When COVID-19 interrupted the late spring events and culmination of the yearlong Mellon Sawyer Seminar Imagining Latinidades: Articulations of National Belonging, we didn't know that the events would eventually end up online and across institutions. In 2019-20, seminar co-directors Darrel Wanzer-Serrano, Ariana Ruiz, and Rene Rocha worked across disciplines to organize six symposia, a film series, and a podcast. With Wanzer-Serrano now in the Communications Department at the University of Texas A&M and Ruiz in the Department of Literature at the University of California-San Diego, the final events are being co-sponsored across institutions. 

On March 26-27, 2021, the three scholars will host the following guests, some of whom will also join them on their podcast of the same name.

• Gaye Theresa Johnson, César E. Chávez Department of Chicana/o and Central American Studies, UCLA
• Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes, Spanish and Women's and Gender Studies, University of Michigan
• John Mckiernan-González, History, Texas State University
• Cathryn Merla Watson, Literatures and Cultural Studies, University of Texas-Río Grande Valley
• Catherine S. Ramírez, Latin American and Latino Studies, University of California-Santa Cruz
• Ramón H. Rivera-Servera, School of Communication, Northwestern University
• Richard T. Rodríguez, Media and Cultural Studies, University of California-Riverside

This virtual event is free and open to all, but registration is required. (See registration links below.)

Schedule

Friday, March 26, 2021 (all times listed are U.S. Central Standard Time):

• 10-10:50 am: John Mckiernan-González, "Essential/Disposable: A Medical History" (10:30-10:50 am: Q&A)
• 10:50-11 am: BREAK
• 11-11:50 am: Gaye Theresa Johnson, "Refusing Dehumanization, Insisting on Our Humanity: Freedom-Making Under a 'New' Security Establishment" (11:30-11:50am — Q&A)
• 12:00-1:00 pm: LUNCH BREAK
• 1-1:50 pm: Ramón Rivera-Servera, "Living Lakes: Performing Latinx and Black History" (1:30-1:50 pm: Q&A)
• 1:50-2:00 pm: BREAK
• 2-2:50 pm: Catherine S. Ramírez, "Toward a Post-Undocumented Future" (2:30-2:50pm Q&A)
• 2:50-3 pm: BREAK
• 3-4 pm: Roundtable

REGISTER FOR FRIDAY SESSIONS

Saturday, March 27, 2021:

• 10-10:50 am Cathryn Merla-Watson, "The Apocalyptic and Spiritual Activism in Queer Chicana Performance" (10:30-10:50am Q&A)
• 10:50-11 am: BREAK
• 11-11:50 am: Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes, "Transloca(l) Poetics: Que(e)ring Mucho, Mucho Amor: The Legend of Walter Mercado" (11:30-11:50 am: Q&A)
• 12:00-1:00 pm: LUNCH BREAK
• 1-1:50 pm: Richard T. Rodríguez, "Latin/o American Party: Latin Freestyle's Transatlantic Touch" (1:30-1:50 pm Q&A)
• 1:50-2 pm: BREAK
• 2-3 pm: Roundtable

REGISTER FOR SATURDAY SESSIONS 

More details: https://imagininglatinidades.lib.uiowa.edu/. 

Cosponsored by the UI Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, the Institute of Arts and Humanities at the University of California–San Diego, the Glasscock Center for Humanities Research at Texas A&M University, the Iowa City Public Library, and the UI Latina/o Studies Program.