Monthly Archives: November 2020

Dominican Studies Association Conference: DSA Virtually @ Hostos Biennial – Dec 4-5, 2020

Mission Statement
The Dominican Studies Association supports the diffusion of intellectual production by providing Dominican Studies scholars the opportunity to create supportive networks, cultivate alternative agendas beyond their respective institutions and address polemic issues impacting the homeland, local, and global Dominican diasporic communities.

Registration

This year, due to the biennial’s online format, we are offering the conference free of charge for both participants and panelists. Instead, we are kindly asking for a $30 donation to help offset the cost for this year’s 2020 DSA Biennial Conference.

REGISTER AT THE FOLLOWING LINK: https://hostos-cuny-edu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_wJHseIuHR6yfFIuUYUA88A:

Welcome (Open to All)

I

Dr. Ana Maurine Lara

Panel 13: Streetwalking: LGBTQ+ Activists in the Dominican Republic and its Diaspora
Chair: Ana-Maurine Lara, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR
Presenters:
Rosanna Marzán, Executive Director, Diversidad Dominicana, Santo Domingo, DR  
Deivis Ventura, Founder, Red de Voluntarios de Amigos Siempre Amigos, Santo Domingo, DR
Carlos Rodríguez, Individuos Unidos por el Respeto y la Armonía (IURA), Santo Domingo, DR
Ana-Maurine Lara, Assistant Professor, Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR

 

Dr. Norma Fuentes Mayorga, LALS

Panel 26: Social and Cultural Perspectives on COVID-19
Moderator: Norma Fuentes-Mayorga, Sociology/Latin American-Latina/o Studies, City College
Presenters:
Lina N. Cordero, Sociologist, Events Coordinator, Verania Consulting, Santo Domingo
“Muerte, cultura funeraria, entierros masivos y dolientes ausentes en la pandemia”
Stephen Ippolito, University at Albany Ph.D. Student/School of Professional Studies Instructor
“Killer Pandemics: Diabetes and COVID-19 Crisis”
Nelson Santana, Assistant Professor/Reference Librarian, Bronx Community College, CUNY
“The COVID-19 Dominican Oral History Project”
Maria Cristina Fumagalli, Professor of Literature, University of Essex, Colchester, England
“Stranger than Fiction: Toward a New Haitian-Dominican Narrative under Covid-19”
Bridgette Wooding, Director, Caribbean Migrants Observatory (OBMICA), Santo Domingo
“Stranger than Fiction: Toward a New Haitian-Dominican Narrative under Covid-19”

Panel 34: Ethnic Studies in the Ivy League: A Roundtable Discussion
Chair: Lorgia García-Peña, Romance Languages and Literatures Department, Harvard U
Presenters:
Aracely Alicia García, student activist, ‘20 graduate, Stanford University
Alondra Ponce, student activist, currently attending Harvard University
Ana Ramos-Zayas, American Studies and Anthropology, Yale University
Jonathan Rosa, Center for Comparative Studies of Race and Ethnicity, Stanford University
Frances Negrón-Muntaner, English and Comparative Literature, Columbia University

Dr. Frances Negrón Muntaner

Lorgia García-Peña, Romance Languages and Literatures Department, Harvard U

 

Elena Valdez, Modern/Classical Languages & Literatures, Christopher Newport U, VA

Sharina Maillo-Pozo, Romance Languages Department, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
Rachel Afi Quinn, Women’s Gender & Sexuality Studies/Cultural Studies, U of Houston, Texas
Scherezade García, Visual Artist, Co-founder of the Dominican York Proyecto/Gráfica

Dulcina Abreu, Independent Curator, Artist, and Museum Advocate in Washington D.C.

Closing / Farewell / Open to All

Virtual toast, Directory of DSA2020 Virtually@hostos participants sent to all.
Projections for 2022

Film Screening: Paris Stalingrad

This film screening is being presented by The Institute for the Study of Human Rights. the Committee on Forced Migration, and the European Institute. The film is set in the summer of 2016, in Paris, when refugees are camping in the Stalingrad district while waiting to regularize their situation.

Refugees arriving from Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia and Afghanistan
have no other choice than to sleep in the streets. Paris- based filmmaker Hind Meddeb witnessed the French state’s violence against these new immigrants and decided to film their daily life, marred by police raids, massive arrests, and closed immigration offices. She made this film to share her experience of their side of the story.

Introduction and post-film discussion with Hind Meddeb
Moderated by Dr. Lara J. Nettelfield

To register for the screening, click here.

Please submit any questions to: [email protected]

Date & Time: Nov 20, 2020 06:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Radiating Black ~ Puerto Rican ~ Feminist Studies from CUNY

November 1, 2020 – January 31, 2021

About the Residency 

This residency will share archives and learning/organizing lessons on the entwined legacies of Black ~ Puerto Rican ~ Feminist Studies and movements at CUNY in the 1960s and 70s, in order to nourish bridges between community organizers, cultural workers, educators, and students in the United States, the Caribbean, and Latin America. 
These radiant histories will be broadcast through a three-month series of seven online public dialogues on the lives of Toni Cade Bambara, June Jordan, and Audre Lorde; explorations in Black~Puerto Rican~Third World Feminist Studies at CUNY now; histories of how CUNY movements created Open Admissions and Ethnic Studies; and present efforts to decolonize CUNY and New York City. All programs will be conducted online via Zoom, and several of the presentations will feature live Spanish interpretation. 
We actively welcome working-class Black, Indigenous, Asian, Caribbean, Latinx, Middle Eastern, Pacific Islander, and beyond (BIPOC)—especially women, gender non-binary, and queer and trans—individuals and groups to attend and participate. The events and materials will be available for all, but we will intentionally center these participants in our process. 
The residency will culminate in the creation of digital and print materials for free distribution at Wendy’s Subway. For more information, contact [email protected]

Conference Schedule:
Thursday, November 12, 2020, 3:30pm
Activating June Jordan’s “Life Studies”: Notes, Conversation, and Workshop: Maryam Parhizkar, Talia Shalev, Conor Tomás Reed https://yale.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwlduCtqjgvGNd_IK7UogyBgPRwNNajS4yC

Monday, November 30, 2020, 6:00 pm
Translating Audre Lorde Now: Diarenis Calderón Tartabull, Julián González Beltrez, AnouchK Ibacka Valiente, Tito Mitjans Alayón, Geo Vidiella

Tuesday, December 15, 2020, 6:00pm
The School of Toni Cade Bambara: Makeba Lavan, Thabiti Lewis, Louis Massiah

Wednesday, January 20, 2021, 6:00pm
Transforming CUNY Admissions, Studies, Movements: Ricardo Gabriel, Amaka Okechukwu, Anna Zeemont

Friday, January 29, 2021, 6:00pm
Decolonize CUNY and NYC!

Register here to attend. Spanish interpretation available.

Colombia: Peace Building Amid Persistence of Violence an virtual Symposium

About the event: 
This symposium brings together academics, practitioners, civil society and civic leaders to discuss the past, present and futures of Colombia. It sheds light on the country’s long experience with internal armed conflict, its recent effort to transition to a post-conflict stage, and the challenges and opportunities that the present juncture implies for the success of enduring peacebuilding efforts.

This three-day event welcomes academics, practitioners, students and other public interested in Colombia. To register, click here.

This symposium is part of the Colombian Studies Initiative, Colombia: Past, Present, and Futures. This is a collaboration between scholars from NYU and Universidad del Rosario (URosario) in Colombia, which brings together NYU’s Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS) and the Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, in partnership with URosario’s Academic Vice-Provost Office, and the Peace, Conflict and Peace Research Center (Centro de Estudios en Conflictos y Paz). The goal of this collaboration is to raise awareness, deepen understanding and foster discussion among professors, students and community members interested in current challenges and opportunities affecting the peace process, democratic governance and sustainable development in Colombia.

 

The American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting

The AAA is holding their Annual Meeting online this November, live, and available for interactive participation. The conference is titled “Raising Our Voices,” and will be ongoing from November 5 to Saturday, November 13. Dr. Iris Lopez, Professor of Sociology and Director of the Latin American and Latinx Studies Program, at CCNY, will be giving her presentation on Wednesday, November 11. Below is a photo of the program for that day. The panel will focus on the movement for reproductive justice.

History of Sterilization Abuse: A Film Screening and Discussion with Dr. Iris López from City College

On November 5th, 2020, Bard College presents a screening of the classic film by Ana María García, La Operación (1982), followed by a discussion with Sociology Professor, Iris López, about Puerto Rico’s history of sterilization abuse. The event will be accessible via Zoom, from 6:30- 8:00 pm EST.

Update: This presentation was recorded and posted on the Bard College La Voz website. To access the discussion with Prof. Lopez, click HERE.

The event is organized by the La Voz Club, Bard College. For more information you can contact [email protected]

Dr. López’s research on sterilization abuse of Puerto Rican women has highlighted crucial connections to globalization, reproductive freedom, and social justice.

Ofrenda Virtual in Celebration of Gloria Anzaldúa’s Work

This past October, 31, 2020, Prof. Mariana Romo-Carmona from LALS, presented a talk on the international one-day conference on the work of Gloria Anzaldúa, broadcast from Tecnológico de Monterrey, UNAM, Mexico. Dr. Romo-Carmona’s presentation discussed the contribution by the renowned Chicana lesbian academic in terms of organizing in Latinx U.S. communities, and her philosophies detailed in Borderland/La Frontera, as a territory that goes beyond ideologies. The presentation focused primarily on how the work is featured her courses taught at City College, in the Latin American & Latin@ Studies Program (LALS).

Below are some screenshots from various moments of the day-long conference, which featured speakers from Mexico, South America, and the U.S., including traditional musical presentations by the musical group, La bocona, and a moving rendition of the song, “La llorona,” sung by the daughters of one of the organizers.

The conference was organized and facilitated by Dr. Coco Gutierrez Magallanes, Dr. Javier Camargo Castillo, Dr. Norma Cantú, and Dr. Cora Jiménez Narcia. The artwork on the poster was donated by Chilean artist, Liliana Wilson, from Austin, Texas.

In order to view a recording of the conference, go to here!

Along with many of the presenters, Dr. Romo-Carmona also spoke about her own connection with Gloria Anzaldúa over the years, as a colleague and friend, and Latina lesbian writer.

The Conference closed with a reading of Gloria Anzaldúa’s poem, “Arriba mi gente,” and the powerful presentation by Dr. Raúl Contreras, from Chile, who connected the work of Gloria Anzaldúa to the events that have taken place in that country since the Estallido Social of October 18, 2019, and culminated with the passage of the referendum to write a new national constitution, by plebiscite vote this past October 25, 2020, in a nearly 80% vote of approval.

Poet and Academic, Prof. Moisés Park, from Baylor University

Professor Park returned to City College via Zoom to give a presentation in our Gender, Race, & Latinidad course, on October 27, this Fall. His presentation covered a number of issues dealing with identity, including masculinities, sexism, racism, Latinx identity, prejudices against Asian communities in the U.S. and in Latin America, and the inherited, “2nd-hand orientalism” expressed in Latinx and Latin American society. Drawing on the analysis from his article, “The Latin Dragon: Remasculinization of the ‘Oriental’ Male in Marko Zaror’s Films,” Professor Park talked about the martial arts films featuring the Chilean actor, Marko Zaror, who is of Palestinian descent, and the contradictions about Asian and Latinx identities in Chile and other countries in in Latin America.

Photo from Dr. Park’s last visit to our campus, Feb. 2019.

Having grown up in Santiago, Chile, in the Korean-Chilean community, Dr. Park also spoke about his experience as an Asian man in the U.S. You can read his poetry in Y el verso cae al aula and his other academic work on his academia.edu page.

You can get the link to watch the recording of our Zoom class under Guest Speakers.

Below are a few screenshots of our class during the presentation.

 

Neighborhood in Santiago, Chile

Left: stereotypical image from martial arts films; center, cover from Dr. Park’s poetry collection Y el verso cae al aula; right, part of our class on Zoom on Oct. 27, 2020.