Symposia & Conferences

SECOLAS 56th Annual Conference
Crisis and Recovery in the Americas
Hilton-Riverside
April 16 -18, 2009
Click here for the program.

Re/Viewing the Revolution: Fresh Perspectives on Cuba 1959-2009
Thursday April 9
9:30 am - 5:00 pm
Greenleaf Conference Room 100 Jones Hall

9:30 A.M. – 10:15 A.M.
Rafael Rojas (Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas, Mexico; Visiting Professor, University of Texas, Austin), "Los pasados de Cuba. Historias e ideologias”

10:30 A.M -12:00 P.M.
Esther Whitfield (Brown University), “Havana and the Aesthetics of Ruin"  
Ernesto Menéndez Conde (Duke University), “El arte abstracto en (versus) las indagaciones sobre lo cubano”

12:00 P.M. -1:30 P.M.
Lunch Break

1:30 P.M. -3:00 P.M.
Ariana Hernández-Reguant (University of California San Diego), “The Art of Invention”
Ramón Fernández Larrea (poet and independent scholar), “La risa en la sombra: muerte del humor politico en Cuba”

3:30 P.M. – 5:00 P.M.
Round Table/ Mesa Redonda chaired by Ana López and Marilyn Miller (Tulane University)

5:00  P.M.
Reception

All events will be held in the Greenleaf Conference Room, Jones Hall, Tulane University. Sponsored by the Stone Center for Latin American Studies and the Cuban and Caribbean Studies Institute. Please contact Natalia Porto for more information <nporto@tulane.edu> and click here to view the poster.

Geographical Imaginaries and Hispanic Film
El imaginario geográfico y el cine hispano
Tulane University
November 4 - 7, 2009
Crossings and interrogations of geographical borders have been at the forefront of much Spanish, Latin American and U. S. Latino cinema.  Moreover, the historical project of transnational Hispanic cinemas often appears to have been constructed by directors and producers "imagining" audiences beyond their own immediate political borders. Theories, films, directors, genres, and actors have traveled – and continue to do so -- across languages and countries.  Spatiality has always played a crucial role in the politics of representation, while geographies have been central in production and circulation.  The multiple facets of the Hispanic community on screen have been marked by its geographical imaginaries.

Travel and translation is emblematic of the cinematic experience in the Hispanic world.  Examples range from the Paramount-Joinville-Hollywood axis that shaped Spanish language film production in the early days of sound and the folkloric films and music-based genres that connected with traditions on both sides of Atlantic since the late 1930s until the 1960s, to the more recent globalizing project within which the Hispanic sphere is itself part of a global network of cultural exchanges. "Geographical Imaginaries and Hispanic Film" will take place in New Orleans (with the support of Tulane University and the Stone Center for Latin American Studies), itself a paradigmatic space of cultural flows, connections and exchanges, a territory whose history and identity have been shaped/determined by travel and geographic imaginations. We hope that the strategic location of the city and the theme of this conference will draw participants from North and South America, the Caribbean and Europe. For more information please click here.

Sixth Annual Maya Symposium and Workshop: Maya Calendars and Creation
Tulane University
February 6 - February 8, 2009
Featuring guest speakers from the fields of archaeology, art history, epigraphy, ethnohistory, linguistics, and archaeoastronomy, the 2009 symposium promises to be a memorable weekend spent exploring and discussing Maya creation mythology, divination and prophecy, and calendar systems.  We hope you will join us in New Orleans next February for the Sixth Annual Maya Symposium and Workshop. For more information, contact Denise Woltering or visit: http://stonecenter.tulane.edu/MayaSymposium

Seminar & Film

Celebrating 50 Years of Teatro Oficina
April 1-8, 2009
Greenleaf Conference Room 100 Jones Hall

The Teatro Oficina is Brazil’s premier experimental theater group known for its audacious and carnivalesque stagings of classics, like Hamlet and The Bacchae, works of the modernist avantgarde, and new original plays and adaptations. Tulane University will host the legendary director, José Celso Martinez Corrêa, who founded Teatro Oficina in 1958, and Marcelo Drummond, a leading actor for the company.

In preparation for next week’s event, “Celebrating 50 Years of Teatro Oficina”, we will screen two of their plays this week. All of the screenings will have English subtitles.

Wednesday, April 1, 2:00-4:30pm, Jones Hall 100a
“Boca de Ouro” by Nelson Rodrigues

Thursday, April 2, 5:00-8:00pm, Jones Hall 100a
“As Bacantes” by Euripedes

Please see the calendar below of all events during "Celebrating 50 Years of Teatro Oficina" the following week:

Monday, April 6, 5:00-7:00pm, Jones Hall 100a, Greenleaf Conference Room
“An Evening with José Celso Martinez Corrêa and Marcelo Drummond”
A public interview with video clips of Teatro Oficina stagings conducted by Christopher Dunn, Lorenzo Gonzalez-Fontes, Diogo de Lima, and Isabel Sans. In Portuguese with English translation provided.
 
Tuesday, April 7, 6:00-8:00pm, Jones Hall 100a, Greenleaf Conference Room
“Seminário Aberto: Teatro Oficina na mira da repressão, 1967-1984”
Discussion in Portuguese with José Celso Martinez Corrêa about the Teatro Oficina during the period of the military dictatorship in Brazil.
 
Wednesday April 8, 4:00-6:00pm, McWilliams Hall, Room 300
Performance Workshop with José Celso Martinez Corrêa and Marcelo Drummond
 
Wednesday April 8, 7:00-9:00pm, Jones Hall 100a, Greenleaf Conference Room
Roundtable Discussion: “Theater, Performance, and Political Intervention”
José Celso Martinez Corrêa, Teatro Oficina
Marcella Del Signore, School of Architecture, Tulane University
Marcelo Drummond, Teatro Oficina
Jim Fitzmorris, Department of Theater and Dance, Tulane University
John O’Neal, Free Southern Theater, Junebug Productions
Kathy Randels, ArtSpot Productions
Nick Slie, Mondo Bizarro
José Torres Tama, ArteFuturo Productions
 
Co-sponsored by the School of Liberal Arts, the Stone Center for Latin American Studies, the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, the Department of Theater and Dance, and the African and African Diaspora Studies Program of Tulane University. All events at Tulane University are free and open to the public. For more information, contact Christopher Dunn, cjdunn@tulane.edu.

Latin American Environmental Media Festival at the New Orleans International Human Rights Film Festival
Tuesday March 31 at 7:00 PM
Zeitgeist Multidisciplinary Arts Center
6118 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.
Winner of Best Feature from the Latin American Environmental Media Festival will be screened at the New Orleans International Human Rights Film Festival. The screening will be a world premiere of the film entitled Grissi Siknis: Madness of the Jungle. Filmmaker, Enrique Ruiz-Skipey will present his film with a short discussion following the film. This film exposes a culturally bound syndrome that occurs among the Miskito community of Nicaragua and Honduras. Traditional Miskito belief holds that Grissi Siknis is the result of evil spirits. While western medicine typically has no effect on those afflicted with the disease, the remedies of Miskito herbalists and healers are often the only successful remedy. For more information on this film please check out the synopsis in English or in Spanish.

Eréndira, Ikikunari
Thursday February 5, 2009
102 Jones Hall
In conjunction with the Sixth Annual Tulane Maya Symposium & Workshop: Maya Calendars and Creation, filmmaker Juan Mora Catlett will screen his award winning film, Eréndira, Ikikunari and hold a brief discussion about the production of this beautiful film. Sponsored by the Stone Center for Latin American Studies and Las Americas Film Network. For more information please visit: <lasamericasfilms.org/films/Erendira.htm>

Latin American Film Festival
November 4-8, 2008
Loyola University
Organized by Loyola University's Programming Board and the Latin American Studies committee at Loyola to expose the community to Latin American Studies through film. There will be matinee and evening screenings. Click here for the poster and schedule.

Latin American Fall Film Series
Thursdays at 7:00 pm
Tulane University, Jones Hall 102
The Stone Center for Latin American Studies at Tulane University announces the Fall Film Series beginning September 18, 2008. For more information please email: nporto@tulane.edu. To view the film schedule please click here.

Student Events 

Spanish and Portuguese and Latin American Studies Major Week
Monday, February 9 - Friday, February 13, 2009

Majors on the Majors Luncheon: What Can a Degree in Spanish and Portuguese or Latin American Studies Do For You?
Tuesday, February 10, 2009, 12:00 - 1:30 PM
Tulane University, Jones Hall 100a

Did that Really Happen?! Study Abroad Stories from Latin America and the Spain
Wednesday, February 11, 2009 , 5 pm - 6 PM
Tulane University, Jones Hall 100a

Study Abroad Speed Dating: Find your Perfect Match
Wednesday, February 11, 2009, 6:00 - 6:30 PM
Tulane University, Jones Hall 100a

For the Love, For the Money, For the Adventure: Where Can a Degree in Spanish and Portuguese or Latin American Studies Take You?
Thursday, February 12, 2009, 5:00 - 6:30 PM
Tulane University, Jones Hall 100a

Pachanga en el Patio: Carnival Brazilian Style with Casa Samba Pagode
Friday, February 13, 2009, 4:00 - 6:00 PM
Tulane University, Jones Hall Patio

Tulane Undergraduate Student Conference
Saturday, November 22, 2008, 9:00 am - 3:00 PM
Tulane University
Please join us for panel presentations and discussion of a wide variety of Latin American topics hosted by the Stone Center for Latin American Studies. The PDF program can be downloaded here.

Session I 9:00-10:30

Panel 1: Encounter (Jones 102)

New Perspectives on Civil Society and Grassroots Organizing in Latin America

Andy Menking, “Civil Society and Civil Disobedience: The Influence of the Zapatista Uprising on Grassroots Organizations”

Amanda Earley, “Revealing the ‘Real Rio’ or Packaging a Myth? The Challenges of Rio de Janeiro’s Favela Tourism”

Will Faulkner, “Unlikely Seeds of Change: Rethinking the Influence of the Summer Institute of Linguistics and Indigenous Mobilization”

Discussant: Dr. David Ortiz, Dept. of Sociology

Panel 2: Exchange (Jones 108)

Questioning Cooperation: The Promises and Problems of Transnational Policy

Alex Reed, “Is Free Trade Really Free? The Effects of Free Trade on Small Economies”

L. Paige Purdy, “Solving Gang Violence in El Salvador: Rehabilitation and Prevention Reforms in Mano Dura Legislation"

Hannah Malashock, "Welcome to Tijuana: Human Trafficking on the U.S.- Mexico Border"

Discussant: Dr. Aaron Schneider, Dept. of Political Science

Session II: 10:45-12:30

Panel 3: Creativity (Jones 102)

Staying Local in a Global World: Icons and Iconographies of Latin America in the New Millennium

Gabriella LaRocca, "Afro-Peruvian Music: Is Susana Baca Turning her Back on Tradition?"

Emily Naser-Hall, “Reimagining Hamlet: Subcommandante Marcos as Mexico's Modern-Day Antihero"

Whitney Raynor, “ Haiti’s Sculptors of Grand Rue”

Ileana Caceres, “Gender and Mexican Telenovelas”

Discussant: Dr. Dan Sharp, Dept. of Music

Presidential Campaigns and Campaigns of Violence: (De)Constructing Legitimacy in Latin America’s New Political Landscape

Max Lantz, “ Lugo of San Pedro: The 2008 Inauguration of Paraguay's President”

Eugenie Laurent, “The 2009 Salvadorian Campaign: Challenging the Guerilla Leader Image”

Andrea Pinto, “ Ecuador on the Eve of New Socialism: Can Correa Fulfill his Promise?”

Jonathan Kim, “Subculture of Violence”: Government Repression and the Rise of Guerrilla States during Colombia’sla Violencia”

Discussant: Dr. Justin Wolfe, Dept. of History

Session III: 1:30-3:00

Panel 5: Land (Jones 102)

The Great Divide? Changing Urban-Rural Relations and Cultural Landscapes

Claire Learmonth, “Reorienting the Revolution:   Agricultural Adjustment Following the Cuban Food Crisis”

R. Doug Dickson, “Globalization or (Old) Westernization: Brazilian Music and the Changing Rural Imaginary (1960 – 2008)”

Lilly Reed, “Campo against Ciudad: Resonances of Old Dichotomies in Discussions of the 2007 Argentine Growers’ Conflict”

Discussant: Dr. Maureen Long, Stone Center for Latin American Studies

Panel 6: Welfare (Jones 108)

The Politics of People: Health, Education and Labor in the Latino and Latin American Context

Kadhiresan Raja Murugappan, “Persecuting the Solution: Latino Migrant Workers in New Orleans”

Adriana Hernandez , “Public Health as a Battleground: Imperialism, Health and State Legitimacy in Cuba (1868-1933)”

Andy Fritzshall, "Bolsa Escola: A Simple Solution to Brazil's Educational Woes or More Empty Rhetoric?"

Discussant: Dr. Jana Lipman, Dept. of History

"Violence and Desire: Performances and Movements in Latin America" Graduate Student Conference
Friday & Saturday, November 14-15, 2008
Tulane University
Please join us for panel presentations and discussion of a wide variety of Latin American topics hosted by the Latin American Studies and Spanish and Portuguese Graduate Association. For times, locations, and topics please click here.

PACHANGA
Friday, November 14 , 2008, 5:00 PM-7:00 PM
Jones Hall Patio
Please join us for the final Pachanga of the fall semester in the patio of Jones Hall. The event, hosted by Latin American Studies and Spanish and Portuguese Graduate Association and TULASO (Tulane University Latin American Student Organization) is free and open to the public. Come and enjoy music by E.O.E who received the 2008 Best of the Big Easy Award. Food and drinks will be available.

¡Mesa de conversación! Speak Spanish
Thursdays, 12:00 PM-2:00 PM
Lavin Bernick Center
Want to practice your Spanish?  Want to help others improve their Spanish?  Come eat lunch and speak Spanish every Thursday in the LBC.  Meet under the big umbrellas on warm days or on cold days in the open area next to the bookstore or on the second floor of the LBC.  Look for the Mexican Flag.  This event is sponsored by TULASO, the Department of Spanish & Portuguese and the Stone Center for Latin American Studies.  For more information contact Edie Wolfe at ewolfe@tulane.edu or Maria Zalduondo at mzalduon@tulane.edu.

Bate Papo! Speak Portuguese
Tuesdays, 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Lavin Bernick Center LBC
Come eat lunch and speak Portuguese every Tuesday, in the LBC.  Meet under the big white umbrellas or in the open area next to the bookstore.  Look for the Brazilian Flag. This event is sponsored by TULASO and the Stone Center for Latin American Studies.  For more information contact Edie Wolfe at ewolfe@tulane.edu.

Summer Research Grant Symposium
Saturday, October 25, 2008, 9:00 AM-4:00 PM
Greenleaf Conference Room, Jones Hall 100A
Graduate students who received summer research grants through the Stone Center will present their experiences. The event is free and open to the public. This event is sponsored by The Stone Center for Latin American Studies.  For more information please contact Derek Burdette at dburdett@tulane.edu.

LAGO's Annual Soccer Tournament
Sunday October 19, 2008 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM
LBC Quad
LAGO's Annual Soccer Tournament is on Sunday, October 19 from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. in the LBC Quad.  This event is open to the public.  This event is being sponsored by the Latin American Graduate Organization (LAGO).  For more information, please contact Anna Frachou at afrachou@tulane.edu. 

Model OAS Informational Meeting
Monday October 13, 2008 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Jones Hall 100A
Join Model OAS! (Organization of American States). Interested in Diplomacy? Interested in how countries interact?  Interested in Latin America?  Want to participate in a hemispheric debate over contemporary Latin American Society and politics with other universities from the U.S. and Latin America?  Tulane will send a team of student delegates to represent the nation of Jamaica at the Model OAS Washington, D.C. this spring (April 7-11, 2009).  Don’t miss out on your chance to participate in a unique educational and intercultural experience!  Model OAS will be a club in the Fall and a 3-credit class (LAST 396) in the Spring of 2009.  This event is sponsored by the Stone Center for Latin American Studies.  For more information, please contact Edith Wolfe, ewolfe@tulane.edu.

PACHANGA
Friday October 10, 2008 4:30 PM-6:30 PM
Jones Hall Patio
Please join us for the first Pachanga of the fall 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 musicans, Fredy Omar. Food and drinks will be available.

TULASO Organizational Meeting
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
The Tulane Undergraduate Latin American Studies Organization (TULASO) is a student organization that brings together Tulane Students with an interest in Latin America to explore aspects of Latin American culture here in New Orleans.  Activities include social outings, group participation in extracurricular academic events and community service.  Admission is free of charge.  This event is sponsored by TULASO and is being hosted by The Stone Center for Latin American Studies.  For more information contact: Edie Wolfe at lastadv@tulane.edu, TULASO Faculty Advisor.

New Graduate Student Orientation
August 25-26, 2008
Please see schedule for more information or contact the Stone Center.

Lectures

Panel on Creole Languages with Professor Salikoko Mufwene, University of Chicago and Professor Tom Klingler, Tulane University
Thursday, February 26, 2009, 5:00 - 6:30 PM with reception to follow
Jones Hall 100a, Greenleaf Conference Room
The Stone Center for Latin American Studies, the Interdisciplinary Program in Linguistics, the Department of French and Italian, and the Center for Research on Norms, Exchanges, and Language (CRENEL) are pleased to present a panel on
creole languages:
"Genetic Creolistics and Language Evolution: Some Contributions that Creoles Can Make to Linguistics" by Professor Salikoko Mufwene, University of Chicago and
"The Starting Point of Creolization: the Case of Creole and Regional French in Louisiana" by Professor Tom Klingler, Tulane University
For more information, please contact Tom Klingler <klingler@tulane.edu>

Colloquium on Colombian Literature and Culture
Febuary 17-18, 2009
Lavin-Bernick Center, Race Conference Room 201
Tuesday, February 17
2:00 - 3:00 pm, Prof. Idelber Avelar, Tulane University, "Ingermina, de Juan José Nieto: Los límites del liberalismo y los orígines de la novela caribeña colombiana"
3:00 - 4:00 pm, Prof. Victor Viviescas, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, "Modalidades de la escritura dramática colombiana contemporánea: la fenomonología de lo fragmentario y el testimonio de la desaparición"
4:00 - 5:00 pm, Reception (Kendall Cram Lecture Hall, Room 213)
Wednesday, February 18
9:00 - 9:30 am, Breakfast (Kendall Cram Lecture Hall, Room 213)
9:30 - 10:30 am, Prof. Alejandra Jaramillo Morales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, "Literatura colombiana contemporánea: del melodrama romántico al melodrama violento. Realismos, historia y sujeto"
10:30 - 11:30 am, Prof. Pablo Montoya, Universidad de Antioquia, "La novela histórica contemporánea en Colombia (1998-2008): Aproximaciones"
2:00 - 3:00 pm, Video Presentation: "Estaciones del drama: Colombian Theater from 1950s - Present"

Redefining African American: “What’s At Stake?”
Monday, February 9, 2009, 12:00 pm
100A Jones Hall, Greenleaf Conference Room
In collaboration with The Global Afro Latino & Caribbean Initiative (GALCI)/Hunter College (CUNY), and the Caribbean Cultural Center, African Diaspora Institute (CCCADI), the McKenna Museum and the Stone Center for Latin American Studies are pleased to present Redefining African American: “What’s At Stake?” The lecture features a conversation between three Afro-Bolivian community activists, Diego Armando Perez Barra and Luis Fernando Iriondo who are also hip hop artists. They will discuss the history of the Afro-Bolivian community, the trials and tribulations faced by Afro-Bolivian youth and their experience in researching the roots and the origin of Afro-Bolivian people in the research journal Ganyigo.  This lecture will be spoken in Spanish. Diego Armando Perez Barra is a young activist of Afro-Bolivian of descendant. He conducts workshops on the constituent Assembly, Migration of Children and Adolescents, Human Rights, Theater & Human Relations. Luis Fernando Iriondo is an activist for Afro-Bolivian and youth issues. He is knowledgeable about the Afro-Bolivian music and he is also the Director of the research journal "Ganyingo".

“Shield of Words:  Two Community Media Groups in Marginalized Neighborhoods of Rio de Janeiro and Bogota” by Gray Miles
Monday, December 1, 2008, 6:00 - 8:00 pm
100A Jones Hall, Greenleaf Conference Room
Papers are pre-circulated.  For more information visit our website:  http://shcst.tulane.edu. Admission is free of charge and attendance is by invitation only.  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. 

“Fifty Years in Five and What is it for us? Metalworkers of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro and the Problem of Carestia” by Rafael Ioris
Monday, November 17, 2008, 6:00 - 8:00 pm
100A Jones Hall, Greenleaf Conference Room
Papers are pre-circulated.  For more information visit our website:  http://shcst.tulane.edu. Admission is free of charge and attendance is by invitation only.  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.

Maya Epistemology
Tuesday, November 11, 2008, 12 noon
100A Jones Hall, Greenleaf Conference Room
Brown Bag Luncheon
Ajpub’ García Ixmatá is a sociolinguist and level I researcher at the Institute of Linguistics and Education of the Universidad Rafael Landívar, in Guatemala City, Guatemala.  Ajpub’, who speaks and works in Tz’utujil, Kaqchikel, K’iche, and Spanish, has published widely on Mayan languages, linguistics, and epistemologies.  Among others, this work includes a Tz’utujil Grammar, publications on the teaching of Mayan languages, and presentations on the mass media and the Maya in Guatemala. He currently works as a professor of linguistics and linguistic issues at various universities in Guatemala City and with the Academia de Lenguas Mayas, one of the leading Maya organizations involved in linguistic and epistemic politics.  His current work focuses on the politics and practice of Maya epistemologies, efforts that engage academic spheres, Maya religious actors (day-keepers), and Maya cultural movements. He is currently working with Judith Maxwell on a project on the contemporary significance of Mayan sacred spaces and on the cultural conflicts and politics related to their use and (non-Maya) appropriation. Sponsored by the Stone Center for Latin American Studies. For more information, contact Judie Maxwell <maxwell@tulane.edu> or Valerie McGinley Marshall <vmcgmar@tulane.edu>

“The Uses and Abuses of Corruption: Some Aspects of Indian-Spanish Relations in Colonial Central America” Lecture by Murdo J. MacLeod
Monday, November 3, 2008, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Lavin-Bernick Center , Stibbs Conference Center 203
Murdo J. MacLeod is Graduate Research Professor, Emeritus, at the University of Florida, and a distinguished scholar of colonial Latin American history. He has published extensively on Spanish and indigenous societies in Mexico and Central America, pioneering the study of demography and social and economic history, among many other scholarly contributions. His numerous publications include the groundbreaking 1973 monograph Spanish Central America: A Socioeconomic History, 1520-1720, which has recently been re-issued (University of Texas Press, 2008). He is the co-editor of The Cambridge History of the Native Peoples of the Americas, Vols. 5 and 6, Mesoamerica (Cambridge University Press, 2000). Reception to follow in the LBC Faculty-Staff Dining Room.

“The Face is the Roadmap: Vietnamese Amerasians and US Foreign Relations” Lecture by Jana Lipman
Monday, November 3, 2008, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Greenleaf Conference Room, Jones Hall 100A
Papers are pre-circulated.  For more information visit our website:  http://shcst.tulane.edu. Admission is free of charge and attendance is by invitation only.  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.

“Peacekeeping Participation and its Socializing Effects on Military Professionalism among Democratizing States:  Empirical and Theoretical Lessons from Latin America” Lecture by Arturo Sotomayor
Monday, October 20, 2008, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Greenleaf Conference Room, Jones Hall 100A
Papers are pre-circulated.  For more information visit our website:  http://shcst.tulane.edu. Admission is free of charge and attendance is by invitation only.  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.

“My heart’s devotion: Genre, subversion, and the portorrican thing in West Side Story" Lecture by Ernesto Acevedo-Munoz
Thursday, October 16, 2008, 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM
207 Newcomb Hall
Ernesto Acevedo-Muñoz is Associate Professor of Film Studies and Comparative Literature at the University of Colorado-Boulder, earlier this year he was visiting professor at State University of Zulia in Maracaibo, Venezuela.  He is the author of Buñuel and Mexico:  The Crisis of National Cinema and Pedro Almodovar.  Admission is free and open to the public.  This event is being sponsored by the Maurice L. Silverstein Film Studies Endowment and the Stone Center for Latin American Studies. 

"Somos Negros Finos: Anglophone Caribbean Cultural Citizenship Across CUba's Tumultuous 20th Century" Lecture by Andre Queeley
Friday, October 10, 2008, 3:30 PM
Newcomb, Newcomb Faculty Lounge across from 119
Andrea Queeley will be giving an anthropology colloquium that engages arguments around the multiplicity of black identity through examining the self-representation of people of Anglophone Caribbean origin in Cuba. This event is being sponsored by TASA and GSSA. It is free and open to the public. For more information please contact aqueeley@tulane.edu.

Alianza & BLSA Speaker Series by Nicholás Vaca
Tuesday, October 7, 2008, 6:00 - 7:15 PM
Tulane University Law School, Weinmann Hall 110
Nicholás Vaca, a Latino lawyer from San Francisco and the author of "The Presumed Alliance,” will be speaking about the unspoken conflict between Latinos and Blacks and what it means for America. There will be a panel discussion with Professor Ray Diamond and Mr. Luis Leitzelar and a reception to follow in the MPR.  This event is being sponsored by the Tulane Law School.  If you have any questions please contact Christopher Bernhardt at (937) 750-7766 or cbernhar@tulane.edu.

"Literature at the Limit: Writing as a Survival Strategy" by Hiber Contaris
Monday, September 29, 2008, 5:00 PM
Tulane University, Jones Hall 102
Hiber Contaris was a professor of Literature and Political Ideologies at the Center for Latin American Studies of the University of Arizona between 1997 and 2006 and now is living and teaching in Montevideo, Uruguay. He received his doctorate from the Sorbonne, Paris, in 1968. Upon returning to his native Uruguay he became active in the Movement for National Liberation (Tupamaros). In 1976 he was arrested for his former association with the Movement and was imprisoned for the next eight years, until the return of democracy in his country. He is the author of numerous novels, plays, short stories, and political and literary essays. His books include Ten Percent of Life (1987), Oscura memoria del Sur (2002) and Cuarteto (2007). He received the prestigious Casa de las Américas prize for his play The Assasination of Malcolm X in 1968 and for his book La cifra anónima - Cuatro relatos de prisión in 1988.  This event is cosponsored by the Stone Center for Latin American Studies and the Department of Spanish and Portuguese of Tulane University. The event is free and open to the public. For more information please contact Christopher Dunn in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at cjdunn@tulane.edu.

“Paper Cemeteries:  Informal Aspects of Organization in Brazilian Public Security Reform” by Anthony Pereira
Monday, September 22, 2008 6:00 - 8:00 pm
Greenleaf Conference Room, Jones Hall 100A
Papers are pre-circulated.  For more information visit our website:  http://shcst.tulane.edu. Admission is free of charge and attendance is by invitation only.  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.

Distinguished Visitors & Special Events

Second Language Acquisition Workshop
"The Body in Language: Performance and Foreign Language Acquisition" with Patricia Sobral and Sophia Beal, Brown University
Saturday, February 28, 2009, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm (with an hour break for lunch)
Jones Hall 100a, Greenleaf Conference Room
Patricia Sobral received a Ph.D. in Portuguese and Brazilian Studies from Brown University where she currently holds the position of Senior Lecturer. She is a leading innovator in the field of second language acquisition, focusing on the intersection of performing arts and second language acquisition. Dr. Sobral has published articles on Brazilian literature and immigration, contemporary cinema, and the uses of literary and cultural material in the language classroom. She is the co-author of the highly acclaimed Portuguese textbook, Ponto de Encontro, published by Prentice-Hall in 2007.
Sophia Beal is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Portuguese and Brazilian Studies at Brown University. Her research interests include Brazilian urban literature, Luso-African literature, and language pedagogy. She has co-organized best practices workshops at various universities in the United States and Brazil.
For more information contact Christopher Dunn <cjdunn@tulane.edu>

Crescent City Connections: 200 Years of Spanish-Language Press in the United States
Friday, December 5, 2008 3:00 - 5:00 pm
Exhibit Opening & Reception 5:00 - 6:00 pm
The Latin American Library Gallery
4th Floor Howard-Tilton Library
Tulane University
Please join us to commemorate the bicentennial of New Orleans ‘El Misisipi’, the first Spanish-language newspaper in the United States.  Invited speakers include: Nicolás Kanellos, Professor of Literature, University of Houston; Kirsten Silva Gruesz, Professor of Literature at the University of California, Santa Cruz; Félix F. Gutiérrez, Professor of Journalism and Communication, Annenberg School; Department of American Studies & Ethnicity University of Southern California.  This event is made possible by the Zemurray Foundation through the Doris Stone Endowment; Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage Project; and the Annenberg School for Communication.  Admission is free of charge and open to the public.  For more information please contact the Latin American Library at 504-865-5681 or visit their website.

Día de los Muertos
Saturday & Sunday, November 1 at 10:30 AM & November 2 at 2:00 PM , 2008
Jackson Square, The Louisianna State Museum's Cabildo, 701 Chartres
The Stone Center for Latin American Studies' Latin American Resource Center at Tulane University, The Louisiana State Museum, and the Consulate of Mexico collaborate this year to celebrate Day of the Dead (Día de los muertos) or as it is known in New Orleans, "All Souls Day." On Saturday, local artist, Cynthia Ramirez will build an altar with participants and give a brief presentation on the history and tradition of the altar. Tulane Anthropology scholar, Christopher Jones will discuss the representation of Día de los muertos across cultures. The altar will remain on display through Sunday. Two mariachi groups will help to bring the music of Mexico to Jackson Square both Saturday and Sunday afternoon. The Latin American Resource Center and the Mexican Consulate will be distributing resources and crafts on teaching Día de los muertos. This event is free and open to the public. Click here to view schedule.

Latin American Library Open House and Book Sale
Friday, September 26, 2008 12:00 - 4:00 pm
Latin American Library, 4th floor Howard-Tilton Memorial Library
An open house to welcome new faculty and students, meet old friends from the campus and the community, and learn more about the Latin American Library's collections and services.  Given the success of the last two year's event, we will also have a book sale with some great books at wonderful prices. All titles are on Latin America and the Caribbean, and are largely in English, Spanish or Portuguese. Come stop by in the afternoon for hors-d'oeuvres and refreshments. This event is hosted by Tulane University and sponsored by the Latin American Library. This event is free and open to the public.  For more information call 504-865-5681, or email lal@tulane.edu. 

Professional Development

For more professional development opportunities, visit the Latin American Resource Center.

Performances & Exhibits

Fifth Annual Celebración Latina
Sunday, April 5, 2009, 12 pm – 6 pm
Laurence Square, Corner of Napoleon and Magazine Ave.
A family-oriented event that offers a great opportunity for New Orleanians to come together to celebrate the cultures of Latin America and New Orleans. Click here for the press release and here for the flyer. For more information, contact Denise Woltering at dwolteri@tulane.edu or 504-865-5164.