Latina/o Studies Association
Dear Colleague,
This July 15-18, 2020, hundreds of scholars in Latinx studies will be gathering in South Bend, Indiana at the University of Notre Dame for the fourth biennial conference of the Latina/o Studies Association. Your help in distributing and posting the attached CFP can make this important conference even more visible during these turbulent political times. You have received this email because you are on our list as representing an institutional center or organization – if you are no longer working in that capacity, please let us know.
The theme for LSA 2020 is “Beyond Borders: Latina/o Studies in Times of Crisis.” Children in cages. Natural disasters. Anti-immigrant sentiment. Attacks against LGBTQ communities. Attacks against women’s rights. White supremacy. The criminalization of refugees. Institutional racism. These are just a few signs that remind us that we are living in times of crisis. Though none of these issues are new, their intensity in recent years urgently demands our collective action. The LSA 2020 Conference seeks to provide a space to discuss, strategize, and promote action for the benefit of Latina/o/x communities across borders.
These inequalities are also reflected in the field of Latina/o/x studies itself. By holding the 2020 Conference in South Bend, Indiana—a city in the rural Midwest with an established Latina/o/x community—we encourage participants to engage with scholars, community organizers, and activists beyond the traditional geographical areas (West Coast, Southwest, East Coast, Florida) that are more often represented in our field. Likewise, we encourage participants to consider addressing the experiences of underrepresented communities in Latina/o studies including Afro-Latina/os, Indigenous peoples, LGBTQ, Central and South Americans, linguistic minorities, and non-Hispanophone Latina/os who are often excluded from this category, such as Haitians, the Garífuna, and Brazilians. In addition, we also encourage interdisciplinary deliberation about how to build stronger solidarity networks among scholars, activists, community organizations, artists, and other actors in these times of crisis.
We want LSA 2020 to be a place where you reunite with long-time friends and make new ones; where you share your research and learn from colleagues in the field; and where you find inspiration and ideas for activism and community engagement. The CFP for LSA 2018 can be found on our conference platform and on Facebook. It is also attached to this email as a PDF. Please share it widely with your colleagues, students, and Latinx-affiliated community organizations. We hope you might also post it on your center’s website, distribute it to your list-serves, and include it in your newsletters so that we may collaborate nationally and internationally in addressing the challenges facing Latinx communities. What started out at LASA 2012 as a call to gauge interest in an interdisciplinary and international association specifically for Latina/o studies is now a reality. We believe that “Beyond Borders: Latina/o Studies in Times of Crisis” will be an energetic space for encountering the many forms and directions Latinx Studies takes today. Thank you very much for your help!
Sincerely,
The Executive Officers,
The Latina/o Studies Association