Cancelled due to an emergency!

Although the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II following the invocation of the Enemy Aliens Act has been well documented, the parallel experiences of Latin Americans of Japanese descent remain far less examined. Like their U.S.-based counterparts, these communities were removed from their homes, stripped of property, and interned in U.S.-run camps. In Venezuela, rather than being interned abroad, Caracas’ Japanese community was confined to a camp in Ocumare del Tuy—a story almost entirely erased from both Venezuelan historical memory. This history raises urgent questions about whose experiences are recorded, whose are forgotten, and which forms of memory gain recognition. In this talk, Elizabeth Barrios explores these questions through Nikkei (2011), the largely overlooked documentary by filmmaker Kaori Flores Yonekura, which traces her own family’s experiences and illuminates a hidden chapter of Venezuelan and hemispheric history. The film not only preserves personal and collective memory but also challenges us to rethink the boundaries of national and transnational histories, exposing the racial and political logics that made such internments possible. These questions are particularly urgent today, as the Enemy Aliens Act has been invoked once more (this time specifically targeting Venezuelans), revealing how the mechanisms of exclusion and surveillance from the past continue to resonate in the present.

Elizabeth Barrios is an Associate Professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures at Albion College. This year she is a fellow at the Society for the Humanities. Her research explores ecology, energy humanities, and Latin American and Latina/o literature and media, with an emphasis on Venezuela and its diaspora. She is the author of Failures of the Imagination: Reckoning with Oil in Venezuelan Cultural Production (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2026), which examines how Venezuelan literature and media have confronted the social and ecological toll of oil, often in ways overlooked or deliberately obscured by critics and institutions

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.

Interested in Latino Studies and Latin American Studies? This course will explore topics in Anthropology, Art, Economics, History, Literature, Government, Sociology, etc., of US Latino and Latin American contexts. Course features guest speakers from Cornell and other institutions.

https://classes.cornell.edu/browse/roster/SP26/class/LATA/4000

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.

Join us to learn about opportunities for graduate students with the Einaudi Center for International Studies. This session will discuss how to discover or strengthen global interests, including research and travel grants, guest lectures, fellowships, and more!

Can't attend? Email programs@einaudi.cornell.edu for more information.

The Laidlaw Scholars 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 twenty universities worldwide.

At this session, we'll share more information about the program, including independent international projects with the Einaudi Center’s trusted partners around the world for the summer 2026 leadership-in-action portion of the program, and tips for writing a successful application. Applications are due January 12, 2026.

Register here. Can’t attend? Contact programs@einaudi.cornell.edu.