Introducing: Carolina Sánchez, 2024 Zemurray-Stone Post-Doctoral Fellow
The Stone Center for Latin American Studies is excited to introduce visiting scholar Carolina Sánchez as the 2024 Zemurray-Stone Post-Doctoral Fellow. Dr. Sánchez, originally from Bogotá, Colombia, received her PhD in Spanish Literature and Culture from Rutgers-New Brunswick as a Fulbright scholar. She also has an MA in Literary Criticism and a BA in Philosophy from the National University of Colombia.
Meet Sánchez and read about her background, research interests, and plans for the Tulane fellowship experience.
What are your research interests?
I work in the field of environmental humanities in contemporary Latin America, with a particular interest in environmental aesthetics and the interplay between text and images in literary and visual works. My research explores the concept of environmental historical memory in relation to issues of extractivism involving water and plants in 20th and 21st century Latin America, with a particular emphasis on Colombia. I examine how art expands the notion of the archive by incorporating objects and documents into artworks that create new archives. Additionally, I demonstrate how artworks such as River Serpent Book (2017) by Carolina Caycedo or Autobiography of Cotton (2020) by Cristina Rivera Garza enable us to recognize the agency of political subjects, including women, rivers, and plants, who have historically been marginalized from both archives and political communities.
What you will be doing while at Tulane?
Besides advancing my own research, I will contribute to organizing a conference focused on the movement of media in the Americas in honor of the late Dr. Ana López, a fundamental scholar in both the Stone Center and Latin American Film and Media Studies. I am excited to collaborate with Tulane scholars on this event to promote research on the transnational circulations of popular culture, various traditions of intermediality, and techniques exploring social inequalities across the Americas. Additionally, I will prepare for and participate in professional development activities such as workshops with graduate students, faculty, and other post-doctoral fellows.
What about Tulane and Latin American Studies inspired you to apply to the Zemurray-Stone post-doctoral fellowship program?
I am inspired to participate in the interdisciplinary and diverse academic community of the Stone Center, as well as the rich history of Latin American Studies at Tulane, which is manifest in its programs, events, faculty, and centers. The Latin American Library, with its impressive collections and exhibitions, is a unique resource that particularly stands out to me. Additionally, I find it very inspiring that there are faculty members who engage in both research and creative writing in Spanish.
What have learned about Tulane that has been unexpected?
After visiting the Latin American Library and its exhibitions, and having a conversation with its librarians, I learned that the collections include a fantastic selection of contemporary books by Latin American independent publishers. This was unexpected for me, first because I knew that one of the main specialties of the library was Indigenous Mesoamerican cultures before and after the colonial periods. Second, because the distribution of books from small Latin American presses tends to be more localized within each country.
What is one topic/text you love to teach and why?
A topic that I love to teach about is environmental humanities in the Americas, which covers questions on how humanities, literature, and visual arts are developing concepts and methodologies to address ecological problems such as extractivism, toxicity, or food sovereignty during the neoliberal capitalist era. I particularly enjoy teaching this topic because it is interdisciplinary, allowing each student to contribute to the collective construction of knowledge in class with their own perspectives and interests. Moreover, this topic fosters reflection on political relations across the Americas. Furthermore, I believe that using creative exercises with images and texts helps to explore the complexities of these problems beyond the data of the climate crisis.
What do you want to accomplish during your post-doctoral appointment at Tulane?
At Tulane, I would like to prepare a book manuscript based on my doctoral dissertation and publish research articles using the library resources. I aim to advance my research and teaching experience through exchanging perspectives with students, Tulane faculty, and postdoctoral fellows. Additionally, my goals are to present at conferences, attend workshops to learn new skills, and collaborate on collective academic efforts such as event planning.
What have you enjoyed so far about New Orleans?
I love the trees and plants, especially the giant oaks and magnolias around the city. I find the rich cultural history of New Orleans and its African American and Caribbean traditions very interesting. Along these lines, and considering its geographical location, I am intrigued by the ties New Orleans has with the Caribbean and Latin America, which are evident, for example, in the use of public spaces for walking, music, and various cultural activities.
