Re-Imagining the Americas: (Im)migration, Transnationalism, and Diaspora

Call for Papers
Re-Imagining the Americas: (Im)migration, Transnationalism, and Diaspora
An interdisciplinary conference on Latin America and the Caribbean and their Diasporas in the twenty-first century.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Syracuse University

Sponsored by Syracuse University’s PLACA (Program on Latin America and the Caribbean) and LLAS (Latino-Latin American Studies) and by Cornell University’s LASP (Latin American Studies Program) and LSP (Latino Studies Program).

Syracuse and Cornell Universities invite participation of faculty and students to share their research on the (Latin) Americas, including the Spanish and non-Spanish speaking Caribbean, and Brazil, especially as it relates to the notions of migration, immigration, transnationalism, or diaspora. Through images, practices, or texts in history, politics, economics, anthropology, geography, literature, art, or performance, among others, the Americas and the Caribbean have been defined and circumscribed since pre-colonial times. This conference hopes to re-imagine the Americas in the face of twenty-first century research and the discourse of globalization. Papers may be presented in any language spoken in the Americas. Presentations will be limited to 15 minutes, approximately eight pages, double spaced, in 12-point font.

Cornell will host a pre-conference event and a performance by their Hispanic theater troupe, Teatrotaller. Saturday will feature a full day of intellectual and social activities at Syracuse University, including scholarly presentations, performances by both universities’ Latino/Latin American student dance groups, and an interdisciplinary keynote panel. A film series on each campus and the Bartell lecture at Cornell by former Brazilian president, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, will lead up to the culminating activities.

Topics may include, but are not limited to the following:

• Diasporic ethnicities and identities
• Narco trafficking
• Immigration policies and practices
• Political expulsions, los desterrados, or los desaparecidos
• Violence and agency in the Americas
• Transcultural production
• Political systems and (in)stability
• NGOs or IGOs
• Education and Schooling in Transnational Contexts
• Popular Culture, Music, Art, Literature, Film, or Media studies
• Religion, Ethics, or Morality
• Human Rights
• Gender
• Marginalization
• Border identities

Deadline for Abstracts: January 11, 2010. Submit electronically an abstract of 250 words or less to Gail Bulman, gabulman@syr.edu . For more information, contact Lori Klivak (laklivak@syr.edu ) or Marti Dense (mfd1@cornell.edu).