CLAS Weekly Update

 

Center for Latin American Studies

Upcoming Events

 

 

 

Fundraiser for Haiti: A Double Feature

The Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Pittsburgh invites you to join us for a Haitian double feature. The event will raise money for Haiti's earthquake victims and increase awareness of the country's history. At 2:00 p.m., we will screen the documentary Égalité for All: Toussaint Louverture and the Haitian Revolution (2009, 60 Minutes). The film details the events of the successful slave revolt through which Haiti achieved its independence and became the first country in the Americas to abolish slavery. At 3:30 p.m., Jonathan Demme's The Agronomist (2004, 90 Minutes) will offer an exploration of the complexity of 20^th Century Haitian politics through his portrait of Jean Dominique, one of Haiti's most charismatic and iconoclastic journalists. Join us for one or both movies.

All proceeds will benefit two Haitian aid organizations based in Pittsburgh:

·   The Functional Literacy Ministry of Haiti (www.FLMHaiti.org)

·   Friends of Hôpital Albert Schweitzer Haiti (www.friendsofhas.org)

Additional Donations may be made at both websites.

Date: Friday, January 22, 2010

Time: 2:00-5:30 p.m.

Location: 4130 Wesley W. Posvar Hall, University of Pittsburgh

Suggested Donation: $5.00 at the door

For more information: Contact Matthew Casey, mrc30@pitt.edu

 

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 Attention CLAS spring graduates

*** Graduating in April? ***

If you are planning to graduate in April 2010, we encourage you to stop by the office and complete an application for graduation form if you have not already done so. The deadline is January 22, 2010. Late fees will be incurred after that date.

For more information, please contact Julian Asenjo at juasenjo@pitt.edu

 

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Lecture

 

"The Evolution of Community Ritual and Dynamics of State Expansion in Prehispanic Central Mexico" a lecture by David M. Carballo (Assistant Professor, University of Alabama)

Central Mexico possesses a deep history of centralized political and religious institutions, which stretches back some two-thousand years and revolves around the largest urban capitals in the Americas during their respective eras, including Aztec Tenochtitlan and contemporary Mexico City. This study examines the precursors of such political and religious institutions in both the core of ancient Teotihuacan and the more rural periphery of northern Tlaxcala. By taking a multi-scalar perspective, we better appreciate the autonomous yet interconnected development of proto-urban communities; the socially integrative and divisive legacies of their public rituals; and the macroregional impacts of initial urbanization and political expansion.

Date: Friday, January 22, 2010

Time: 3:00 p.m.

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

Sponsored by the Department of Anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh

 

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Amigos del Cine Latinoamericano Spring 2010 Film Series

De Género a Género - From Genre to Gender

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

The concepts of genre and gender are entangled in struggles involving purity, difference, authenticity, prejudice and stereotype. All of the films in this series represent instances of these struggles and emerge as opportunities for the audience to engage in a cross-cultural reflection about their own conceptions and misconceptions, since the films all confront viewers with characters and stories that challenge the idea of a stable and coherent sexuality, and wonder in their own ways how do sex and gender define us and whether they should define us at all.

Most films will be presented on Fridays at 6:30 p.m. at the Frick Fine Arts Auditorium (except for the following Thursdays: February 4, February 18, and April 8). As usual, we will give a short introduction of the film and after the presentation you are welcome to stay for a discussion.

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

For more information: amigoscinelatinoamericano@gmail.com, and for updated film titles and descriptions, go to http://www.amigosdelcinelatinoamericano.blogspot.com/

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

http://www.amigosdelcinelatinoamericano.blogspot.com/

Upcoming Films:

Friday, January 22, 2010
Film: Doña Herlinda y su hijo - Doña Herlinda and Her Son

(Dramatic comedy) (Dir. Jaime Humberto Hermosillo - Mexico, 1985)

In this sly Mexican sex comedy, a manipulative mama deftly manages the life of her homosexual son so that he can have his cake and eat it too. A woman of means, she does this by allowing her son, a doctor, to tryst in her home with her lover. Not surprisingly, critics have often argued that Doña Herlinda's character echoes the authoritarianism of the Mexican State and that of the Mexican Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), in power for most of 20th century.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Film: TBA

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Film: Los amantes del círculo polar - Lovers of the Arctic Circle

(Drama) (Dir. Julio Medem - Spain/ France, 1998)

Circle is the key word here. Spanish filmmaker Julio Medem's dreamy, exquisitely constructed romance, set in Spain and Finland, finds poetry in geometry, particularly in the never-ending spherical shape of fated love. Taciturn lovers Otto and Ana -the palindromic names are no accident- meet as children and instantly recognize each other as missing halves of a soulful whole (three different pairs of actors play the duo).

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CLAS Conference

2010 Student Conference on Latin American Social and Public Policy

The purpose of this conference is to provide an opportunity for graduate and undergraduate students to present papers, works-in-progress (including term papers, dissertations, and conference papers, etc.), and other academic work with relevance to Latin American social and public policy.

Conference dates: February 19-20, 2010

Location: University Club, Oakland

For more information: http://www.ucis.pitt.edu/clas/events/laspp/lasspform.html

 

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Comprehensive Immigration Reform Roundtable Discussion

What are the issues? How does this affect Pittsburgh?

What does it mean for health care/my kids' school/the safety of my neighborhood/ unemployment/ taxes, etc?

Featuring:

Judy Berkowitz, Refugee Service Coordinator, Jewish Family & Children's Service of Pgh

Latha Bhagavatula, Operations Manager, SV Temple

Riffat Chughtai, President, PhyzBiz, Inc,

Gabriella Gonzalez, Associate Behavioral/Social Scientist, Rand Corporation

Howie Harris, Staff Director, SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania

Lisa Freeland, Federal Public Defender, W. Dist. Of PA

Ira Mehlman, Media Director, FAIR

Linda Morrison, Professor Department of Sociology, Duquesne University

Witold (Vic) Walczak, Legal Director, ACLU

Robert Whitehill, Attorney, Fox Rothschild, LLP

Date: Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Time: 7:30-9:00 p.m.

Location: Levenson Hall, Jewish Community Center (JCC) of Greater Pittsburgh, 5738 Forbes Avenue, Squirrel Hill.

For more information: contact Deborah Fidel at fidel@pajc.net or 412-605-0816

Free and open to the public

 

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Postdoctoral Fellowship Program: Social Science in Practice

As part of a new initiative that will affect how social science is taught and practiced at UCLA, the Dean of the Division of Social Sciences has created a postdoctoral fellowship program. The ideal postdoctoral candidates will be scholars who have demonstrated through their research that they can draw on social science theory and methods to examine the origins and effects of societal problems and to search for their solutions. Postdoctoral fellows will work closely with faculty and students who bridge fields and transform disciplinary boundaries to address an important societal problem (e.g., poverty, discrimination, racism, gender inequity, corruption, lack of access to education and health care, and environmental injustice). The Dean will offer up to six, two-year postdoctoral fellowships. Candidates must have completed all requirements for their doctoral degree before the program begins, July 1, 2010, and must have received their doctoral degree no earlier than November 1, 2007.

To apply, candidates must submit (a) a two to three page research proposal, (b) the names of two UCLA faculty sponsors/mentors at least one of whom is in the division of social sciences, (c) a CV, (d) a writing sample such as an article or thesis chapter and (e) three letters of recommendation by February 19, 2010.

For more information, please visit: http://ssip-postdoc.sscnet.ucla.edu/

 

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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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