Month: September 2009

CALL  FOR  PAPERS — PLEASE CIRCULATE

We are pleased to announce the
9th Conference of the Puerto Rican Studies Association
to be held at the
Hartford Marriott Downtown Hotel
Hartford, CT
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/bdldt-hartford-marriott-downtown/

21 – 23 October 2010

Download the
MEMBERSHIP FORM, CALL FOR PAPERS and PROPOSAL FORMS
http://www.puertorican-studies.org/

Deadline for submission: 10 February 2010!

More information will be posted here as available
check back for details
http://www.puertorican-studies.org/

Smithsonian Latino Center – Fall Lecture & Conference Series

Production and Propaganda—Colonial Art from the Spanish Caribbean, Panama, and Peru

Saturday, September 26, 2009, 3pm – 4pm

Nan Tucker McEvoy Auditorium, Smithsonian American Art Museum

8^th and G St. NW, Washington, DC

Admission is free and open to the public

During the 16^th, 17^th, and 18^th centuries, the art that was circulated, as well as produced locally, throughout the Spanish Caribbean, Panama, and Peru was overwhelmingly religious in content.  Religious imagery in the form of paintings or sculpted figures, in addition to other sacred objects, were highly in demand as objects of personal devotion, as well as tools for the conversion of indigenous peoples and the assertion of colonial identities.  Join the Smithsonian Latino Center and Smithsonian American Art Museum for a talk with Panamanian art historian Orlando Hernández Ying to explore the meaning and context of colonial art from the Spanish Caribbean, Panama, and Peru.  Admission is free, but please arrive early to ensure a good seat!  Auditorium doors will open 30 minutes before the show.

The Chinese Communities of Panama

Thursday, October 8, 2009, 6pm – 7:15pm

Meyer Auditorium, Freer Gallery of Art

1100 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC

Admission is free and open to the public

Join the Smithsonian Latino Center and the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program for an evening lecture and discussion exploring the legacy of Chinese immigration to the Americas.  Lok Siu, Anthropology Professor at the New York University, will present an engaging historical and cultural overview of Chinese migration to Panama that addresses themes like labor, racial exclusion, gender, and new cycles of migration to other parts of the Americas.  Evelyn Hu-DeHart, Professor of History, and Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America at Brown University will introduce the program and facilitate an audience dialogue after the presentation.  Admission is free, but please arrive early to ensure a good seat!  Auditorium doors will open 30 minutes before the program.

Latino Art in Transition—with Pepón Osorio and Miguel Luciano

Friday, October 9, 2009, 7pm – 8pm

Robert and Arlene Kogod Courtyard, Smithsonian American Art Museum

8th St. and G St. NW, Washington, D.C.

Admission is free and open to the public

Hear about new movements in Latino art from two major Latino artists: Pepón Osorio (whose works reside in major museum collections, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum) and Miguel Luciano, an emerging artist who has exhibited in a number of national and international forums including the Grande Halle de la Villette in Paris, the San Juan Triennial in Puerto Rico, and at the Smithsonian.  Virginia Mecklenburg, Senior Curator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, will provide an introduction and moderate the discussion.

Interpreting 500 Years of Panamanian History

Friday, October 16, 2009, 4pm – 7pm (followed by a reception)

Historical Society of Washington, DC

801 K Street, NW at Mount Vernon Square, Washington, DC

Admission is free and open to the public

Discover 500 years of Panamanian history in a three-part lecture by some of the most dynamic scholars in the field: Alfredo Castillero Calvo (independent scholar), Aims McGuinness (University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee), and Julia Greene (University of Maryland, College Park).  Covering the colonial period, the 19^th, and 20^th centuries, this lecture will address topics like the economics of early globalization, imperialism, labor and ethnicity, and Panamanian sovereignty.  This program is being organized by the Smithsonian Latino Center and the History Department of the University of Maryland, College Park, with the support of the Historical Society of Washington, DC.

Tropical Archeology in Panama—Reconstructing the Indigenous Past

Sunday, November 8, 2009, 1pm – 2pm

Baird Auditorium, National Museum of Natural History

Washington, DC

Admission is free and open to the public

Join Dr. Richard Cooke from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute for a special program to connect lay and scholarly audience with the latest findings in the tropical archeology happening in Panama.  Dr. Cooke will present his work in concert with other cross-disciplinary studies used to reconstruct the history of the indigenous peoples (and their use of the environment) on the Isthmus of Panama.  This program is being organized by the Smithsonian Latino Center, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and the National Museum of Natural History.  Admission is free, but please arrive early to ensure a good seat!  Auditorium doors will open 30 minutes before the show.

Indigenous Mapping: Tools for Native Politics in Panama and the World

Friday, December 4, 2009, 4pm – 5pm

Conference Room 4018-19, National Museum of the American Indian

Fourth Street & Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC

Admission is free and open to the public

Join anthropologist and indigenous rights advocate Mac Chapin for an illustrated lecture discussing a mapping project carried out with the Kuna of Panama from 2001–2003.  This project was a collaborative effort among the Kuna General Congress, the National Geographic Institute in Panama, and the Center for the Support of Native Lands in Arlington, Virginia.  The maps that resulted from this project are being used by the Kuna to protect their territory, strengthen their culture and political organization, and for their school curriculum.  Similar methodology for mapping indigenous lands has been used in Central and South America, Africa, and New Guinea.  This program has been organized by the Smithsonian Latino Center and the National Museum of the American Indian.  Admission is free, but please arrive early to ensure a good seat!

Aquí les dejamos unas cuantas imágenes de nuestra recepción. Se puede escuchar la voz de Celia Cruz entre las conversaciones.

Date & Time: September 14-15

Location: Walter E. Washington Convention Center (Washington DC)

Fortune 500 companies and more will be on site to discuss career and internship opportunities with their organizations.  The conference will also host the premier of CHCI’s CareerLink online platform, allowing students to simultaneously upload their resumés and review job openings.

For more information, visit: www.chci.org

Date & Time: Friday, September 18; 5-9pm

Location: Nyumburu Cultural Center, Amphitheatre

Start off Latino Heritage Month with a bang!  This event will feature dancing, bands, performers and other cultural entertainment.  Come meet other students and have fun!

Date & Time: Wednesday, September 16; 5:30-7:30pm

Location: St. Mary’s Patio

Come mix and mingle with the new LSU Board over free food!  The board will be introducing themselves, having a Rita’s Ice raffle, and meeting YOU!  Please come out and bring a friend!

Date & Time: 12-1pm; September 16, October 7, November 4

Location: Francis Scott Key Hall, Room 2120

This workshop seeks to study new patterns of social inequality and government responses in Latin America from a multidisciplinary perspective. To that end, we also seek to explore the historical dimensions that explain social inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean. Analytical categories are not confined to the concept of class. We assume that the historical, political, sociological, economic, and cultural aspects of social inequality need to be understood by studying also notions of gender, race, ethnicity, and sexuality. We hope that the encounter of faculty and graduate students from different fields will provide an enriching environment in which to debate, exchange, and broaden the conceptualization and understanding of the issues at hand.

For more information contact Leandro Benmergui (lbenmerg@umd.edu) or Patricio Korzeniewicz (korzen@umd.edu).

Date & Time: Saturday, September 12; 1-3pm

Location: Stamp Student Union, Jimenez Room (2208)

IPS’ SALSA and Grupo Afro Descendiente invites you to a dynamic forum with Professors Gerónimo Alberto Sanchez Garcia and Alejandro Israel Correa Ortega, two top administrators from the Instituto Universitario de Barlovento (IUB) of Venezuela. Founded in 1991, IUB is one of the only historically Black institutions of higher education in Latin America. Join us for their in-depth and informed perspectives about: the history of African people in Venezuela; the impact of Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution (led by Hugo Chavez) on African descendants; and advances in Afro-Venezuelan and African studies in the education system. Sanchez and Correa will also discuss plans for a fall 2010 study abroad project, which will help six students from IUB visit the US in the spring semester of 2010.