APPROVED COURSESS FOR SPRING 2015 http://www.clacs.illinois.edu/academics/courses.aspx

DID YOU MISS ANY LECTURE DURING SPRING 13? WATCH ALL OUR VIDEOS http://www.clacs.illinois.edu/videos/default.aspx

GRADUATE MINOR IN LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES

The graduate minor in Latin American Studies will require the student to complete 12 graduate hours; 8 of the hours must be at the 500-level.

Area Coursework: A minimum of 8 graduate hours at the 400/500-level from courses in two different departments approved by CLACS every semester. The Center updates and posts approved courses in our website and announce them through our listserv. Our Center has approximately 104 faculty affiliated from different departments in campus, and we approve their courses as part of our curriculum. The Center will record the approved courses on a master list to be kept in the unit that will be used to certify that students took approved courses during their studies in the minor.
Language Component: At least 4 hours in language coursework taken in any Latin American language (Portuguese, Spanish or Native American Language or Haitian Creole) while enrolled in the Graduate Minor program.
In the case that not enough or advance language courses are offered, The Center also accepts as equivalent area courses taught in these languages, i.e. literature class taught in Portuguese or Spanish.
If the chosen language course is at the 400-or 500 level it may count towards the required 12 hours for Graduate Minor. We anticipate that students registering in the Minor already have knowledge of Latin American language.
If the Student's Master's thesis or doctoral dissertation deals with a country from Latin America and the Caribbean, we advise students in this minor to speak with their advisor about including a committee member from the minor area.
We recommend that the courses taken for the minor not be applied to course requirements in the students' Master's or PhD program

http://www.clacs.illinois.edu/academics/graduate/minor/default.aspx <http://www.clacs.illinois.edu/academics/graduate/minor/default.aspx

NEW WEBSITE OF THE LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES COLLECTION http://www.library.illinois.edu/ias/lat/index.html

CONSULT WITH THE LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES LIBRARIAN

Antonio Sotomayor, Latin American Studies Librarian, will be holding special office hours in CLACS every Thursday this semester from 3:00pm to 4:00pm in room 200, ISB. If you have any questions about the research process, finding sources, literature review, exploring a potential research topic, starting a paper, or anything else involving research, the library, and Latin American and Caribbean Studies, please stop by the International Studies Building room 200 on a Thursday, 3:00-4:00pm. If these hours doesn’t work for you, just send me an e-mail and we’ll find another time to meet.

asotomay@illinois.edu, http://www.library.illinois.edu/ias/lat/index.html

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LECTURES

LEMANN INSTITUTE FOR BRAZILIAN STUDIES

MONDAY, OCTOBER 27

2pm

International Studies Building

LETICIA MARTELETO, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology and Population Research Center. University of Texas at Austin.

RACE AND EDUCATIONAL INEQUALITY IN BRAZIL

Brazil has been through several important social, economic and demographic changes in the last decades. Importantly, race and racial inequalities have become a central aspect of Brazil's social policy, particularly regarding education. In the first part of the talk, the focus will be on the continuities and changes of racial disparities in education over the last three decades in Brazil. This research focuses on educational variation between individuals in different families. In the second part of the talk, the focus will be on disentangling whether racial differences in education are due to racial discrimination or to structural differences in unobserved neighborhood and family characteristics. I use an innovative within-family approach that takes advantage of the large sample of Brazilian adolescent twins classified as different races in the 1982 and 1987-2009 Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios. I first examine the contexts within which adolescent twins in the same family are labeled as different races to determine the characteristics of families crossing racial boundaries. Then, as a way to hold constant unobserved neighborhood, family, and even genetic characteristics, we use twins fixed effects models to assess whether racial disparities in education exist between twins and whether such disparities vary by gender. I find that even under this stringent test of racial inequality, the nonwhite educational disadvantage persists and that it is especially pronounced for nonwhite adolescent boys.

Leticia J. Marteleto (Ph.D., Sociology, University of Michigan) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and a Faculty Research Associate of the Population Research Center at The University of Texas at Austin. She is also a Research Affiliate of the Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies (LLILAS) at the same university. Her current research explores the influence of social and demographic contexts on educational inequality in Brazil and in South Africa. A recent paper focuses on the disadvantages in education associated with race throughout the last three decades in Brazil (Demography 2012). Marteleto’s recent research has appeared in Demography, Demographic Research, Population and Development Review, Research in Social Stratification and Mobility and Studies in Family Planning. Marteleto was formerly Assistant Professor in the School of Education at the University of Michigan and a Research Associate at the Population Studies Center and Institute for Social Research at the same institution. Prior to that, she taught at the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Brazil, where she researched issues related to social demography and education. Marteleto has provided consultancy to several organizations, including the United Nations and the Brazilian Ministries of Education and Social Development.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2014

4:30 pm

Lincoln Hall, room 1064

Dr. FERNANDO VELA, Professor of Architecture and Archaeology, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

THE COLONIAL OCCUPATION OF PIURA: THE HISTORICAL ARCHEOLOGY OF THE FIRST SPANISH SETTLEMENT IN PERU

This talk presents the research of a multi-disciplinary Spanish team that has been conducting the investigation of San Miguel de Piura over many years. This archaeological site was the first Spanish settlement in Peru. The project seeks a comprehensive social, urban, historical, and anthropological about San Miguel, enriched by documentary evidence. The visible architectural remains attest to the development and maturation of urban life at San Miguel during its scant half-century of life. This site is a preeminent place of intercultural contact, where dreams of a golden land were not fulfilled and where disease and the indigenous population complicated initial attempts at conquest and colonization. Overshadowed by Cuzco and Lima, San Miguel de Piura offers important insights into the Spanish engagement with Peru in its earliest moments.

Lecture co-sponsored by the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies

THE CENTER FOR LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN STUDIES

Presents

JOSE ANTONIO CHEIBUB, Professor, Political Science

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30

12pm

101 International Studies Building

THE 2014 BRAZILIAN ELECTIONS

Join us for an informal conversation and analysis of the results of the 2014 Brazilian elections.

This will be an informal discussion about the 2014 elections. We will try to focus the discussion on topics such as: the way the campaign was conducted, an analysis of the overall results (not only for the presidential election, but also the congressional and gubernatorial ones), and the implications for the next four years.

The Transnational Solidarity Initiative warmly invites you to the 2014 Edward W. Said Memorial Lecture at the University of Illinois, by Professor Robert Warrior, Director of American Indian Studies and Professor of AIS, English and History.

Professor Warrior's talk, "Remembering Said's Minority Imperative, and the Persistence of Lost Causes," will be on Thursday, October 30 at 7 pm in 319 Gregory Hall. Prof. Warrior's lecture will follow a film screening of Edward Said's famous speech on "Palestine, Iraq, and U.S. Policy."

On the occasion of the the 79th anniversary of Said's birth (November 1), and 2014 being the 35th anniversary of the publication of The Question of Palestine and the 20th anniversary of the publication of The Politics of Dispossession: The Struggle for Palestinian Self-Determination 1969-1994, please join us in an experimental pairing of lectures between Edward W. Said, and his one-time student, Robert Warrior.

The Transnational Solidarity Initiative is an endeavor of the 'Rethinking Transnationalism in the Age of Mediatized Social Protest' research group, generously supported by the first Focal Point Breakthrough Grant of the Graduate College at UIUC. The initiative includes a group of international graduate students and community members attempting to interrogate the nature of solidarity networks across borders.

2014 TINKER PRE-DISSERTATION WORKSHOP

FRIDAY OCTOBER 31 AND SATURDAY NOVEMBER 1

101 International Studies Building

Join us for a two-day workshop in which the recipients of the Tinker fellows for summer 2014 present their research.

This is an open and free event

Complete program http://www.clacs.illinois.edu/academics/fellowships/tinker.aspx

Faculty commentators: Dara Goldman (SP, CLACS), Ken Salo (urban Planning), Andrew Suarez (Entomology), Marilyn Parsons (curriculum & Instruction), Nils Jacobsen (History)

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OPPORTUNITIES

BRASA 2014-2015 BRAZILIAN INITIATION SCHOLARSHIP

The Brazilian Initiation Scholarship (BIS) is a key component of BRASA’s agenda to expand Brazilian Studies in the United States. BRASA invites applications from graduate and undergraduate students for a one-time $1,500 travel scholarship to do exploratory research in Brazil. This scholarship targets aspiring Brazilianists with relatively little or no experience in Brazil. It seeks to contribute to the student’s initial trip (for a period from six weeks to three months), to heighten the student’s interest in Brazil, and deepen his/her commitment to Brazilian studies in the United States. Students are encouraged to combine this scholarship with other grants or awards.

Eligibility: Proposals for the BIS will be reviewed according to the following criteria:

Highest priority will be given to applicants who are outstanding college seniors, recent college graduates applying to graduate programs in Brazilian studies or in Latin American studies with the intent of focusing on Brazil, or new graduate students already focusing on Brazil. 

Students from all disciplines in the humanities and social sciences are eligible. In exceptional cases, applications from the natural sciences will be given consideration (for example, someone in environmental sciences who is writing a dissertation on the Amazon or pollution in São Paulo and who plans to continue research on Brazil).

Preference will be given to those applicants who have little or no in-country experience in Brazil. A student requesting funding to undertake an exploratory research trip should present evidence at the time of the application that he/she has achieved at least an intermediate level of competence in the Portuguese language sufficient to carry out the proposed research. Successful applicants may combine BIS with other grants, scholarships, or awards, as long as he/she specifies clearly how the funds are going to be spent (for example, the BRASA scholarship might be used to cover travel costs, while a grant from another source could be used for living expenses, etc.). Applicants are required to be BRASA members at the time of submission.

Application Process: A complete application will include the following documents:

- The application cover page (download form);

- Proof of BRASA membership,

- A two-page prospectus - which include your research agenda (double spaced, 12-point font);

- A two-page bibliography on the subject of study (list of references)

- A budget specifying how the $1500 will be spent;

- A two-page résumé or CV;

- Electronic copies of undergraduate and graduate transcripts;

- Evidence of Portuguese proficiency on intermediate level - (This can be demonstrated by a transcript or a letter from a university instructor of Portuguese);

- A letter of intent to study Brazil in graduate school, in the case of undergraduates or recent college graduates,

- Two letters of recommendation from professors;

NOTE:

- All documents must be submitted to brasa-illinois@illinois.edu. In the subject line of the email, please include the applicant full name and the sentence “BIS Application” (e.g. Mary Smith - BIS Application).

- Professors can email the letters of recommendation directly to BRASA at brasa-illinois@illinois.edu. In the subject line of the email, please include the applicant full name and the sentence “BIS 2014 Application” (e.g. Mary Smith - BIS Application).

- Partial applications or applications submitted after the deadline will not be considered.

Evaluation Criteria and Selection Process:

In order to be considered for the scholarship, the two-page prospectus should:

(1) Clearly and coherently outline the project’s engagement with Brazil;

(2) Demonstrate as precisely as possible the feasibility of the proposed exploratory research project and how it will contribute to the student’s academic development;

(3) Briefly discuss the role the work undertaken in Brazil will play in shaping the applicant’s future course of academic study (for instance, it could be the seed project for a larger grant application, provide the basis of a paper prepared for presentation at a BRASA conference, or serve as the foundation for future research on Brazil).

Report: Upon completion of the research experience in Brazil, recipients are required to file a two-page, double-spaced report with the BRASA Executive Director summarizing their activities and identifying relevant academic outcomes. In addition, a statement accounting for the expenditure of funds must be sent to the BRASA Executive Director. Following completion of studies in Brazil, BRASA strongly encourages recipients to participate in a subsequent BRASA congress in order to report on their activities.

Deadline for application: November 15, 2014.

Awards will be announced by February 1st, 2015. To submit a proposal and for all other correspondence regarding this award, contact, the BRASA Research assistants at brasa-illinois@illinois.edu

BOREN SCHOLARSHIPS AND FELLOWSHIPS

Boren provide funding for U.S. undergraduate and graduate students to study in world regions critical to U.S. interests, including Africa, Asia, Central & Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin America, and the Middle East. In exchange for funding, recipients commit to working in the federal government for a minimum of one year. The applications are now available.

The applications for the 2015-2016 David L. Boren Scholarships and Fellowships are now available at www.borenawards.org. Boren Awards provide unique funding opportunities for U.S. undergraduate and graduate students to study in Africa, Asia, Central & Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin America, and the Middle East, where they can add important international and language components to their educations.

Boren Scholars and Fellows represent a variety of academic backgrounds, but all are interested in studying less commonly taught languages, including but not limited to Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, and Swahili. As part of the African Languages Initiative, Boren Award applicants have the opportunity to further their study of Akan/Twi, French, Portuguese, Swahili, Wolof, or Zulu. For a complete list of languages, visit our website.

Undergraduate students can receive up to $20,000 for an academic year’s study abroad and graduate students up to $30,000 for language study and international research. In exchange for funding, recipients commit to working in the federal government for a minimum of one year.

National Application Deadlines

Boren Fellowship: January 27, 2015

Boren Scholarship: February 4, 2015*

*Many institutions have an earlier on-campus deadline. Visit our website for information about your campus deadline and Boren campus representative.

For more information about the Boren Awards, to register for one of our upcoming webinars, and to access the on-line application, please visit www.borenawards.org. You can also contact the Boren Awards staff at boren@iie.org or 1-800-618-NSEP with questions.

The Boren Awards are initiatives of the National Security Education Program (NSEP) and are administered by the Institute of International Education.

IPRH ANNUAL FELLOWSHIPS THEME 2015–16: “INTERSECTIONS”

Marking spatial and conceptual sites of convergence and departure, intersections offer junction points for tracking and investigating multiple paths, perspectives, imaginaries, or systems at once. As literal and figurative spaces of mingling and divergence, intersections produce crossroad moments, from which personal, political, disciplinary, or historical trajectories can emerge. They invite multidirectional webs of inquiry into where and how ideas, cultures, and identities cross and collide, and the effects of such encounters and overlaps. Such inquiries could include but are not limited to what is understood as “intersectional” analyses of how gender, race, class, sexual orientation, ability, and other axes of identity interact on multiple, concurrent levels.
IPRH welcomes applications from all disciplines and departments with an interest in humanities and humanities-inflected research. We invite applications from faculty and graduate students that focus on any aspect of “Intersections.” The theme also provides an opportunity for artists to consider the relevance of ‘Intersections” in their creative practice. IPRH is especially interested in fostering interdisciplinary work.
All Fellows are expected to maintain residence on the U of I campus during the award year, and to participate in IPRH activities, including the yearlong Fellows Seminar.
Complete fellowship application guidelines for 2015–16 can be found on the IPRH website (Faculty / Graduate Students). Applications must be submitted through an online application portal. No paper or emailed applications or letters of recommendation will be accepted.
The submission are as follows:
Faculty: https://my.atlas.illinois.edu/submit/go.asp?id=793
Graduate Students: https://my.atlas.illinois.edu/submit/go.asp?id=794
Eligibility: Applications are invited from full-time, tenured or tenure-track U of I Urbana campus faculty members, and advanced graduate students engaged in dissertation/thesis preparation.
Award: Faculty Fellows receive release time for one semester in residence, and $2,000 in research funds to be transferred to the faculty member’s departmental research account. (The department will be compensated $12,000 for releasing the faculty member; in the case of faculty members with two percentage appointments, these funds will be distributed in accordance with the department that holds the course offering/s).
Graduate Student Fellows receive a $10,000 stipend and a tuition and fee waiver.
Deadline: All application materials, including letters of reference, must be submitted by midnight, Friday, December 5, 2014. IPRH strongly recommends, however, that submissions be made prior to 4:30 p.m. on the day of the deadline, as staff will not be available to assist with troubleshooting after close of business on December 5.

For more information about the IPRH Faculty and Graduate Student Fellowship program, please visit IPRH on the web at http://www.iprh.illinois.edu. Questions about the fellowships may be directed to Nancy Castro at ncastro@illinois.edu

FIELD METHODS AND INTERNSHIP TRAINING SEMINAR- PERU

Andean Community response to Climate and Social Change

The Center for Social Well Being celebrates 13 years offering our program in interdisciplinary qualitative field methods, as well as Spanish and Quechua language classes, with a continued internship option in the Peruvian Andes. This year we offer our December-January intersession, a 3 week training program after which students may work and/or pursue their own research objectives in health, education, agriculture, social development, with municipal institutes and civic organizations, depending on acquired skills, demonstrated abilities and interests. Length of the post-training internship is adapted to students’ needs with respect to academic and professional requirements (usually extends from 2 to 10 months). The intensive field methods and language component is equivalent to 1 semester of university study; we provide participants with a qualitative letter of evaluation and grade. Upon successful completion of the seminar students formally affiliate with the Center for Social Being as researchers and outreach workers.

The combined undergraduate and graduate level course is held at the center's rural base, an adobe lodge on an ecological ranch in the Cordillera Blanca mountain range of the Callejón de Huaylas, 7 hours northeast of Lima. Coursework provides in-depth orientation to theory and practice in field investigation that emphasizes methods in Participatory Action Research and Andean Ethnography centered on themes of Climate Change with respect to Ecology, Health, Education, Social Justice, Agrobiodiversity, Community Organization and related topics. Students have the opportunity to actively engage in ongoing projects and programs with Quechua communities to develop effective interactive field abilities and required language skills for placement in appropriate contexts to provide community support and research. In addition, the training seminar provides excursions to museums, archaeological sites, glacial lakes and hotsprings; optional recreational activities include hiking, mountain biking, rafting, kayaking, rock climbing and trekking. The training program tuition fee is $4000 US dollars that includes all in-country travel, food and accommodations at the rural center, and course materials. The program is under the direction of Applied Medical Anthropologist, Patricia J. Hammer, Ph.D., and Flor de María Barreto Tosi, Ecologist and Field Coordinator.

Program dates:

New Year InterSession December 28^th 2014 through January 17^th 2015

For an application: phammer@wayna.rcp.net.pe

For further program information: www.socialwellbeing.org

Be sure to send us any questions you may have with regard to our 2015 field training programs in Peru.

See our recent publication on Andean perspectives of Climate Change: http://revista.drclas.harvard.edu/book/patsa-puqun Patsa Puqun by Patricia J. Hammer, ReVista Harvard Review of Latin America, Spring 2014 Volume XIII, No. 3, Published by the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Harvard University.

INDIGENOUS CULTURE STUDIES

SACRED VALLEY OF THE INCAS, CUSCO-PERU

Apulaya – Center for Andean Culture is specialized on indigenous culture of Andean civilizations. Our success combines a high academic level with direct participatory experiences. Students will expand their knowledge and understanding of autochthonous cultures and develop new methodologies that incorporate indigenous approaches for working with intercultural issues. Our instructors are academics, specialists and experts in each area and most of them are native Quechua speakers.
Studying at Apulaya is a must for all students who are looking for the most current information on Andean civilizations; and who want to be in real and direct contact with Andean culture.
With pleasure we advise you about a study stay in Peru.
- For more information just visit our website or contact us.
www.apulaya.com
facebook.com/pages/Apulaya-Center-for-Andean-Culture/309255998267?ref=hl

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA POSTDOCTORAL SCHOLARS

Social Sciences and Humanities, 2015-16

Global Change in a Dynamic World

The University of South Florida is pleased to announce the 7th year of its Postdoctoral Scholars program in the Social Sciences and Humanities. The over-arching theme for this program is Global Change in a Dynamic World. Potential themes include (but are not limited to) sustainability; sustainable development; hazard and disaster management; climate change; population changes; technology and information issues; communication and language development; cultural diasporas; ethnicity, gender, and aging issues; cultural heritage and histories; citizenship; identity; health, economic, education, and environmental disparities; political economy; ethics; human rights; animal rights; peace and conflict studies; injury and violence; security and surveillance issues. Specific research and geographical areas are open, and applicants may consider both past and contemporary perspectives.

Postdoctoral Scholars will: (i) work closely with distinguished faculty; (ii) participate in an interdisciplinary project with the cohort of postdoctoral scholars; (iii) teach two courses over a twelve-month period; and (iv) continue to build an independent research record and engage in publishing refereed articles and creative scholarship.

More information can be found at http://www.grad.usf.edu/provostinitiative2015.php

Postdoctoral Scholars

At least four twelve-month postdoctoral scholarships will be awarded in Spring 2015 with appointments beginning in August 2015. Appointments are for full time employment (40 hours per week) and will be continued for a maximum of 2 years contingent upon satisfactory performance. The salary is $40,000 per year and the University contributes to a health insurance program for postdoctoral scholars and their dependents. Support for travel to academic conferences will also be available. Scholars will be responsible for relocation and housing expenses.

Eligibility

Applicants must have a doctoral degree in one of the following disciplines: Anthropology; Communication; English; Geography, Environmental Science and Policy; Government and International Affairs; History; Philosophy; Sociology, or an affiliated program, earned no earlier than 2012. Candidates who will have successfully defended their dissertations by June 1, 2015 will also be considered, however the doctoral degree must have been conferred prior to the first day of employment. Note: applicants must have received their doctoral degree from an institution other than the University of South Florida.

Application

Letters of application and supporting material must include the following:

1. A cover letter stating your interest in this Postdoctoral Initiative. It must provide details on (i) how your research and teaching expertise would contribute to the theme of Global Change in a Dynamic World and the goals and aspirations of the USF Strategic Plan (http://www.ods.usf.edu/Plans/Strategic/docs/USF-Strategic-Plan-2013-2018.pdf (ii)the department with which you would like to be affiliated; (iii) your teaching experience and courses that you would like to offer; and (iv) your long-term goals.

2. A Curriculum Vitae,

3. Two letters of reference,

4. Scanned copies of your published papers/scholarly works or book chapters (maximum of 50 pages).

5. Scanned copy of your current academic transcript from your doctoral-granting institution.

6. Copies of teaching evaluations from the most recent academic year.

Send all application materials to: postdoc@usf.edu
Final application submission deadline is Friday December 5^th, 2014.

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CONFERENCES/CALL FOR PAPERS

II COLOQUIO INTERNACIONAL “ COMUNICACION, PODER Y CULTURA EN AMERICA LATINA”

24, 25 y 26 de febrero de 2015
Centro de Investigaciones sobre América Latina y el Caribe (CIALC), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México
Description:
Coloquio funcionará bajo la modalidad de conferencias magistrales y ponencias individuales que serán propuestas al Comité Organizador en base a las temáticas señaladas en la presente convocatoria. También se aceptarán propuestas de simposios y mesas redondas realizadas por grupos de investigadores a la Comisión Organizadora. Pueden participar académicos, investigadores e intelectuales de América Latina y el Caribe, así como otras regiones del mundo. Del mismo modo, también podrán participar estudiantes de postgrado (maestría y doctorado) que actualmente desarrollen proyectos sobre el tema. Las propuestas de ponencias individuales, simposios y mesas –con un máximo 750 palabras- se recibirán hasta el 1 de diciembre de 2014, e incluirán: 1) título, 2) resumen, 3) eje temático en el que se inscribe, 4) nombre, grado académico y afiliación institucional del/la autor/a, 5) correo electrónico de contacto, y 6) breve resumen curricular del/la autor/a. Las propuestas deben enviarse al Comité Organizador para su evaluación, a la dirección de correo electrónico: coloquio.cialc@gmail.com y deberán versar sobre alguno de los siguientes ejes temáticos:

Medios de comunicación y procesos políticos.
Monopolios y comunicación.
Cultura y comunicación.
Educación y comunicación.
Comunicación alternativa.
Comunicación pública de la ciencia.
Identidad, etnia y comunicación.
Comunicación, crisis y conflicto.
Género y comunicación.
Religiosidad y comunicación.
Tecnologías de la información y las comunicaciones.
Comunicación e imagen.

Proposal deadline: 1 de diciembre de 2014

Contact information:
Email: coloquio.cialc@gmail.com Blog: http://coloquiocomunicacionamericalatina.blogspot.mx/

Additional information:
coloquio.cialc@gmail.com

7th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON EAST-WEST INTERCULTURAL RELATIONS: “ INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUES AND CROSSINGS AMONG THE EAST, THE AMERICAS, AND THE IBERIAN PENINSULA.”

March 26-27, 2014
Eugene Lang College, The New School For Liberal Arts

Description:
You are invited to present a paper dedicated to one of the following subthemes (other subthemes related to the main theme of the conference will be accepted)

Western travelers in Japan
Japanese travelers in the West
Image of Japan in Hispanic literature and culture
Image of the Hispanic world in Japanese literature and culture
Japonisme
Orientalism and self
orientalization in Japanese and Nippon-Latin American cultural production
Hispanic Orientalism in literature and film
Trans-Pacific Studies
Travel narratives
Exoticization and idealization of the Oriental “Other”
Orientalism and Occidentalism
Asian and Arab literature and culture in the Hispanic world
Cooleism
Asian and Arab testimonials, memoirs, and autobiographies
Representation of Asian and Arab women in the Hispanic world
Asian and Arab Diasporas
Filipino literature in Spanish
Chinatowns in the Americas
Asian and Arab religiosity and "witchcraft" in the Americas
Transculturation and hybridity
Transnationalism and globalization
Racialization of Jews in the Hispanic world
Orientalism and the Asian and Arab presence in the Lusophone world

Proposal deadline:
Please send your abstract via email before December 31, 2014, along with a brief bio-bibliography (maximum of 10 lines) to any of the following emails:
Contact information:
Dr. Ignacio López-Calvo
lopezcalvo@msn.com

Dr. Juan E. de Castro
Eugene Lang College, The New School For Liberal Arts
decastrj@newschool.edu
Additional information:
Languages: Papers can be presented in in Spanish or English.
*Registration:

USA/Asia: $100 Graduate students - USA/Asia: $75
Europe: 80 euros Graduate students - Europa: 60 euros
Latin America and Africa: $60

Please send a check signed to University of California Regents. The address is the following:
Dr. Ignacio López-Calvo
SSHA
University of California, Merced
5200 North Lake Road
Merced, CA. 95343

BRANDING LATIN AMERICA

8-9th April, 2015
University of Cambridge
Description:
Branding is the deliberate projection of a consciously-constructed image or identity, the marketing of the self to the other, the selling of specificity. The emergence of nation branding as a concept in the mid-1990s (Simon Anholt, 1996) corresponds with an attempt to reassert control over the perception and production of the nation, carving out a niche in which a supposed specificity will protect the nation from being subsumed by the amorphous forces of globalization, as well as allowing it to compete in the international neoliberal marketplace. Competitive nation branding can thus be seen as both a part of and response to the processes of globalisation variously theorised by Arjun Appadurai, Néstor García Canclini and Walter Mignolo, amongst others.

Today, nation branding surrounds us in the form of tourism brochures, national logos and festivals promoting particular nations’ images and, perhaps more importantly, goods. But in Latin America, the specificities of creation and promotion can hardly be dated so recently nor confined so narrowly to the tourism sector. Whether it be the ‘boom’ of Latin American fiction in the 1960s, the image of the ‘latino lover’ still propagated by various film industries or the reputation for drug-trafficking and violence attributed to numerous Latin American nations in turn, the political, economic and cultural history of Latin America calls for a broader understanding of branding. These examples prompt us to ask: Who is branding whom, how is this branding achieved, and why?

Branding is also a painful act of marking, a declaration of possession and an enduring assignation of value. Bringing to mind both the tactics of globalised capitalism and the literal stamping of slaves by their owners, the concept of branding unwittingly carries within itself the trace of violence and pain by which it is arguably inevitably accompanied. This conference thus also aims to consider: What scar tissue is formed? What might be the unintended effects of and unexpected responses to branding?

The branding of a nation involves an ongoing struggle over economic, political, cultural and affective capital between multiple parties, from both inside and outside the nation. Examples of such struggles in literature include the Mexican Crack Generation, which points us towards movements of reaction and resistance to branding and complicates the one-way model of the culture industry traditionally depicted by theorists such as Adorno and Horkheimer. Meanwhile, the Buena Vista Social Club phenomenon draws our attention to the workings of branding in the creation and consumption of 'World Music', showing how branding can result from international economic and cultural exchanges which may be collaborations, but also imaginings and impositions.

Scholarly work on the topic of branding has typically focussed on issues relating to marketing and PR. This conference seeks instead to adopt an interdisciplinary approach in order to interrogate the aims, functioning, effects of and resistance to branding in Latin America. We welcome contributions from postgraduate researchers and scholars working in or across various disciplines and academic fields, including but not restricted to: Politics, International Relations/Development, Economics, Sociology, Tourism, Geography, Literature and Languages, Music, Visual Arts, Film, Photography, and Cultural Studies.
Proposal deadline: 1st December 2014
Contact information: BrandingLatinAmericaConference@gmail.com
Additional information: Abstracts and presentations can be written and delivered in English, Spanish or Portuguese. Each paper will be limited to 20 minutes.

Convenors: Dunja Fehimovic (University of Cambridge), Rebecca Ogden, Par Kumaraswami (University of Reading)

AFRICAN AND BLACK DIASPORA: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL

Special Issue, “Afro-Brazilian Citizenship and the Politics of History”

Special Issue Editors:

Merle L. Bowen, University of Illinois

Sean T. Mitchell, Rutgers University-Newark

LaShandra Sullivan, Purdue University

After the abolition of Brazilian slavery in 1888, national elites attempted to relegate blackness and Afro-Brazilian people to Brazil’s past, through explicit policies of National branqueamento, or whitening. Today, during a period of flourishing Afro-Brazilian activism that emerged on the national scene with the end of a military regime in 1985 and the centenary of abolition in 1988, each new national survey shows more of the population identifying as black. Early 20^th century elites hoped to banish blackness to history, but a century later, the nation’s future seems increasingly Afro-Brazilian. The politics of race, citizenship, history, and the future in Brazil were and are linked. Today, debates about blackness and Afro-Brazilian rights and practices conducted within the state and by a myriad of civil society actors have been especially forceful in configuring and thus in imagining, national pasts, presents, and futures.

This special issue of African and Black Diaspora: an International Journal addresses the changing relations between race, citizenship, history, and the future in Brazil with research that address these central questions: how do the material vestiges and contemporary interpretations of history impact politics oriented towards the present and the future? How are history and its traces used and understood by proponents and opponents of the contemporary politics of Afro-Brazilian rights and reparations? How and why do social actors assume blackness, and become marked as black via relations to changing conceptions of history and material objects such as land, the built environment, and ethno-racial commodities?

In recent years these question have been at the forefront of Brazilian politics, with historical memory, slavery, and heritage key topics of contestation in the nation’s politics of race. We seek papers that address these questions from the perspective of research in historical and contemporary sources and from scholars in both the humanities and the social sciences.

The guest co-editors welcome submissions, which may include, but not limited to the following topics:

· Contemporary Brazilian Quilombos.

· The politics of reparations.

· Transforming forms of racial identification.

· Heritage as a site of political struggle.

· Ideologies of branqueamento and “racial democracy” in historical and contemporary perspective.

· The politics of teaching Afro Brazilian history.

· Conceptions of African history in contemporary Brazilian politics.

· Intersections of gender and sexuality with politics of race and recognition.

We welcome papers that address these and related themes from both contemporary and historical perspectives.

Those interested should send their paper title and abstract (250 to 300 words maximum) in English or Portuguese, as well as a short bio (150 words) to the three co-editors: Drs. Merle L. Bowen, Sean T. Mitchell and LaShandra Sullivan at afrobraziliancitizenship@gmail.com.

The deadline for sending abstracts to co-editors is November 15, 2014

Notification of acceptance will be given by November 30, 2014

Submission of complete papers is February 2015

THE 23^rd ANNUAL LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES SYMPOSIUM AT BIRMINGHAM-SOUTHERN COLLEGE: EXTREME EVENTS IN LATIN AMERICA

Birmingham-Southern College’s Annual Latin American Studies Symposium is a multi- and inter-disciplinary undergraduate research conference showcasing original research and creative projects conducted during the preceding year by undergraduate students from approximately 30 colleges and universities, including the Birmingham Area Consortium of Higher Education (BACHE) and the Associated Colleges of the South (ACS).
  Established at BSC in 1992 to foster undergraduate research, the symposium increases public awareness of Latin America and provides a forum for students and faculty to share their interests and to establish contacts with colleagues in other disciplines.
The theme for 2015 is “Extreme Events in Latin America.” The term “extreme event” tends to be associated with severe weather phenomena such as tornadoes, tropical storms, hurricanes, and floods. It is also increasingly being used to describe climate change impacts and the effects earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and landslides can have on urban areas. However, there is no precise metric for determining the extremeness of an event, and while some large-scale human events might generate positive effects or outcomes—sporting events, celebrations, commemorations, and elections, for example—extreme events are usually associated with death, destruction, misery, and mayhem. Airline disasters and bus crashes and some mass public demonstrations, strikes, and uprisings; and sudden political events such as coups, assassinations, and mass killings are also types of extreme events.
Although the 2015 theme is “Extreme Events in Latin America,” undergraduate papers on any topic relevant to Latin American Studies may be accepted: politics and culture, the global economy, literature, the environment, public health, gender, and art, for example. The symposium will run from Friday afternoon April 24^th through Saturday, April 25^th.
v Dr. Richard S. Olson, Professor and Director of Extreme Events Research in the Department of Politics and International Relations at Florida International University, will deliver the keynote address on Friday, April 24^th. Dr. Olson’s publications are required reading for the specialized field of the politics of disaster.
v Dr. Douglass Sullivan-González, Associate Professor of History and Dean of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College at the University of Mississippi will discuss his forthcoming book, The Black Christ of Esquipulas: Religion and Identity in Guatemala, at the luncheon on Saturday, April 25^th. His talk will focus on the cholera epidemic that occurred during Guatemala’s civil war in the 1830s.
Papers may be presented in Spanish, English, or Portuguese. Please submit an abstract proposal of no more than 250 words by Friday, March 13^th to:

THE FOURTH ANNUAL GRADUATE STUDENT CONFERENCE IN LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN STUDIES

University of Indiana, Bloomington

March 6-7, 2015

There are competitive travel grants that we offer to help offset the costs of coming to the conference and often there is a system to provide free housing for those who wish it (e.g. graduate student volunteered couches, futons, and the like). Below I provide an outline and full details can be found in the attached CFP and will soon be up on our website:
http://www.indiana.edu/~clacs/events/conferences/graduate-student-conference/

What: "SubEstimados: Prospects and Challenges of Social Mobility" (Graduate Student Conference in Latin American and Caribbean Studies)
When: March 6-7, 2015
Where: Indiana University - Bloomington (CLACS)
Keynote: Lessie Jo Frazier, Associate Professor, Gender Studies, Indiana University
(http://www.indiana.edu/~gender/people/frazier.shtml)
Keynote Title: "Chronicling Capitalism's Subestimados"
Travel Grants: We offer competitive travel grants to facilitate graduate student travel from other institutions beyond IU.

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IN THE MARKET

Assistant Professor in Latin American Studies with an emphasis on new media and digital culture (tenure track)

McGill University

The Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures (LLC) at McGill University invites applications for a tenure-track position in Latin American Studies with an emphasis on new media and digital culture. Candidates focusing on Brazilian culture and society are especially encouraged to apply. It is expected that the candidate will contribute to the area of Hispanic Studies as well as to other LLC initiatives and emerging programs, especially in the area of digital humanities. Candidates must demonstrate competitive research and publication records, substantial teaching experience, and a strong potential for collaborative research and program development across media, disciplines, and cultures. Native or near-native fluency in English is required. Knowledge of French is an asset. Applicants must have a PhD in hand or be very near completion. The teaching assignment is 12 credits (4 courses) per academic year. The appointment begins August 1, 2015. Inquiries about this position can be sent to jose.jouve@mcgill.ca. Information about the Department, its programs, and courses may be found at http://www.mcgill.ca/langlitcultures

Complete applications including a cover letter describing the candidate's interest in the position, fit with the department, and linguistic competences, curriculum vitae, a teaching statement and a writing sample (20-30 pages) must be submitted online at URL https://academicjobsonline.org/, no later than November 15, 2014. Three referees should upload their letters of recommendation at the same site. Application materials should be addressed to Professor José R. Jouve-Martín, Chair, Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures.

Assistant Professor of Sociology and Latin American and Caribbean Studies-The University of Georgia

The Department of Sociology and the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Institute (LACSI) invite applications for a tenure-track assistant professor position to begin fall 2015.We are looking for outstanding scholars whose empirical research and substantive interests focus on Latin America, the Caribbean, or Latinos and Latinas in the U.S. We seek candidates with a record of high quality research and who show promise of securing external funding. We invite interested candidates to visit the web sites of the Sociology Department (http://www.uga.edu/soc/) and the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Institute (http://www.lacsiuga.org/). LACSI is a vibrant, interdisciplinary academic community with 150 affiliate faculty and opportunities for collaboration across the university. The Institute has recently been awarded the U.S. Department of Education’s Title VI NRC and FLAS grants.
Deadline: Until Filled
Minimum Requirements: Candidates must have a Ph.D. in Sociology or have completed all the requirements for this degree by August 10, 2015.
Preferred Qualifications: The successful candidate will be able to teach courses not only in sociology but also in Latin American and Caribbean studies. Preference will be given to candidates who are prepared to teach sociological theory.
Documents Required:
Please submit applications online at https://www.franklin.uga.edu/jobs. Applicants should upload a cover letter, C.V., research statement, statement of teaching experience and interests, and a writing sample. Applicants will be asked to provide names and e-mail addresses of three letter-writers who will receive an online link for submitting letters of reference.
Contact Information: Patricia Richards plr333@uga.edu

706-542-3235

Assistant Professor of Spanish and Intercultural Communication-University of Maryland, Baltimore County

All Spanish courses at UMBC share a focus on culture and language in an intercultural framework. With this position we seek to introduce the study of digital intercultural communication in Spanish into the innovative curriculum and research agenda of the Department of Modern Languages, Linguistics, and Intercultural Communication (MLLI), and into the interdisciplinary undergraduate Program in Global Studies. Preferred areas of research include: social media and social movements; social media and migration; digital literary studies, and other areas in which digital intercultural communication in Spanish occurs.

UMBC is especially proud of the diversity of its student body, and we seek to attract an equally diverse applicant pool for this position. We have a strong commitment to increasing faculty diversity, and encourage applications from women, members of minority groups, veterans, and individuals with disabilities. The Carnegie Foundation ranks UMBC in the category of Research Universities with high research activity.
Deadline: 20 November 2014
Applicants should have the PhD in an appropriate area (for example, intercultural communication, cultural studies, anthropology, literary studies, sociology, communication, education) completed before Fall 2015, have native or near-native proficiency in Spanish and English, and demonstrate potential excellence in research, and in undergraduate and graduate teaching. Employment is contingent upon the candidate's obtaining and maintaining appropriate visa status, if applicable.
Documents Required: The application materials should include a two-page letter of application explaining the candidate’s specific qualifications for this post, a curriculum vitae, unofficial graduate transcripts, and three letters of recommendation. Please submit all materials via Interfolio (apply.interfolio.com/26619) before November 20, 2014. For questions, please contact:
Contact Information: Dr. Ana Oskoz, Co-Chair, Digital Intercultural Communication in Spanish Search Committee (aoskoz@umbc.edu)

Assistant Professor of Spanish-20th & 21st Century Latin American Lit. & Latino Lit. in the US-University of Maryland, Baltimore County

This is a tenure-track position in the Spanish area of the Department of Modern Languages, Linguistics and Intercultural Communication. Teaching responsibilities in Spanish include intermediate, advanced undergraduate and graduate courses, including topics courses on twentieth and twenty-first century Latin American literature and Latino literature in the United States. All Spanish courses at UMBC, including those on literary topics, share a focus on culture and language in an intercultural framework. See the UMBC Undergraduate Catalog for course descriptions: http://www.umbc.edu/catalog.

Other teaching responsibilities include participation in the interdisciplinary undergraduate and graduate core programs. Experience in working with Spanish heritage speakers is desirable. The teaching load is 5 courses per year. For more information about the MLLI Department and the Spanish area, please consult http://mlli.umbc.edu.

UMBC is especially proud of the diversity of its student body, and we seek to attract an equally diverse applicant pool for this position. We have a strong commitment to increasing faculty diversity, and encourage applications from women, members of minority groups, veterans, and individuals with disabilities. The Carnegie Foundation ranks UMBC in the category of Research Universities with high research activity.
Deadline: 20 November 2014
Applicants should have the PhD completed before Fall 2015, have native or near-native proficiency in Spanish and English, and demonstrate potential excellence in research, undergraduate and graduate teaching. Employment is contingent upon the candidate's obtaining and maintaining appropriate visa status, if applicable
Documents Required: The application materials should include a two-page letter of application explaining the candidate’s specific qualifications for this post, a curriculum vitae, unofficial graduate transcripts, and three letters of recommendation. Please submit all materials via Interfolio (apply.interfolio.com/26618) before November 20, 2014. Preliminary interviews will be conducted at MLA or via Skype (if not attending MLA) in January, 2015.
Contact Information: Dr. Ana María Schwartz Caballero, Co-Chair, Spanish Latin American and Latino Literature Search Committee (aschwart@umbc.edu)

Assistant/ Associate Professor (tenure-track) of Spanish Linguistics with a specialization in Second Language Acquisition.

Miami University of Ohio

We seek an individual actively involved in research and publication with the vision and energy to maintain excellence in the Spanish Linguistics curriculum. Candidates with experience in Spanish Heritage Speakers or First Language Acquisition are especially welcome. Duties include teaching language and linguistics at both the BA and MA levels; maintaining an active research agenda; and contributing productively to the Department, College, and University.
Deadline: Unitl position is filled
Minimum Requirements:
Specialization in Second Language Acquisition; native- or near-native fluency in Spanish and English. For appointment at the rank of Assistant Professor, Ph.D. in hand by August 2015, and evidence of successful college-level teaching. To be appointed to the rank of associate professor, the successful candidate must have an established record of high quality teaching and scholarship/research with scholarly publications related to their specified areas.
Documents Required: Submit cover letter, vita and three letters of reference to Interfolio: http://apply.interfolio.com/27392
Contact Information: adamskr@miamioh.edu

Assistant Professor of Colonial Latin American History

University of Alabama
The successful candidate will be expected to teach upper-level and graduate courses in the field of specialization as well as Latin American surveys. The candidate must have an active research agenda leading to publications and provide service to the University community and professional organizations.
Deadline: Review of Applications will begin November 15, 2014
Minimum Requirements: Ph.D. must be in hand by time of appointment.
Preferred Qualifications:
The successful candidate will be expected to teach upper-level and graduate courses in the field of specialization as well as Latin American surveys. The Department and University emphasize excellence in teaching as well as scholarship.
Documents Required:

Letter of Application
C.V.
Writing sample (article or chapter).
Completed on-line application form, http://facultyjobs.ua.edu
Three letters of recommendation sent directly to Dr. Steven Bunker, Chair, Colonial Latin American Search Committee, Department of History, University of Alabama, Box 870212, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0212.

Contact Information:
Dr. Steven Bunker, sbunker@ua.edu

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OUTREACH

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5

2:00PM

GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH

On Wednesday, November 5, 2014, from 2:00-3:30pm, in the Main Library's room 321, academic professionals, students and community members will gather to discuss gender-based violence in a global context. Please join us. Tea and cookies will be served.

"Chai Wai is Hindi for "tea or something like that" and is the name of our brand new event series at the International and Area Studies Library at UIUC. Chai Wai events give the campus community an opportunity for enlightened conversation on important global issues. The conversation will be informed and guided by a moderator and 4 experts or stakeholders in the issue at hand.

For our second event we will be focusing on gender-based violence in the global south, with an emphasis on South Asia. Panelists will include scholars and activists with expertise in South Asia, Ecuador and Kenya. We will also be serving Indian snacks and tea. This event is free and open to the public.