Race and ethnicity
Latin American and Iberian Studies series offers Feb. 15 lecture
8:30 a.m., Feb. 8, 2016--The Latin American and Iberian Studies Program (LAIS) at the University of Delaware will begin the spring semester portion of it 2015-16 film and lecture series, “Engaging Race and Ethnicity in the Americas,” on Monday, Feb. 15, with a guest lecture by a Venezuelan scholar.
The lecture, “Unfurling Western Notions of Nature and Amerindian Alternatives,” by Eglee Lopez Zent of the Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research, will be held from 12:20-1:30 p.m. in Room 104 Gore Hall. Like other events in the series, it is free and open to the public.
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Based on almost two decades of field research with the Jotï people in Venezuela, the talk will address ideas of nature in Western historical periods and contrast them with those of Amazonian Amerindians.
The talk has been organized by the Department of Anthropology and the LAIS program.
The series, which began during fall semester, is focused on encouraging open discussions about race, said Carla Guerrón Montero, director of the program and associate professor of anthropology, who also has joint appointments in the departments of Black American Studies and of Women and Gender Studies.
“Race matters in the U.S. and the Americas at large, and the series will offer opportunities to address the topic openly and candidly,” she said.
The series continues this semester with additional talks and films. A related two-day symposium and workshop will be held in April.
Thursday, Feb. 25, 5:30 p.m., 108 Memorial Hall, preceded by a 5 p.m. reception, Memorial Hall second floor — Film, Panama Canal Stories. The history of the Panama Canal and its impact on Panama and the world is depicted in five short films directed by five Panamanian directors who focus their attention on the lives of everyday folk directly and indirectly affected by living near the site.
Tuesday, March 15, 5:30 p.m. 108 Memorial Hall, preceded by a 5 p.m. reception, Memorial Hall second floor — Film, Relatos Salvajes (Wild Tales). Considered one of the best films of the decade, this collection of six tales of extreme behavior and revenge is a satire of Argentina’s political corruption, social frustration, violent behavior, cynicism and complacency.
Wednesday, May 4, 5 p.m., 124 Memorial Hall, followed by reception — Guest lecture, “Fear Eats the Soul: Subjectivities and Gated ‘Communities’ in Brazil,” by Rafael Estrada Mejia of the Universidade Estadual Paulista. Using ethnographical empirical evidence and “existential cartographies,” Estrada Mejia proposes that gated communities in Brazil are the modern version of Portuguese forts. The talk is organized by the Department of Anthropology and the LAIS program.
Symposium and workshop
A related symposium focused on open discussions about race and ethnicity in the Americas, “Where You Were Never Meant to Be?” will be held on Thursday and Friday, April 7 and 8, in UD’s Perkins Student Center.
The April 7 session will begin at 5 p.m. in the Perkins Gallery with a reception and workshop by the Theater of the Oppressed, a participatory theatre group established in Brazil in the 1970s to foster democratic and cooperative forms of interaction among participants.
The April 8 session, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the Ewing Room, will include a symposium and reception with two panel discussions and keynote speakers Adunni Adams and James Owen Heath, of the Race in the Americas Group. That group was formed in the United Kingdom to encourage interdisciplinary research and interaction among those in academia, politics and the media.