UC Irvine – Central American Studies Conference
1st Central American Studies Conference UCI 2020
Moving Beyond the Border Crisis. Central American Visions: Past, Present & Future.
April 16th and 17th, 2020
University of California, Irvine
Keynote Speakers:
- Manlio Argueta (Poet, Novelist and Director of El Salvador National Library)
- Carolina Rivera Escamilla (Author, playwright, & filmmaker)
- Dr. Irma Alicia Velásquez Nimatuj (Journalist, social anthropologist, activist, and author)
- Pamela Yates (Documentary filmmaker and Human Rights activist)
The graduate students of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese in collaboration with graduate students from the History Department and the Department of Criminology, Law and Society at UC Irvine (UCI) invite graduate and undergraduate students, faculty and scholars to the first Central American Studies Conference at UCI. We welcome submissions in the fields of Central American Literature, Cultural Studies, Politics, History, Artistic Production, and Film and Media Studies that dialogue with this year’s theme.
Central America as the bridge that connects the northern and southern countries of Latin America, is a region rich with history, culture, literary and artistic production. The isthmus has been filled with socio-political movements that have impacted scholarship world-wide. Most recently, Central America has undergone many political and social changes, resulting in the migrant caravans and the political instability in Nicaragua and Honduras. Despite the lack of Central American representation within the U.S., this resurgence in the visibility of Central America has spurred an increased academic interest in the region. As scholars, we see this conference as a way of highlighting the importance of the region in U.S. academia and also as a way to build bridges with the Central American academies. We seek to open up a space for discussion of the political and cultural aspects of the region and mark the importance of Central American literary and artistic production.
Topics include but are not limited, to the fields or topics of:
Activism ❘ Anthropology ❘ Comparative literature ❘ Criminology, Law & Society ❘ Cultural Studies ❘ Film & Media Studies ❘ Gender, Sexuality & Women’s Studies ❘ History ❘ LGBTQI + Queer Studies ❘ Literary Criticism ❘ Migration Studies ❘ Performance Studies ❘ Race & Ethnicity ❘ Science and Technology Studies ❘ Sociology ❘ Subaltern Studies ❘ Testimony & Memory Studies ❘ Visual Studies ❘
Presentations should be in English and/or Spanish and should not exceed 20 minutes in length. Please submit a 250 word abstract, and a 100 word max bio, by January 5th, 2020 to: ucicentroamconf@gmail.com. If interested in organizing a panel, please state it in your email. Conference registration fee for presenters: undergraduate students (free); $30 graduate students; $40 independent scholar; $70 faculty. The entirety of fees will go towards conference costs. This is event is free and open to the public.
This conference is organized in collaboration with the following departments at UCI: Spanish & Portuguese, Gender & Sexuality Studies, History, Criminology, Law & Society, Chicano/Latino Studies, Film and Media Studies, the Latin American Studies Center, and UCI Humanities Center (formerly known as UCI Humanities Commons).
Visit our website at: https://sites.uci.edu/ucicentamconf
and our Instagram: @ucicentralamericanconf
Contact us at: ucicentroamconf@gmail.com