QUICK LINKS

 

The Consortium in Latin American & Caribbean Studies is made possible by a partnership between: the University of North Carolina and Duke University the University of North Carolina and Duke University

Interdisciplinary Research and Training Working Groups

Would you like to collaborate with faculty and graduate students from different disciplines who share your passion for a focused research topic related to Latin America and/or the Caribbean? Would you like to participate in seminars, conferences, and professional development workshops with colleagues from both Duke and UNC campuses? Would you like to invite cutting-edge intellectuals in your field of study to your campus/courses, complete a group publication, or present your own graduate work for feedback from your peers and professors? All of these possibilities exist in the interdisciplinary Working Groups sponsored by the Consortium. Open to Duke and UNC faculty and graduate students from all disciplines

Current Working Groups (2011-2012)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brazil Working Group

Coordinated by Professor John French (Department of History, Duke, jdfrench@duke.edu)

This group aims to create a community of Brazilianists across disciplinary and geographic areas of specialization within Brazil that will provide a network of contacts both here and within Brazil.  The group will hold monthly meetings to discuss work by group members (i.e., grant proposals, visual presentations, draft articles, conference papers, etc.) with the goal of deepening general knowledge in areas of specialization while providing meaningful feedback to improve the planning and execution of research and publication.  The group will also host occasional guest speakers.

 

Working Group on the Environment in Latin America (WGELA)

Coordinated by Professor Elizabeth Shapiro (Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke, elizabeth.shapiro@duke.edu), Professor Jennifer Swenson (Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke, j.swenson@duke.edu), and June Reyes (Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke, (june.reyes@duke.edu)

WGELA is a collaborative effort between Duke University, UNC-Chapel Hill, and NC State University graduate and undergraduate students to promote a rich comprehension of environmental issues in Latin America through interdisciplinary collaboration.  WGELA promotes awareness and understanding of the environmental issues of Latin America through an array of activities, including presentations by student and faculty group members, invited guest speakers, symposia, film screenings, and community outreach events.

 

Working Group on Latin American Political Imaginaries

Coordinated by Professor Arturo Escobar (Department of Anthropology, UNC, aescobar@email.unc.edu), Professor Walter Mignolo (Literature Program, Duke, wmignolo@duke.edu), Professor Michal Osterweil (Global Studies, UNC, osterwei@email.unc.edu), Diana M. Gómez (Department of Anthropology, UNC, gomezcor@email.unc.edu), and Laura Gutiérrez, Department of Anthropology, UNC, lgutierr@email.unc.edu)

Building upon their work from last year, this group will continue to ask how the practices and imaginaries around difference and gender are circulating?  How do activists and intellectuals in other parts of the world contribute to disseminate them, recreate them, and perhaps challenge and/or enrich them?  Which aspects of global  struggles seem to find their way in Latin American imaginaries and to what extent they can help mobilize further and articulate various progressive forces within and beyond the continent?  In particular, in 2011-2012 the group will focus on the topic “Gener-ando Políticas”:  women, feminism(s), and the decolonial producing new notions and practices of the political.”

Working Group on Reproductive Justice and Migration in the Americas

Coordinated by Professor Clare Barrington (School of Public Health, UNC, cbarring@email.unc.edu), Professor Krista M. Perreira (Department of Public Policy/Carolina Population Center, UNC, perreira@email.unc.edu), Arianna Taboada (School of Public Health, UNC, ataboada@email.unc.edu), and Laura Villa Torres (School of Public Health, UNC, villal@live.unc.edu)

This working group intends to increase awareness of faculty members and the academic community at large about issues related to migration and reproductive justice in the Americas.  The group will facilitate discussion and activities around options and choices, as well as overall conditions, affectng the sexual and reproductive health of migrant women across the Americas.  The group will hold quarterly seminars, organize a one-day conference, and host guest speakers from Latin America.

 

Working Group on The Troubled Lives of Words and Concepts:  Toward a Cultural History of 19th Century Categories of Representation in the Spanish-Speaking World

Coordinated by Professor Juan Carlos González-Espitia (Department of Romance Languages, UNC, jcge@unc.edu) and Professor José María Rodríguez-García (Department of Romance Studies, Duke, jr152@duke.edu)

The goals of this working group are 1) to create a network of intellectual support across the Triangle for students pursuing a course of study and research in the 19th century; 2) to promote a historicizing approach to Latin Americanist research in the humanities; and 3) to help graduate students develop and diversify their research portfolios in preparation for the post-graduation academic job market.  At the conclusion of the second year of its activities, the group envisions the publication of a multi-authored volume that collects scholarly contributions from all the working group members.

 

Working Group on War and Peace in the Americas

Coordinated by Professor Altha Cravey (Department of Geography, UNC, ajcravey@email.unc.edu), Professor Esther Gabara (Departments of Romance Studies and Art/Art History/Visual Studies, Duke, egabara@duke.edu), and Professor Pedro Lasch (Department of Art/Art History/Visual Studies, Duke, plasch@duke.edu)

This interdisciplinary group will study war and peace in the Americas with particular emphasis on understanding the evolution of the militarization to Colombia and Mexico through neoliberal policies and the “War on Drugs.”  Its goal is to create an open-ended and broad-based conversation on contemporary war and peace in the Americas drawing upon the arts, humanities, and social sciences, as well as grassroots knowledge.

 

2009-2010 Working Groups (pdf)
2010-2011 Working Groups (pdf)