CLAS Weekly Update

Center for Latin American Studies

Upcoming Events

 

 

 

Lectures & Conferences

 

"O processo de criação literaria/ The Creative Writing Process" a lecture by Miriam Alves

Visting from São Paolo, Brazil, Miriam Alves is a scholar of Afro-Brazilian literature, an activist in the Quilombhoje movement since 1980, and a social worker. A poet and a short story writer, she is the author of two collections of poems, Momentos de Busca (1983) and Estrelas no dedo (1985). She co-edited the anthology Finally . . . Us, Contemporary Black Brazilian Women Writers. She has lectured in cities such as Vienna (Austria), New York, and Miami. She will be guest lecturing in Hispanic Languages and Literatures Prof. Chamberlain's Contemporary Brazilian Literature Seminar. Open to the public.

Date: Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Time: 6:00 p.m.

Location: 205 David Lawrence Hall, University of Pittsburgh

For more information: email sso7@pitt.edu

 

"Técnicamente literario: A Brief History of Mexican Screenwriting" a lecture by Felipe Pruneda Senties (Graduate student, Department of English, University of Pittsburgh)

Felipe Pruneda Sentíes is a PhD student in the Department of English, with a focus in Film Studies. His research interests include, besides Screenplay Studies, Latin American Cinema, Postcolonial Studies, and the experience of foreign languages through visual media.

Date: Friday, October 23, 2009

Time: 3:00 - 5:00 p.m. (a reception will follow)

Location: 244A Cathedral of Learning, University of Pittsburgh

For more information: email Alex Lefter, avl9@pitt.edu

Sponsored by the Department of Hispanic Languages and Literatures

 

"Escola de Samba" a lecture by Paul Goodman (Professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business)

Paul Goodman will discuss "Escola de Samba," a one-hour documentary he created about how 4,000 Brazilians work to create the country's annual carnival.

This presentation will be a combination of showing the documentary film – Escola de Samba – plus a discussion with the audience. Escola de Samba is a documentary about creating the Brazilian carnival through the eyes of one "Escola de Samba" or samba school. For over 10 months, Professor Goodman followed one Escola de Samba - Camisa Verde e Branco (Green and White Shirts) - as they prepared to compete against other escolas in São Paulo, Brazil. The film takes the viewer through the process as this organization selects a theme, the music (one out of 80 sambas selected), the costumes, and the design of the floats or allegory cars. Then there is a complex set of activities concerning creating the costumes, the floats, extensive rehearsals, and finally the drama culminates at the Sambódromo or stadium, where the final processions and judging occurs. All this unfolds in the streets and life of Brazil. The music, dance, and visuals of the carnival, provide a dramatic context for the film.

Date: Monday, October 26, 2009

Time: 4:30 p.m.

Location: Porter 100, Gregg Hall, Carnegie Mellon University, Oakland

This lecture is given in conjunction with 'Brazil Today,' a weekend course scheduled October 30-November 1, 2009.

 

"And what about the Human?  The Politics and Literatures of Freedom in Radical Anti-Colonial Thought" a Colloquium with Anthony Bogues (Harmon Family Professor, Brown University)

Professor Bogues has just stepped down as Chair of Africana Studies at Brown where he is Professor of Africana Studies and Political Science and a former holder of the Royce Professorship for Teaching Excellence.  Bogues is an associate editor of Small Axe and a member of the editorial collective of boundary 2.  His Freeman Lectures at Dartmouth College are forthcoming under the title Empire of Liberty.  Among his many books are Black Heretics, Black Prophets (2003) and Caliban's Freedom (1997). 

For this colloquium, Professor Bogues requests that you read Aimé Césaire, Discourse on Colonialism and Sylvia Wynter, "On How We Mistook the Map for the Territory." (Copies of the Wynter will be available in the Crowe Room 526 CL.)

Date: Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Time: 12:30 p.m.

Location: 512 Cathedral of Learning, University of Pittsburgh

 

"The Social and Political Evolution of Chiapa de Corzo: An Analysis of Changing Strategies of Rulership in a Formative Period Mesoamerican Political Center" a lecture by Tim Sullivan

The focus of this presentation is the transition of a political landscape consisting of autonomous small villages into a landscape dominated by a single political center. I approach this topic through an analysis of the strategies utilized by the Chiapa de Corzo elite in consolidating power over the hinterland population. I present evidence for and against the use of the following strategies: the projection of power from the center through the sponsorship of hinterland leaders; control over access to agricultural lands; control over access to obsidian; control over routes of transportation and communication; the use of warfare and coercion; the establishment of novel large-scale religious practices; and the establishment of hereditary status differentiation.  This talk is based on analysis of data from my surface survey of 107 km² of Chiapa de Corzo and its hinterland, and incorporates earlier excavation data from Chiapa de Corzo itself.  

Date: Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Time: 3:00 p.m.

Location: Anthropology Lounge, 3106 Wesley W. Posvar Hall, University of Pittsburgh

Sponsored by Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh

 

Colloquium at the Humanities Center

Discussion-based colloquium with Joshua Lund, Humanities Center Fellow (Hispanic). Paper for discussion will be distributed in advance. Paper Title: "Let Plunder: Altamirano's Mexico and the Problem of Paramilitarism".

Date: Thursday, October 29, 2009

Time: 12:30 p.m.

Location: 512 Cathedral of Learning, University of Pittsburgh

For more information or a copy of the paper: email professor Todd Reeser at humctr@pitt.edu

 

"Critical Thinking and Ways of Life: A Radical Politics of the Imagination" a lecture by Anthony Bogues (Harmon Family Professor, Brown University)

Professor Bogues has just stepped down as Chair of Africana Studies at Brown where he is Professor of Africana Studies and Political Science and a former holder of the Royce Professorship for Teaching Excellence.  Bogues is an associate editor of Small Axe and a member of the editorial collective of boundary 2.  His Freeman Lectures at Dartmouth College are forthcoming under the title, Empire of Liberty.  Among his many books are Black Heretics and Black Prophets (2003) and Caliban's Freedom (1997). 

Date: Thursday, October 29, 2009

Time: 2:30 p.m.

Location: 501 Cathedral of Learning, University of Pittsburgh

Sponsored by boundary 2: an international journal of literature and culture

 

"The Politics of Theory: Caribbean Literature and the Search for a New Critical Language" a lecture by George Lamming (Visiting Professor, Brown University)

George Lamming was born in Barbados where he studied and wrote before teaching in Venezuela and Trinidad. After moving to England, he worked as a broadcaster for the BBC Colonial Service. He has taught at the University of the West Indies, the University of Texas, the University of Pennsylvania, and now Brown. He has lectured and read around the world. He has held a Guggenheim Fellowship and won The Langston Hughes Medal. He is the author of such masterworks as In the Castle of My Skin and The Emigrants. His most recent book, The Sovereignty of Imagination, appeared in 2004.

Date: Thursday, October 29, 2009

Time: 4:30 p.m.

Location: 501 Cathedral of Learning, University of Pittsburgh

For more information: contact Joshua Schriftman at joshua.schriftman@gmail.com

 

Conference on "Drug Trafficking, Violence and Instability in Mexico, Colombia, and the Caribbean: Implications for US National Security"

The Matthew B. Ridgway Center for International Security Studies (GSPIA and UCIS) and the U.S. Army War College will hold a two-day conference on Thursday, October 29 and Friday, October 30, 2009.

The Conference will explore the relationship between drug trafficking, violence, and instability in Mexico, Colombia and the Caribbean and assess the implications of this relationship for the national security of the United States. This event is open to all students, faculty, and interested community members.

Dates: October 29 - 30, 2009

Times: 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Location: Schenley Room, Holiday Inn Pittsburgh University Center, Oakland

For more information: contact The Matthew B. Ridgway Center, 412-624-7884 or beb38@pitt.edu

 

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Amigos del Cine Latinoamericano Fall 2009 Film Series

 

Today Latin American film is among the best in the world. This Fall 2009 (September 9 – December 10), Amigos del Cine Latinoamericano presents genre films (cine de género) including Science Fiction, Author Films (Cine de Autor), Psychological, Social and Historical Drama, Comedy, and masked wrestler (películas de luchador).

Most films will take place on Thursdays @ 7:30 p.m. in the Frick Fine Arts Auditorium, University Pittsburgh.

Some films are adult in nature and may not be appropriate for young audiences.

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

In October

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Film: El Orfanato – Directed by Juan Antonio Bayona and produced by Guillermo del Toro (Spain - 2006)

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Film: Four Days in September (O que é Isso, Companheiro?) – Dir. Bruno Barreto (Brazil - 1997)

For more information: email amigoscinelatinoamericano@gmail.com; for film descriptions, go to http://amigosdelcinelatinoamericano.blogspot.com/

Sponsored by: the Center for Latin American Studies, Department of Hispanic Languages & Literatures, Eduardo Lozano Latin American Library Collection

 

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NOTICE

The following list of events is provided as a service to the community by the Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS), University of Pittsburgh. CLAS neither recommends nor endorses these events and activities. Please address questions or comments about the events to the contact provided and not to the Center.

 

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FUSION Concert 2009

The Latin American Cultural Union Celebrates the Hispanic Heritage Month with their FUSION CONCERT 2009. Featuring the Venezuelan Rhythm of Eddy Marcano and his Acoustic Quartet. Do not miss this opportunity to hear some of the finest music from Venezuela. Violin virtuoso Eddy Marcano is touring the USA and visiting Pittsburgh after an amazing sold out concert at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in NY City. Don't miss it. One night only.

          Eddy Marcano is an outstanding, multifaceted Venezuelan violinist with a long list of artistic accomplishments. Not only a concert soloist and chamber musician, he is also an ambassador for his country's folk music. He has toured extensively and performed as a concert soloist with some of Venezuela's most important orchestras, and his inspiring folk music performances have been acclaimed in international festivals in Europe and Latin America. Marcano is a Music Envoy to UNESCO for the creation of children's orchestras in Honduras, Mexico, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Guatemala and a professor of violin at the Conservatorio Simón Bolívar in Caracas.

Fee: LACU Members and Students $10; General admission $15 (tickets at www.lacunet.org)
Date: Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Time: 7:30 p.m.

Location: Church of the Redeemer, 5700 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15217
For more information: go to www.lacunet.org

 

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Almost Day of the Dead Celebration

Melissa Farlow's photographs become the backdrop for a Day of the Dead celebration. Decorate sugar skulls, taste traditional foods and enjoy music and stories about this Mexican holiday honoring the lives of the ancestors. Join us for crafts and art for the entire family!

Date: Saturday, October 24, 2009

Time: 11:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Location: Silver Eye Center for Photography, 1015 East Carson Street, South Side

Cost: Free, Suggested Donation $4 per child

http://www.laescuelitapgh.org/id5.html

 

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Birmingham Free Clinic – New location, More Services

The Birmingham Free Clinic now has a new location, just half of a block from the old building next to the Thrift Store of the Salvation Army.

New Services Include:

·         Free Adult Clinics (no health insurance or appointment is needed)

o        Mondays, 5:00 p.m. (In English)

o        Wednesdays, 12:00 p.m. (In English)

o        Saturdays, 9:00 a.m. (except Saturdays of holiday weekends). (In Spanish)

·         Salud Para Niños - Free Pediatric and Immunizations Clinics in Spanish

o        Second Saturday of each month 10:00 a.m. (no health insurance or appointment is needed)

·         Psychiatric Clinic (In English)

o        Wednesdays, 12:00 p.m. (no health insurance or appointment is needed)

Other services include: Free Pharmacy, Cardiology, Dermatology, Ophthalmology, ENT, and Spanish Interpreters depending on availability.

 

Walk-in Flu Immunization Clinic at the CHP Primary Care Center

During the following days we will have walk-in flu immunization clinics at the CHP Primary Care Center, 3420 Euler Way, Pittsburgh PA 15213. Please note that health insurance is required to be a patient of Salud Para Niños at the CHP Primary Care Center.

Mondays: 9:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Tuesdays: 9:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Wednesdays: 9:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Thursdays: 9:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.

Saturdays: 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

 

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Capoeira Classes on Pitt campus

Grupo Axé Capoeira Pittsburgh offers classes in capoeira, a Brazilian martial art. Classes are open to students and non-students. Classes include martial arts training, acrobatics, music, and dance, and teach discipline, confidence, and respect.

Dates & Times: Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m., Saturdays from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m.

Location: Multipurpose Room, Trees Hall, University of Pittsburgh (upper campus)

For more information: please visit www.axecapoeirapittsburgh.com or email capoeirapittsburgh@gmail.com

 

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WRCT 88.3 FM – BARRIO LATINO (formerly "Revista Radial Latinoamericana")

Interviews, News, sports, politics, local, social, cultural, recreational events, and the best Latin American music. Entrevistas, noticias, deportes, notas sociales y culturales, los servicios a la comunidad, la mejor música... Y mucho más!

Durante el programa a las 6:30pm no se pierdan "Radio Burgh", la sección producida por estudiantes de nivel avanzado de estudios hispanos en CMU. Para escuchar los podcast del programa pueden visitar el blog http://radioburgh.blogspot.com/

Para enviar comentarios o sugerencias a los creadores "Radio Burgh", pueden escribir a radio-bemba@lists.andrew.cmu.edu

Dates: Every Thursday

Time: 6:05 - 7:00 p.m. (Barrio Latino airs WRCT 88.3 FM Pittsburgh – listen via Internet at www.wrct.org or call us live 412-621-9728)

Send any special announcements that you would like aired to: Martha Mantilla: martham@pitt.edu, or 412 521 8651

Barrio Latino audio files can be found at: http://barriolatinowrct.googlepages.com/

E-mail us at: BarrioLatinoWRCT@gmail.com

 

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If you have an announcement related to a Latin American/Caribbean activity taking place that you would like to share with others interested in the region, please send details no later than Tuesday of the week prior to your event or deadline:

Center for Latin American Studies

University of Pittsburgh

4200 Wesley W. Posvar Hall

Pittsburgh, PA 15260

Phone: 412-648-7392; Fax: 412-648-2199; e-mail: clas@pitt.edu

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