About The UNC Latina/o Cultures Speakers Series
The first of its kind at UNC-Chapel Hill, the LSP Cultures Speaker Series begun Fall 1999. It is dedicated to exploring Latina/o Studies as a transdisciplinary endeavor that draws on, among other areas of inquiry, literary and cultural studies, visual culture and media studies, creative writing and performance studies, philosophy and aesthetics, history, sociology, comparative ethnic studies and postcolonial studies, Americas studies, health and environmental studies, and gender and sexuality studies. It has served to create dialogue between ethnic studies areas on campus. Encompassing the more traditional areas of Latina/o Studies such as Chicana/o, Puerto Rican, and Cuban/American studies, the series also includes other areas: Dominican, Central American, and South American. Moreover, the series explores difference in terms of ethno-national and regional diversity, gender, sexuality, race, class, religion, language-use, and generation. Beyond exploring “difference” for the sake of “diversity,” the series is part of an ongoing critical examination of intersectionality and interconnected for the purpose of advancing social justice agendas in various areas.
The series invites specialists in different areas of Latina/o Studies and related fields from all over the country to UNC-CH throughout the academic year. The series has hosted creative writers and scholars addressing the intersections between Latina/o and African-American cultural production, between specifically Chicana/o and Native American Studies, and common ground (LatinAsia or AsiaLat Studies) between Latina/o Studies and Asian Diaspora Studies.
The UNC-CH Latina/o Culture(s) Speakers’ Series is sponsored by the UNC-Chapel Hill Department of English and Comparative Literature and the College of Arts and Sciences. Dr. María DeGuzmán is the conceiver and organizer.
Some examples of past speakers include Carmelita Tropicana, Sheila Ortiz Taylor, Miguel Algarín, Graciela Limón, Rane Arroyo, Mayra Santos-Febres, Alberto Sandoval-Sánchez, Roberto Márquez, M. A. Jaimes-Guerrero, Arturo J. Aldama, Silvio Torres-Saillant, Achy Obejas, Kirsten Silva Gruesz, Frances Aparicio, Arturo Arias, Antonia Darder, Suzanne Oboler, Loida Maritza Pérez, Junot Díaz, Cecile Pineda, Renato Rosaldo, José Galvez, Malaquias Montoya, Helena María Viramontes, Cristina Henríquez, Ana Celia Zentella, Cristina García, Kathy Vargas, Martín Espada, Octavio Solis, Ricardo A. Bracho, Virginia Grise, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Izel Vargas, Dolores Huerta, Angie Cruz, Nelly Rosario, Reyna Grande, Nancy Morejón, Paula Moya, Sandra Cisneros, Cherríe Moraga, Gabriel Ojeda-Sagué, and Rebeca Hey-Colón.
For further information about past speakers, click here.
