Symposium on Latino Studies Brings Scholars
From Around the World to Bryn Mawr
 Some of the brightest stars of Latino studies will gather to discuss their discipline at Bryn Mawr on Wednesday, Oct. 10, and Thursday, Oct. 11, at "The Futures of Latina/o Studies: A Symposium on the Practices of Latinidad."
Ten distinguished scholars from around the United States will be joined by keynote speaker Astrid M. Fellner of the University of Vienna. A final session will feature readings by Latina/o authors, including two Bryn Mawr undergraduates.
The symposium was convened by Associate Professor of Spanish and Latina/o Studies Lázaro Lima, author of the recently published The Latino Body: Crisis Identities in American Literary and Cultural Memory, one of the first comprehensive accounts of Latino cultural history.
"Latino studies," Lima explains, "concentrates on people of Hispanic heritage in the United States. It specifically engages racial and ethnic difference in the context of the United States, which is how Latino identity is defined.
"Latinos may speak Spanish or not; they can be recent immigrants from any one of a number of nations that were once colonized by Spain or they can be the descendants of Mexicans who were living in the territory that was ceded to the United States after the Mexican-American war."
"This is a nascent field," he continues."The first generation of scholars to earn Ph.D.s in Latino studies is just now becoming established in academe, and they have a range of disciplinary affiliations, as you can see from the list of panelists at the symposium. Latino-studies specialists from departments of anthropology, English, Spanish and political science will be speaking."
"These scholars are bringing the tools of their various disciplines to bear on the many lacunae, gaps in our knowledge of what is so often described as 'the fastest-growing minority in the United States.'"
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| Keynote speaker Astrid Fellner of the University of Vienna |
The role of nationalism in the development of language and literature curricula is in part responsible for the understudied state of Latino culture, Lima says.
"Any Latino literature studied in English departments tends to be only that written in English, while that taught in Spanish departments tends to be exclusively that written in Spanish. In that kind of disciplinary structure, there's no possibility for a language that falls outside of national boundaries."
The symposium begins with Fellner's keynote address, titled "Comparative Ethnic Studies: Cultural Analysis and Critical Traditions of Latina/o Literature in Europe," on Wednesday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m. in Thomas 224.
Thursday's program, which will take place in the Benham Gateway Conference Center, will begin with an 11:30 a.m. session titled "The Futures of Latina/o Studies." Participants in the session:
- Margaret Dorsey, University of Pennsylvania (Session Chair)
- Ricardo Ortíz, Georgetown University
Latina/os and 'Our' New Américas
- Arlene Dávila, New York University
The ‘Disciplining' of Ethnic Studies: Or Why It'd Take Goya Foods and J .Lo to Endow Latino Studies
- Miguel Díaz Barriga, Swarthmore College
Vendidos and Vendidas: Latinos/as Dancing With Consumerism
- Astrid Fellner, University of Vienna
Recent Developments in Latino/a Studies in Europe
- Lázaro Lima, Bryn Mawr College
Do Latina/os Dream of Electric Sheep?
An afternoon session beginning at 2 p.m. is titled "Sexing Latina/o Studies: Feminisms, Queer Studies and the Practice of Latinidad." Featured scholars:
- Sharon Ullman, Bryn Mawr College (Session Chair)
- Heather Love, University of Pennsylvania
Queer Is, Queer Ain't
- Ricardo Ortiz, Georgetown University
Queer Latinidades
- Astrid Feller, University of Vienna
Latina/o Queer Studies at Austrian and German Universities
- Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes, University of Michigan
Puerto Rican Queer Diasporas and Philadelphia Lives
- Lázaro Lima, Bryn Mawr College
Feeling Queer, Feeling Brown
- Cristina Beltrán, Haverford College (Discussant)
The final session, beginning at 3:30 p.m., is titled "The Languages of Latinidad: Readings by U.S. Latina/o Writers." Participants are
- Heather Love, University of Pennsylvania (Session Chair)
- Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes, University of Michigan
- Nicole López, Bryn Mawr College
- Tamarinda Figueroa, Bryn Mawr College
For more information, see the symposium's Web site at http://www.brynmawr.edu
/spanish/latinosymposium/.
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