SPAP Department event

“Nation and State: Public vs. Private in Rodrigo Plá’s La Zona” by Héctor Fernández L’Hoeste
When          : Monday, February 15, 2010 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Where         : Jimenez Building : JMZ 2206
Event Type(s) : Conference

Héctor Fernández L’Hoeste (Ph.D., State University of New York at Stony Brook) is the Director of the Center for Latin American and Latino/a Studies at Georgia State University, where he teaches Latin American Cultural Studies. He is the author of Narrativas de representación urbana: un estudio de expresiones culturales de la modernidad latinoamericana (Lang, 1998) and co-editor of Rockin’ Las Americas (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2004) and Redrawing the Nation (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009).

For more information, contact:
SPAP: 1 301 314 5817
mmunoz2@umd.edu

8^th Annual SLLC Graduate Student Forum

Space and Transculturality; April 8-9, 2010

Each time I undertake to paint a picture, I have the sensation of leaping into space. I never know whether I shall fall on my feet.” Picasso may have simply been trying to paint a picture, but his statement exemplifies the metaphysical connection between space and the endeavor of expression. Space, as evidenced by its charm over architects, artists, writers, and scientists alike, is a concept that profoundly intrigues us, the examination of which is fundamental to an understanding of ourselves.

Space can be an emptiness, or it can be room to grow. “The space between” can be a communal place where ideas meld, but it can also be a gap, a breach in understanding. This conference seeks to explore the question of space and its representations within the context of transculturality in language and literature. How does space, from its geographical to metaphorical manifestations, affect the flow and transfer of ideas between cultures? What are the differences between physical and mental spaces among cultures? What consequences arise from the imposition of one culture on the space of another? We think of barriers as marking a boundary within a space, but in what ways does space itself create boundaries? How is space compartmentalized by different cultures? Do certain gaps between cultures defy exchange?

The graduate students of the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at the University of Maryland cordially invite students from all disciplines to submit papers that analyze possible reflection on and interpretation of “Space and Transculturality.” Topics include but are not limited to:

• The relationship between space and borders (both physical and metaphorical)
• Representations of space in literature
• The conceptualization of space from a linguistic perspective
• Socio-cultural approaches to the question of space
• Colonialism and post-colonialism
• Terrorism in today’s world literature
• Geographical space
• Emptiness
• Visual representations of space
• Borders, boundaries, and walls
• Definitions of space

Abstracts are encouraged from all fields and papers should be in English. Please submit an abstract of no more than 300 words by January 15, 2010 to umdsllcconf2010@gmail.com.

“Cuando nada en la tierra quede”
The Diva Ends/The Diva’s Ends
(In English)
November 5, 2009, 1-3 pm
St. Mary’s Multipurpose Room

Professor Licia Fiol-Matta,
Associate Professor
Department of Latin American & Puerto Rican Studies
Lehman College, The City University of New York

Licia Fiol-Matta is Associate Professor of Latin American and Puerto Rican
Studies at Lehman College, City University of New York. She is the author
of A Queer Mother for the Nation: The State and Gabriela Mistral
(University of Minnesota Press, 2002), and of scholarly articles on gender,
race, and sexuality. Her current research focuses on pop music and media;
her second book, forthcoming from Duke University Press, is tentatively
entitled The Politics of Voice: Gender and Music Culture in Puerto Rico.
She is a member of the Editorial Collective of Social Text and co-editor of
the series New Directions in Latino American Cultures and New Concepts in
Latino American Cultures at Palgrave/Macmillan.

Young Mexican Poets
HERNÁN BRAVO VARELA & ALEJANDRO TARRAB

In Spanish

Thursday October 22, from 1:00 to 2:30pm

Multipurpose Room, St Mary’s Hall, University of Maryland, College Park

What it means to be a poet in Latin America? What it means to be a poet living in the most crowded city in the world? Award winning Mexican young poets Hernán Bravo and Alejandro Tarrab will address these and other questions regarding the art of poetry from their own experience and will read in Spanish some of their breathtaking works.

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