Latin America Research Group
The Latin America Research Group (LARG) launched a lecture series in 2016 in collaboration with the Centre for Global Studies and has been hosting biannual workshops since 2005. The goal is to bring together scholars of and those interested in Latin America to share and discuss interdisciplinary research on the region. Our events attract faculty as well as graduate and undergraduate students working on Latin America from a number of disciplines including anthropology, business, environmental studies, Indigenous education, geography, Hispanic studies, history, medicine, music, philosophy, political science, public administration, and sociology.
In the past, we have hosted theme-based discussions, book launches, formal research presentations, and round-tables on specific pieces of work. Our format varies depending on the interests of members but our current initiatives include a lecture series, webinar series, and annual workshops.
LARG is led by Beatriz de Alba-Koch (Department of History, UVic) and the LARG Lecture Series is organized by Michelle Bonner (Deaprtment of Political Science, UVic).
2019/2020 Lecture Series
In 2019-2020, LARG hosted four speakers, including two book launches. Alexandrine Boudreault-Fourniet (Anthropology, UVic) presented her new book, Arial Imagination in Cuba: Above the Rooftops (Routledge, 2020), and Michelle Bonner (Political Science, UVic) presented her new book, Tough on Crime: The Rise of Punitive Populism in Latin America (Pittsburgh University Press, 2019).
As part of this lecture series, Beatriz de Alba-Koch (History, UVic) presented on her project "The Ibero-American Baroque" and we welcomed guest speaker Timo Schaefer (Post-Doctoral Felllow, Department of History, UofT) to presnted on his research, "The Infrapolitics of Mexican Democratization: Three Episodes from the Life of an Indigenous Activist, 1980-2004.
2018/2019 Lecture Series
Claudia Puerta Siva (Anthropology, University of Antioquia, Colombia) - “Mining and Socioenvironmental Conflicts in Colombia”
Cynthia Milton (History, University of Montreal) - “Counter Memory: Military Cultural Interventions and the Human Rights Era in Peru”
2017/2018 Lecture Series
Marila Lazaro (Faculty of Science, Universidad de la República, Uruguay) - “Public Participation in Environmental Policies in Uruguay: The Case of Water Management”
Matt Murphy (Business, UVic) - “Community Influence Capacity: A study of two Peruvian communities¹ relations with mining companies”
Fabricio Teló (Social Sciences, Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) - “Rural guerrilla as strategy: armed organizations and peasants during the Brazilian military regime (1967-1974)”
Jutta Gutberlet (Geography, UVic) - “Waste pickers challenging the current Circular Economy: A Global South Perspective
2016/2017 Lecture Series
Mauricio A. Garcia-Barrera (Psychology, UVic) - “50 years of Colombian Armed Conflict: Examining empathy and emotional processing in guerrilla and paramilitary ex-combatants reincorporated to civil life”
Dan Russek (Hispanic Studies, UVic) - "What is a poet to do? Aesthetic experience in Academia."
Thomas Heyd (Philosophy, UVic) - “Alexander von Humboldt’s climb of the Teide volcano: an anticipation of his wanderings in the Hispanic Americas”
2015/2016 Lecture Series
Astrid V. Pérez Piñan (UVic) - “Engendering Effectiveness: A Feminist Critique of the New Aid Architecture”
Jean Stubbs (History, University of London) - “The Ultimate Smoke? Nationalism, Transnationalism and Cuba’s Iconic Havana Cigar”
Launched in 2020, the Democracy in Latin America webinar series is a collaboration between the Latin America Research Group, the Latin American Studies Program, and the Centre for Global Studies. The aim of the series is to raise awareness about democracy in Latin America by maintaining online intellectual exchanges between academia and civil society from different arts of the Americas.
For information on upcoming sessions, contact cfgs@uvica.ca
Previous Sessions:
- Democracy in Latin America: Populism & the Rise of the Far Right with Margaret Power (Illinois Institute of Technology), Gerardo Caetano (Universidad de la Republica, Uruguay), and Ángela Cáceres(Colectivo La Vanguardia, Bolívia)
- Democracy in Latin America: Government Responses to Emergencies featuring Juan Santiago Ylarri (Universidad de Buenos Aires), Alejandro Mantilla (Universidad Nacional de Colombia), and Marta Lkeiman (UVic)
- Democracy in Latin America: Discrimination and Police Violence featuring Michelle Bonner (UVic), Yanilda Gonzalez (Harvard University), and Lucía Dammert (University Santiago, Chile)
Video Archive:
As a way of fostering academic exchanges and research initiatives, we host an interdisciplinary workshop every two years with the support of the Latin American Studies Program.
The 8th Latin America Research Group Workshop (2019)
The 8th Annual Latin America Research Group Workshop took place on March 16, 2019 and featured a keynote presentation, "A Musical Odyssey:Henrietta Yurchenco and Ethnomusicological Research in Mexico", by Dr. Yael Bitrán. Dr. Yael Bitrán is a musicologist and historian of Latin America. She focuses her research on the contributions of nineteenthand early twentieth-century women to the musical heritage of Mexico. Henrietta Yurchencho (1916-2007) was an American pioneer folklorist that produced some of the first recordings of traditional Indigenous music from little explored areas of Guatemala and Mexico. A Musical Odyssey documents Yurchenko’s lifelong commitment to the preservation of this important heritage.
You can see the full workshop program here.
Workshop Archive:
The 7th Latin America Research Group Workshop (2017)
The 6th Latin America Research Group Workshop (2015)
The 5th Latin America Research Group Workshop (2013)
The 4th Latin America Research Group Workshop (2011)
The 3rd Latin America Research Group Workshop (2009)