaking exploration of the genre of early-modern processional statues in Art and Ritual in Golden Age Spain as well as more recent work, including an article entitled “Confraternities as Patrons of Architecture in Colonial Quito, Ecuador,” has been instrumental in bringing various disciplines together to appreciate the convergence of the visual arts and social history. The lecture is free and open to the public. This event is sponsored by the Art History Graduate Association with gracious support from the Graduate Studies Student Association, The Stone Center for Latin American Studies and the Newcomb Art Department. For more information contact Derek Burdette at dburdett@tulane.edu.

"The Whole Truth:  Reflections on Fifty Years of Maya Cave and Cenote Research"
Guest Speaker George E. Stuart
Friday, February 15, 2008, 7:00 PM-8:00 PM
Woldenberg Art Center, Freeman Auditorium
The modern age of exploration, documentation, and interpretation of cenotes and caverns in the Maya area began in earnest with work carried out at Dzibilchaltun and Balankanche Cave, Yucatán, a half century ago under the direction of E. Wyllys Andrews IV of Tulane University. The discovery of Naj Tunich cave in Guatemala in 1979 led to broader studies of Maya sacred geography by James Brady, Andrea Stone, and others. Dr. Stuart participated in each of these discoveries and will share his experiences on those occasions in a talk supplemented by photographs of those endeavors, many of which have never been published. This event is free and open to the public.

"The Ontogeny of a Feral Forest:  Maya Domestic Gardens as Biodiversity Hotspots"
Guest Speaker Dr. David Campbell
Thursday, February 14, 2008, 12:00 PM
Alcee Fortier 301
Dr. David Campbell is a Henry R Luce Professor in Nations and the Global Environment and Chair, Environmental Studies. Dr Campbell is the acclaimed author of The Ephemeral Islands, The Crystal Desert, Islands in Space in Time, and A Land of Ghosts. His accomplishments have been merited with a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Burroughs Medal, the PEN Martha Albrand Award for Nonfiction, the Houghton Mifflin Literary Fellowship Award, and the 2005 Lannan Award for Nonfiction.  This event is being sponsored by the Environmental Studies Program, the Stone Center for Latin American Studies and the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.  Admission is free of charge and open to the public. For more information please call the EEB Department at 865-5191 or visit their website at http://www.eebio.tulane.edu.

"La civilizada selva: Jazz and Latin American Vanguards"
Guest Speaker Jason Borge
Friday, February 8, 2008, 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Greenleaf Conference Room
Jason Borge is Assistant Professor of Latin American Literature at Vanderbilt University. He is the author of Latin American Writers and the Rise of Hollywood Cinema (Routledge, 2008) and editor of Avances de Hollywood: Crítica cinematográfica en Latinoamérica (Beatriz Viterbo, 2005). He published extensively on cinema, film criticism, soccer, music, and  avantgarde literature in Latin America.

"Latin American Cosmopolitanism: Chronicles of Paris 1900”
Guest Speaker María Alejandra Uslenghi
Monday, January 28, 2008, 4:45 - 6:00 PM
Greenleaf Conference Room
María Alejandra Uslenghi holds a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from New York University is  currently Visiting Assistant Professor of Spanish at Northwestern University. She is the author of numerous articles on Latin American literature and visual culture. Her current research focuses on Latin American participation in the universal exhibitions of the late 19th century. Sponsored by the Spanish and Portugese Department.

"Indigenism Retouched"
Guest Speaker Jose Falconi
Tuesday, January 22, 2008, 10:00 - 11:15 AM
Greenleaf Conference Room
Jose Luis Falconi is a PhD candidate in Romance Studies at Harvard University and curator of Latin American and Latino Art. He is the co-editor of The Other Latinos and A Principality of its Own (DRCLAS-Harvard UP) and author of numerous articles about Latin American literature and visual culture. Sponsored by the Spanish and Portugese Department.

"The Latino Imaginary: Meanings of Community and Identity"
Guest Speaker Juan Flores
Tuesday, November 27, 2007, 5:00 PM
Lavin-Bernick Center, Room 201
Juan Flores teaches and writes about Puerto Rican and Latina/o culture, diaspora and transnational communities, and the sociology of popular culture, with a special focus on Latino cultural history in New York City.  He is currently professor of Latino Studies in the Department of Social and Cultural Analysis at New York University, and is a member of the Department of Africana and Puerto Rican/Latino Studies at Hunter College and the Sociology Program at the CUNY Graduate Center.  He has been a member of the Board of Directors of the New York State Council for the Humanities, the New York City Academy of History, and Recovering the Hispanic Literary Heritage.  His book publications include Poetry in East Germany, The Insular Vision, Divided Borders: Essays on Puerto Rican Identity, La venganza de Cortijo, and From Bomba To Hip-Hop: Puerto Rican Culture and Latino Identity.  Prof. Flores is also the translator of Memoirs of Bernardo Vega, the single most important source on the early history of Latinos in New York City, and of the chronicle Cortijo's Wake/El entierro de Cortijo by Edgardo Rodríguez Juliá.  He is co-editor with Jean Franco and George Yúdice of On Edge: The Crisis of Contemporary Latin American Culture and of the book series Cultural Studies of the Americas with the University of Minnesota Press.  The Blackwell Companion to Latino Studies, which co-edited with Renato Rosaldo, has just been published in Fall 2007.  His current book projects are Boogaloo y otros guisos, The Diaspora Strikes Back: Cultural Challenges of Transnational Communities, and Afro-Latin@s in the United States: A Reader, all forthcoming in 2008-2009.  This event is sponsored by the Stone Center for Latin American Studies as part of the Distinguished Greenleaf Professor of Latin American Studies Series.  Admission is free and open to the public.  For more information, contact rtsclas@tulane.edu or 865-5164.

American Empire in Latin America and The Middle East
Monday, November 26, 2007, 6:30-8:00 PM
Lavin-Bernick Center, Room 203
American military, political, economic and cultural power has played a key role in the recent histories of both Latin America and the Middle East. Historians have long commented on both these experiences and the lessons learned (or, more often, ignored). In the context of the debates on the war in Iraq, the upcoming presidential elections, impending decisions in the Supreme Court on terrorism and constitutional rights, and the 60th anniversary of the creation of the CIA, this roundtable presentation and discussion will bring to the fore issues vital to the wider public and offer a forum that is sure to spark debate. Moreover, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, questions about federal responsiveness and the balance between domestic and international policy priorities have taken on a particular local resonance. 

The Historiographic Body of Chicana History: Text and Context
LBC Room 202–Rechler Room, Tulane University
Tuesday, November 20 at 5:00 pm
Antonia Castañeda was born in Tejas and raised in the Yakima Valley in the State of Washington. She received her BA and MA degrees from Western Washington State College and the University of Washington respectively, and her Ph.D. in U.S. History at Stanford University.  She recently retired from her position as Associate Professor of History at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio. Before joining the faculty at St. Mary’s, Professor Castañeda held teaching appointments in Chicano Studies and Women’s Studies at the University of California in Santa Barbara and in the Department of History at the University of Texas at Austin. She is the author of numerous articles, including the prizing winning “Women of Color and the Re-Writing of Western History.”   Her most recent work is the edited volume, Gender on the Borderlands: The Frontiers Reader (University of Nebraska Press, 2006), With Dr. Deena González, Professor Castañeda is co-editor of the Chicana Matters Series with the University of Texas Press. She is a member of the Scholars Advisory Board of the Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage Project and of the Recovering the Hispanic Texas History Project.  She is active in the community, served two terms on the Board of Directors of the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center and on the Texas Humanities Council; served as Chair of Hispanas Unidas, volunteers with the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, and is a founding member of MALCS (Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social). Dr. Castañeda received the NACCS Scholar of the Year award from the National Association of Chicana and Chicano Studies, 2007.      

For a Utopian Memory:  Literary Power to the Powerless in Historical Novel
Greenleaf Conference Room, 100A Jones Hall, Tulane University
November 16, 2007 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM
Elsa Drucaroff, Instituto Superior del Profesorado Joaquín V. González and Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Bueno Aires will give a lecture on Literary power in historical novels. Elsa Drucaroff is an acclaimed novelist, journalist, and literary critic in Argentina This event is sponsored by the Stone Center for Latin American Studies and the Department of Spanish and Portuguese.  Admission is free and open to the public.  For more information contact Christopher Dunn in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at cjdunn@tulane.edu or 865-5519.

Lecture by Professor Laura Pérez on Chicana Art
204 Jones Hall, Tulane University
November 14, 2007 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Laura Pérez is a professor in the Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of California Berkeley, concentrates on her recent publication “Chicana Art: the politics of spiritual and aesthetic altarities”.  Admission is free and open to the public.  This event is sponsored by the Stone Center for Latin American Studies.  For more information contact Anna Frachou, afrachou@tulane.edu or the Stone Center for Latin American Studies, 865-5164.

Traveling into the unknown: Women’s Cinema and the Post-Yugoslav, post-socialist, and post-feminist space
Greenleaf Conference Room, 100A Jones Hall
November 14, 2007 5:00-7:00 PM
Professor Gordana Crnkovic from the University of Washington will present a lecture on the issues of feminism, cinema made by women, and the post-Yugoslav space.  It will revolve around several Slovenian films from the post-socialist and post-Yugoslav era, and their treatment of gender and "borders." It will discuss in particular the challenges to feminist visual theorizing posed by the recent “lesbian road film” Varuh Meje ["Guardian of the Border", 2002], directed by a young Slovenian woman film-maker Maja Weiss.  In the second part of this talk, Prof. Crnkovic will discuss her role in the making of the experimental video, Zagreb Everywhere (2001), shown at a number of national and international venues. Crnkovic wrote and read texts of different genres for this video, and will discuss the making of this video as well as the vision of this piece in regard to the issues of transition, loss, feminism, and travels into the unknown.  Admission is free and open to the public.  This event is sponsored by the Newcomb Center and Dean’s Office, SLA and is being hosted by the Stone Center for Latin American Studies.  For more information contact Christopher Dunn in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at cjdunn@tulane.edu or 865-5519.

An Evening with Brazilian Author Conceição Evaristo
Greenleaf Conferenc Room, 100A Jones Hall, Tulane University
November 6 , 2007 6:30-8:00 PM
Conceição Evaristo was born in Belo Horizonte in the state of Minas Gerais and she is a professor of Brazilian literature at the Catholic University in Rio de Janeiro (PUR/RJ). An accomplished Afro-Brazilian writer, her work has been published in the following anthologies: various issues of Cadernos Negros; Vozes de Mulheres (1991); Schwartze Prose; prosa negra-Afrobrasilianische Erzählungen der Gergenwart (1993); Moving Beyond Boundaries. International Dimension of Black Women Writing (1995); Us, Contemporary Black Brazilian Women Writers (1995); Callaloo, vol. 18
number 4 (1995). She is also featured in Fourteen Female Voices From Brazil
(Host Publications, 2002). The lecture is co-sponsored by the Stone Center for Latin American Studies, the Brazilian Studies Council, and the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Ceremonias: A Photographic-Spritual Journey Through Santería
Greenleaf Conferenc Room, 100A Jones Hall, Tulane University
October 30, 2007 6:30 PM
The Cuban & Caribbean Studies Institute and CubaNOLA Collective invite you to meet Cuban photographar Héctor Delgado Pérez. Héctor Delgado Pérez has been documenting Afro-Cuban religions for two decades. Using his own photos he will speak about five Regla de Ocha (Santería) ceremonies: la misa espiritual (Spiritist Mass), the Cajón a los Muertos (a ceremony that brings down spirits from the past), a Violon to Ochun, Receiving the Necklaces, and the Asiento, various days in initiation of a santero. Delgado will be accompanied by translater Alan West Durán, a santero and the subject depicted in some of Delgado's photographs. The lecture is sponsored by the Cuban & Caribbean Studies Institute and is free and open to the public.

The Art of Gold in the Pre-Columbian World
Old U.S. Mint
400 Esplanade Ave.
October 25, 2007 6:00 PM
Sponsored by the Louisiana State Museum and the Stone Center for Latin American Studies, Professor John Verano, who has participated in the excavation of several of Peru’s richest tombs, will illustrate some of the impressive achievements made by ancient New World metallurgists. This lecture will explore the history of gold and metal work of Peru and highlight the current exhibit on gold at the museum. More information on the exhibit and museum hours can be found here. Pre-register for all events on their website.

Free Trade Agreements: Strengthening Our Partnerships
Greenleaf Conference Room, 100A Jones Hall, Tulane University
October 23, 2007 10:00-11:00 am
Lecture by U.S. Ambassador Charles Shapiro.  Ambassador Shapiro will give his lecture, and then will be available for questions and discussion. 

Identidad y globalización en el teatro de carnaval
Greenleaf Conference Room, 100A Jones Hall, Tulane University
October 19, 2007 3:30-5:00
Lecture by Isabel Sans, a Visiting Assistant Professor of Spanish at Tulane University. This event is sponsored by the Department of Spanish and Portuguese and is being hosted by the Stone Center for Latin American Studies. Admission is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Christopher Dunn, Dept. of Spanish and Portuguese at 865-5519 or cjdunn@tulane.edu.

Fourth Annual Celebración Latina
April 6th , 2008 12 pm- 6pm
Laurence Square , Magazine St & Napoleon Ave
The Stone Center for Latin American Studies’ Latin American Resource Center, Hispanic Apostolate, and the New Olreans Library will host the 4th annual Celebración Latina to provide children and families of New Orleans with a fun introduction to the cultures of Latin America through interactive music and dance performances, arts and crafts, and local consulate members of Latin American countries. In addition, this free event will provide the New Orleans and the Latino community with information about services provided for the continued clean-up and rebuilding of New Orleans and educational opportunities offered throughout the city.

Bringing Day of the Dead into the Community: A Celebration of Culture
October 27, 2007 1 pm
Louisiana State Museum's Cabildo, Jackson Square
The Stone Center for Latin American Studies’ Latin American Resource Center, Tulane University and The Louisiana State Museum collaborate to celebrate Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) or as it is known in New Orleans, “All Souls Day.” This celebration and workshop will introduce teachers, families and the public to the history and tradition behind this Mexican holiday. Local artists will explain how to build an altar in the classroom and scholars will trace the importance of this tradition through time and culture. There will be a resource table showcasing teaching resources and arts & crafts activities to help teachers bring Day of the Dead into the classroom as well as presenting families and kids how to make the different crafts popular to this tradition. Please rsvp for this event by October 25. Check out the postcard.