Disoriented Disciplines: China, Latin America, and the Shape of World Literature (2023, Northwestern University Press, FlashPoints Series) takes us to the edges, surfaces, and turns of the literary artifact when it crosses cultural boundaries. As Rosario Hubert demonstrates, in the absence of specialized programs of study, abstract discussions of China in Latin America took shape in contingent critical infrastructures built at the crossroads of the literary market, cultural diplomacy, and commerce.
Disoriented Disciplines understands translation as a material act of transfer,...
Criminality in urban areas in Mexico has been a long-term unsolved problem, owing not just to ineffective policies, but to police corruption and criminal complicity but also the failure of public authorities to build the rule of law. Both conditions create a culture of impunity.
Failure to confront and reduce chronic violence has increased the fragility of the (city)-state, reduced the legitimacy of authorities, and eroded the capacity of urban communities to build rule of...
In this fascinating analysis of political discourse in Cuban culture, María de los Angeles Torres focuses on how the concept of time has been employed by different political projects. Torres closely examines the use of time and its political implications in Fidel Castro's "History Will Absolve Me" speech, the writings of Jose Martí and Che Guevara, the poetry of Eliseo Diego and the Orígenes group, and paintings and performance art by...
This event will explore the role of literature as a “source” for historical and sociological interpretation of race in post-abolition Brazil. A central question arises when considering the analysis of this crucial phase in the formation of Brazilian society, which grapples with the scarcity of oral narratives or written testimonies produced by free or enslaved Black individuals who experienced the end of slavery. This paper aims to address this gap by examining how two Afro-Brazilian writers, Astolfo Marques (1876-1918) and...
This event is hybrid, register to attend online here.
Despite high levels of access to primary schooling, educational quality in Latin America remains low. Why? Raised to Obey uncovers the deep roots of this enduring problem, documenting that the original goal of primary education systems was to promote obedience, not skills.
Speaker: Agustina Paglayan, Assistant Professor of Political Science, UCSD.
Minas Gerais’ Quadrilátero Ferrífero, or Iron Quadrangle, is one of Brazil’s richest cultural, environmental and historical regions, home to two UNESCO World Heritage towns and Brazil’s largest iron ore reserves. The Quadrilátero Ferrífero region offers centuries of history through its architecture, monuments, archaeological sites, culinary, rituals, handicrafts, religious festivals and natural resources. Yet its local communities, natural environment and rich cultural heritage are at imminent risk from catastrophic natural and humanitarian disasters resulting from industrial mining. The...
The yearlong Sawyer Seminar seeks to understand contemporary contestation over citizenship and belonging by Afrodescendants in Latin America, situating these struggles within long-term, historical patterns of nation building, racial stratification, and political mobilization. It will explore the struggles and experiences of citizenship of this vastly heterogeneous group, which have been starkly uneven across time and across (and within) countries.
The Seminar will also ask what these differences can teach us, including how these Afro-Latin American perspectives can help inform...
This seminar is part of the Thursday Brown Bag Series, at the Department of Global Health and Population at the T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The series features current research of members and affiliates of GHP. The intent is to educate and raise the awareness of our community and beyond, about the research activities presently being conducted by faculty, students, researchers, and special guests of the department.
This paper examines the impact of women’s political representation on deforestation rates in Brazil. Using close election regression discontinuity design, we show that women, when elected to office, are more likely to drive improved environmental outcomes due to factors such as reduced access to corrupt networks that influence the enforcement of environmental laws at the local level. Altogether, our findings demonstrate...
This event proposes a re-reading of the Mexican literary canon by challenging two of its main guiding principles: gender and nation. It aims to define 'women's writing' and explore recent literature of the region, questioning established concepts of what Américo Paredes reffers to as Greater Mexico.
Featuring groundbreaking voices in contemporary literature Brenda Navarro and Sara Uribe Sánchez the event aspires to create a dialogue that transcends traditional boundaries.
Speakers: Sara Uribe Sánchez, writer and poet. Brenda...