Since the end of the 17th century, English and French navigators increased their presence throughout the Pacific to connect existing Atlantic trade with Asia. Their navigations through the Pacific familiarized them with advantageous sites—such as in Tierra de Fuego—which functioned as stopovers. These new navigations posed a significant threat to Spain’s attempts to control maritime commerce between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans that passed through American waters. Spain’s need to diversify its maritime routes became clearer still after the Seven Years’ War and the English capture of La Havana and Manila. As a response, peninsular authorities considered extending Spain’s maritime presence in the Pacific by better using isthmus areas like Tehuantepec and Nicaragua. This presentation aims to explain how Spain’s new maritime projects reconsidered the geostrategic position of the isthmus as a crossable point between the Atlantic and the Pacific. In the case of Tehuantepec, the new projects were related to the Maritime Department of San Blas and Spanish expansion into the Northwest of America; in the case of Nicaragua, however, the projects focused on proposals to better connect with Asian trade. These cases let us think about the different particularities that exist in the maritime projects show how Spanish geostrategic considerations for the isthmuses of Tehuantepec and Nicaragua stressed the plurality of imperial visions exerted by late Bourbon officials.

On Monday, March 3, Dr. Pinzón will also be participating in a Spanish-language conversaiton with Dr. Ernesto Bassi, titled "Maritime History from Latin American Shores."

Guadalupe Pinzón Ríos is a Doctor in History from the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the UNAM, where she is currently a researcher and professor at the Institute for Historical Research. Pinzón Ríos is also a member of the National System of Researchers and an advisor of the graduate program in history. She has been studying maritime port activities throughout the Pacific, especially in New Spain, and has published Acciones y reacciones en los puertos del Mar del Sur. Desarrollo portuario del Pacífico novohispano a partir de sus políticas defensivas (1713-1789) and Hombres de mar en las costas novohispanas. Trabajos, trabajadores y vida portuaria en el departamento marítimo de San Blas (siglo XVIII). She also has various published works, articles, and book chapters.

Co-sponsored by Romance Studies, Science & Technology Studies, , and Society for the Humanities.

Latin America and the Caribbean: Connection, Integration, and Negotiation

LACS invites Cornell faculty, staff, graduate, and undergraduate students to participate in its Annual Research Symposium on February 21 and 22, 2025. This symposium aims to be a vibrant community-building space, fostering collaboration and dialogue among scholars, researchers, and practitioners from diverse disciplines and backgrounds. By bringing together Latinamericanist and Caribbeanist voices, the event will create opportunities for meaningful exchange, networking, and the co-creation of ideas. Through panel discussions and informal gatherings, participants can build lasting connections, form interdisciplinary partnerships, and contribute to a shared vision of regional integration and cooperation.

América Latina y el Caribe: Conexión, Integración y Negociación

LACS invita a la comunidad de Cornell a participar en su simposio de investigación anual a llevarse a cabo los días 21 y 22 de febrero de 2025. Este simposio tiene como propósito ofrecer un espacio comunitario que promoverá la colaboración y el diálogo entre académicos, investigadores y profesionales de diversas disciplinas y formaciones. Al unir voces latinoamericanistas y caribeñistas, el evento creará oportunidades para el intercambio, el networking y la co-creación de ideas. A través de discusiones de paneles y encuentros informales, los participantes podrán construir conexiones duraderas, formar colaboraciones interdisciplinarias y contribuir a una visión compartida de integración y cooperación regional.

Friday, February 21

5:00-5:15 Welcome, Ernesto Bassi Arevalo, Director of LACS

5:15-6:30 - Panel 1. Historicizing the Caribbean; Moderator: Harry Churchill

Carmine Couloute, “Haiti’s Two-Tiered Citizenship”Karina Beras, “Incendiary Instances, Extrinsic Energies”Jean-Michel Mutore, “The Discourse of Slavery Abolition on San Andrés and Old Providence, 1842-1873”Kaori Quan, “What Père Duchesne Saw in Saint-Domingue: Watching the Haitian Revolution from Afar”6:30-8:30 - Reception

Saturday, February 22

9:00-9:30 - Breakfast

9:30-10:45 - Panel 2. Bodies of Water; Moderator: Isabel Padilla

J. Rafael Ponciano, “Concerning Space and Atmosphere: Disaffected Kinship in Salón de belleza by Mario Bellatin”Michael Cary, “Engineering the Wetlands: Power, Infrastructure, and Agrarian Change in Ñeembucú, Paraguay”Jack Brown, “Do Dead Fish Like Merengue? Popular Music and Climate Change in the Caribbean”Maoz Bizan, “The Uruguayan Hydropower Network under Drought” 10:45-12:00 - Panel 3. Democracy and Representation; Moderator: Rocío Salas-Lewin

Emma MacCallum, “How Penal Populists Erode Democratic Norms: Legitimization of Undemocratic Anti-Crime Policies”Delphi Lyra, “The Effects of Top Down Polarization: The PT Party and Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil”Vivian Yellen, "Governing ‘White Gold’ during a ‘Pink Tide’: The Political Economy of Chile’s National Lithium Strategy" 12:00-1:00 - Lunch

1:00-2:15 - Panel 4. Transformations; Moderator: Jack Brown

Diego Cepeda, "Agency of the Unknown: Porous Subjectivity in Elaine Vilar Madruga's El cielo de la selva"Paulo Lorca, “Revisiting the Aesthetic Machine”Vanessa Sandoval, “Bugs, Bias, and Colonialism: Decolonizing Entomophagy in Mexico”Daniel Rosa Hunter, “Bored Writing: Crossings of Virtuality and Fiction in Teresa de la Parra’s Ifigenia (1924)” 2:15-3:30 - Panel 5. Global Mobilities and Governance; Moderator: Marcos Pérez Cañizares

Gorka Villar Vázquez, “The visit to Italy of Chilean communist leader Luis Corvalán (1977). An episode of the ideological tensions of the International Communist Movement in the West”Rocío Salas-Lewin, “Behavioral Responses to the Crisis of Representation: Voice and Exit in Chile and Spain”Dayra Lascano, “Bias or Bond? Alignment and Its Influence on Regional International Organizations”Tianran Chen, “Beyond “Saving” Life: Biopolitical Dynamics and Virus Narrative in Saving the World”3:30-3:45 - Coffee break

3:45-5:00 - Panel 6. Communities and Agency; Moderator: Leonardo Santamaría Montero

Alonso Alegre-Bravo, “Power to the People: Seeking Fair Electricity Access Indicators in Guatemala”Stephanie López, “Reframing Local Archives and Community Organizing in Medellín, Colombia”Brume Dezembro Iazzetti, “Travestis will save Brazil!”: Intersectionality, political history, and the gender/national identityCarolina Osorio Gil, “Semillas de Resistencia / Seeds of Resistance: Building a Medicinal Plants Project with a Campesina/o Resistance Movement in Antioquia, Colombia”Amanda Vilchez and Edwin Eddy Johan Machaca Condori, “Beyond Language: Collaborative Translation and the Recovery of Traditions”

The Laidlaw Undergraduate Leadership and Research Program promotes ethical leadership and international research around the world—starting with the passionate leaders and learners found on campuses like Cornell. Open to first- and second-year students, the two-year Laidlaw program provides generous support to carry out internationally focused research, develop leadership skills, engage with community projects overseas, and become part of a global network of like-minded scholars from more than a dozen universities. We’ll also share tips for approaching potential faculty research mentors and writing a successful application.

Can’t attend? Contact laidlaw.scholars@cornell.edu.

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The Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies hosts info sessions for graduate and for undergraduate students to learn more about funding opportunities, international travel, research, and internships. View the full calendar of fall semester sessions.

Over 70 undergraduate students will present their international summer experiences in a poster session. Their work includes conducting research, working in Global Internships, and putting leadership into action as Laidlaw scholars.

The poster session will be in the Baker Portico & Atrium of the Physical Sciences Building. Light refreshments will be served.

Applications for Global Internships are open now. Applications for the Laidlaw Scholars Program will open on November 15.

Global Internships give undergraduate students valuable international experience in fields spanning global development, climate and sustainability, international relations, communication, business, governance, and more. They are managed by the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies and Office of Global Learning, both part of Global Cornell.

The Laidlaw Undergraduate Leadership and Research Scholarship Program provides generous funding to first- and second-year undergraduates over two years as they pursue internationally focused research, engage in leadership training and a leadership-in-action experience, and join a global network of like-minded peers. The program is managed by the Einaudi Center.

The Laidlaw Undergraduate Leadership and Research Program promotes ethical leadership and international research around the world—starting with the passionate leaders and learners found on campuses like Cornell. Open to first- and second-year students, the two-year Laidlaw program provides generous support to carry out internationally focused research, develop leadership skills, engage with community projects overseas, and become part of a global network of like-minded scholars from more than a dozen universities. We’ll also share tips for approaching potential faculty research mentors and writing a successful application.

Register for the virtual session.

Can’t attend? Contact laidlaw.scholars@cornell.edu.

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The Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies hosts info sessions for graduate and for undergraduate students to learn more about funding opportunities, international travel, research, and internships. View the full calendar of fall semester sessions.

The East Asia Program (EAP) offers several categories of fellowships and grants to support student and faculty research and study related to East Asia:

EAP Graduate Area Studies Fellowships East Asian Language Study Grants EAP Research Travel GrantsCan’t attend? Contact eap@cornell.edu.

Come to the LRC to practice your language skills and meet new people. Conversation Hours provide an opportunity to use the target language in an informal, low-pressure atmosphere. Have fun practicing a language you are learning! Gain confidence through experience! Just using your new language skills helps you learn more than you might think. Conversation Hours are open to any learner, including the public.