Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program (LACS) Seminar Series, Co-sponsored by: Romance Studies & Department of Performance & Media Studies

Through a long-term personal project called What Remains, Lexi Parra has been documenting the effects of violence, repression by the State, and power of community in the targeted barrios of Caracas, by following the lives of those most affected. In this presentation, Parra will share her ongoing work paired with testimonies from local collaborators to offer an analysis of the militarization of Venezuelan police forces and the false narratives of an improving country as the crisis continues. She will also offer insight into the importance of nuanced, ethical storytelling.

Lexi Parra is a Venezuelan-American photographer and community educator based between Caracas and New York. Her work focuses on youth culture, the personal effects of inequality and violence, and themes of resilience. Parra has worked with The Washington Post, The New York Times, NPR, The New Yorker, and others. Her degree is in Photography and Human Rights, from Bard College. Parra is the founder of Project MiRA, an arts education initiative that fosters visual literacy and critical analysis with youth in the barrios of Caracas. Project MiRA has been supported by Canon USA and the Davis Peace Prize.

Sometimes dismissed as mere fantasies, utopian capitalist experiments by the ultra-rich have in fact been tried in many places on earth, often with disastrous consequences for the local inhabitants, according to Ray Craib, Marie Underhill Noll Professor of American History.

In a live, hybrid (in-person and livestreamed) Chats in the Stacks book talk, Craib, who also holds affiliations with Romance studies, Latin American and Caribbean studies, and Latino studies, will discuss this history as revealed in his new book Adventure Capitalism: A History of Libertarian Exit, from the Era of Decolonization to the Digital Age (PM Press/Spectre, 2022). Based on deep dives into FBI files as well as archives in the US, the UK, and Vanuatu, Adventure Capitalism is a global history of elite exit projects involving an array of characters, from old guard coup leaders to techno-utopians, segregationists, socialists, real estate speculators and international spies. Craib will explore his work’s implications for understanding the history of contemporary cap­italism, decolonization, and empire, as well as the direction of our global future.

This talk is hosted by Olin Library. Light refreshments will be served.

The Latina/o Studies Program Fridays with Faculty luncheon seminar offers an opportunity for Latina/o and non-Latina/o students of all levels and disciplines to meet faculty and administrators from across the university for informal conversation about their current research/work in progress. All are welcome!

Fridays at 12 noon.

September 22

Asís Martinez Jerez
Associate Professor
Nolan School of Hotel Administration
Cornell SC Johnson College of Business

September 29

Irina R. Troconis
Assistant Professor of Latin American Studies
Department of Romance Studies/Spanish
College of Arts and Sciences

October 20

Helena María Viramontes
Distinguished Professor
Department of Literatures in English
College of Arts and Sciences in conversation with
Playwright, Virginia Grise

October 27

Mary Pat Brady
Professor
Department of Literatures in English
College of Arts and Sciences

November 3 (Postponed for Spring 2024)

Alexandra Dufresne
Director
State Policy Advocacy Clinic
Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy

November 10

Adriana Reyes
Assistant Professor
Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy
Department of Sociology
College of Arts and Sciences

November 17

Emilio Rojas
Visiting Critic
Department of Art
College of Architecture, Art and Plannin

This series made possible with support from the College of Arts Sciences Dean's Office.

The annual International Fair showcases Cornell's global opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students. Explore the fair and find out about international majors and minors, language study, study abroad, funding opportunities, global internships, Cornell Global Hubs, and more.

The International Fair is sponsored by the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies and Office of Global Learning (both part of Global Cornell), with Cornell's Language Resource Center.

Register for the event on Campus Groups.

The often-fraught pathways of human migration come alive through art. From storytelling to innovative sculpture, theater, cartoons, and painting, students, faculty, and artists supported by the Migrations Global Grand Challenge will tell their stories and showcase their art.

Anindita Banerjee, associate professor of comparative literatureDebra A. Casillo, Emerson Hinchliff Professor of Hispanic Studies and professor of comparative literatureJuan Harmon, MFA creative writing candidatePedro Molina, Nicaraguan cartoonist and journalistNatasha Raheja, assistant professor of anthropologySharifa Sharifi, Afghan artistGemma Rodrigues (Herbert F. Johnson Art Museum) and Eric Tagliacozzo (history) will moderate.

Register now.

Registration for this event is now closed. You can ask to be put on the waitlist be emailing SBP84@Cornell.edu

The 2023 International Studies Summer Institute (ISSI) will explore testimonies of migration. The ISSI is a professional development workshop for practicing and pre-service K–12 educators hosted annually by the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, in collaboration with the South Asia Center at Syracuse University.

During this cross-curriculum conference, educators will engage in discussions, workshops, and lectures that explore and amplify personal narratives of migration. Professors, postdoctoral fellows and other scholars from Cornell University and Syracuse University will share their cutting-edge research on migrant experiences from across different regions of the world, including South Asia, Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Speakers will focus on individual narratives, as well as systemic reasons for migration, such as politics, conflict, and climate change.

Sessions will also explore culturally responsive practices when working with migrant students and discussing migrant narratives. Teachers will gain tools for leading conversations and developing projects with their students about migrant experiences.

Teachers will leave the conference with concrete resources to use in their classrooms, a deeper awareness of how to enter into conversation with students about their own and others’ migration experiences, and an understanding of contemporary migrant experiences from across the world.

The 2023 ISSI will be applicable for elementary, middle, and high school educators from all subject areas. Participating teachers will have the option to complete a lesson plan for PD credit that incorporates content from the workshop, with the support and guidance of our outreach staff.

Conference Schedule:

8:45-9:00 Breakfast and check-in

9:00-9:15 Introductory Remarks by Rachel Beatty Riedl

9:15-10:20 Panel: "Ethical and culturally responsive engagement with migrant narratives"

Panelists: Farah Bakaari, Juhwan Seo, Rose Anderson

Moderator: Shannon Gleeson

10:20-10:30 Break

10:30-11:30 Workshop with Mary Jo Dudley, “Supporting Immigrant Families in Schools”

11:30-12:00 Networking and reflection activity

12:00-1:00 Lunch

1:00-1:45 Breakout Sessions

Focus: Project-based learning around themes of migration (same sessions offered twice)

Option 1: Nicole Thuzar Tu-Maung, “Photovoice Methodology” Option 2: Maria Gimma, “Understanding the Global Phenomenon of Migration, a Project-Based Curriculum” Option 3: Nausheen Husain, “Storytelling With Data” 1:45-1:50 Break

1:50-2:35 Breakout Sessions, repetition of above options

2:35-3:00 Break / walk to Johnson Art Museum

3:00-4:00 Workshop with Carol Hockett and Maryterese Pasquale-Bowen, “How the Light Gets In: Contemporary Art and Migration”

4:00-4:20 Introduction to Einaudi Resources with Sarah Plotkin

4:20-4:30 Closing remarks with Sarah Pattison

Sponsored by: Syracuse University, Moynihan Institute for Global Affairs, South Asia Center, Cornell University’s Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, Southeast Asia Program, South Asia Program, Institute for African Development, East Asia Program, Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Institute for European Studies, Migrations Initiative, TST-BOCES, U.S. Department of Education Title VI Program