March, 2022

North American Language Assistants Program: Cultural Ambassadors Program Info Session

The Education Office of the Embassy of Spain promotes diverse educational outreach programs in the United States. Located in Washington D.C., the primary goal of the Education Office of Spain is to foster collaborative educational programs between the USA and Spain, building long lasting ties among their citizens. Our flagship program, both in number and scope is the North American Language and Culture Assistants Program (NALCAP). American college students and graduates- who are native-like speakers of English - partner with elementary and secondary schools in Spain to bolster language programs, as language assistants (TAs) under the supervision and guidance of teachers in Spain. NALCAP falls under the category of public diplomacy programs. As a language assistant, you will be fulfilling the role of a cultural ambassador as you advance English language learning and mutual understanding through cultural exchange. As such, your role is to encourage students of all ages in Spain to broaden their knowledge of your language and culture. Join this info session to learn more!

Working in International Business in New Mexico: Breaking Into the Sector, What Opportunities Exist and What Does Career Growth Look?

Yuri Morales and Celeste Nuñez

This panel will inform UNM students of career opportunities in the International Business Sector within New Mexico. It will inform them on how to break into the sector and what this career looks like in practice. Yuri Morales currently works as the Executive Director of Global Ties ABQ. Prior to that role, she was the International Markets and Tourism Director at the Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce’ Convention & Tourism Department. Yuri was born and raised in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico and has lived in Albuquerque since 2006. Yuri earned a bachelor’s degree focusing on International Affairs from the Universidad Internacional (UNINTER) located in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico. She arrived in Albuquerque as an International Student and earned her master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of New Mexico. She currently serves as a member on several different boards. The Albuquerque Balloon Museum Foundation allows her the opportunity to keep showcasing the beauty of our city to international visitors. She is a Founding Director and Vice President for Government Affairs to the US-Mexico & Latin America Chamber of Commerce. She sits on the eVOLV Strong Corporate Board promoting health and wellness in the US and Mexico and is the current Vice President of the Cottonwood Classical Preparatory School Governing Council. Most recently, Yuri was an award recipient of 2021 New Mexico's Top 40 Under Forty by the Albuquerque Business First. Celeste Nuñez is the Director of International Business Resources for the New Mexico Trade Alliance, a nonprofit economic development organization in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She connects companies from all over New Mexico with local, state, federal, and international export assistance resources to help them gain and grow international sales. Notably, Celeste manages the SBA-funded New Mexico State Trade Expansion Program Grant under the New Mexico Trade Alliance’s contract with the State of New Mexico. In 2019, Celeste served as the organizer for the Albuquerque - Chihuahua Sister City Bilateral Commission, an agreement with an objective to develop programs of mutual benefit to meet common needs and promote cooperation in the areas of economic development, tourism and cultural exchange, public safety, and education. As the commission organizer, she facilitated collaboration among the worktables and managed a 20 member outbound mayoral delegation and inbound Chihuahua municipal government delegation for the first commission accord signing. Celeste is a member of the 2020 U.S. Global Leadership Coalition's Next Gen Global Leaders Network, a class of nearly 100 young professionals across the country championing global development and diplomacy. She now currently sits as a member of the USGLC New Mexico Advisory Board. Celeste recently took on the role as Chair of the Albuquerque – Guadalajara Sister City relationship. Additionally, Celeste contracts with local governments on other business development projects through her own consulting company. Celeste graduated summa cum laude with a BBA from the University of New Mexico’s Anderson School of Management focusing on International Management and Marketing. Celeste is a first generation business professional with a passion for creating economic opportunity in her state.

Vengeance, Power and Dior: How Frida Kahlo, Evita Peron and Carmen Miranda Used Beauty Work to Become Immortal

Elizabeth Gackstetter Nichols

Frida Kahlo, Evita Peron, and Carmen Miranda are icons of beauty, power, and influence in the Americas. Living in the same post-war moment, each used the power of their appearance to gain both personal and political goals. In this talk I'll discuss my book-in-progress, a work that tells the story of how each of these women intentionally and deliberately leveraged their beauty, and their beauty work, to find success against the odds, and against a wide array of societal pressures. Dr. Elizabeth Gackstetter Nichols is a Professor of Spanish and Gender Studies at Drury University. She specializes in the area of Women and Gender Studies with current research interests in Latin American and International Beauty Practices, Cosplay, and Popular Culture. Dr. Nichols is the author of a variety of books, articles and encyclopedia entries in her research fields, including Popular Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean, Beauty, Virtue, Honor, and Success in Venezuela 1850-2015, and Beauty Around the World: A Cultural Encyclopedia. Dr. Nichols’ current investigations focus on the beauty work of women such as Evita Perón, Carmen Miranda, and Frida Kahlo as well as the international practice of cosplay in the Americas. She is a cosplayer herself, a cosplay mom, and an advocate for fan-led artistic creativity. She blogs at www.cosplaymom.com.

Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Information Session

FLAS Fellowships provide tuition support and stipend to undergraduate and graduate students to study foreign languages in combination with area studies or international aspects of professional studies. Pending approval from the US/Department of Education, FLAS awards for the 2022-2023 academic year may be available to UNM students for the study of Portuguese, Quechua, Nahuatl, and Yucatec Maya. Join the information session to learn more about fellowship eligibility, requirements, and application process. These awards are funded under the provisions of Title VI of the Higher Education Act, and we may not know about funding availability for 2022-2023 until the end of summer. If LAII is awarded Title VI funds, we will be able to offer FLAS fellowships that provide $20,000 stipend plus up to $18,000 in tuition and fees for graduate students and $5,000 stipend plus up to $10,000 in tuition and fees for undergraduate students. These awards are only available to US citizens, nationals, and permanent residents. Undergraduate students must be at least at the intermediate level (second year) of a language to be eligible to apply. Graduate students may apply for beginning level (first year) of a language but must have advanced level knowledge of another Latin American language (usually Spanish) to receive the FLAS at this level. Applications will be due on Friday, April 1, 2022. For more information, please contact Associate Director for Program Development, Lenny A. Ureña Valerio, at lurena@unm.edu.

Representations of Resistance to State-Sanctioned Violence at the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands in Literature, Art, and Film

Laura Belmonte , Chicana and Chicano Studies

In this presentation, Dr. Belmonte will explore the cultural production by writers and artists who have sought to dignify the inhabitants, wildlife, and landscape of U.S.-Mexico borderlands through social activism, art, literature, and cultural practices. This presentation will explore Chicana, Chicano, and Mexican literature, art, and film produced by writers and authors that are themselves inhabitants of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. The question at the center of Dr. Belmonte’s study is: what kinds of violence do the United States and Mexican nation-states endorse, permit, and even perpetuate in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands? She will present various types of violence represented in border literature and cultural production, and how we can denounce border violence in the 21st century.

"Mary's Leading the Charge" - Red de Investigación sobre Trabajo del Hogar en América Latina (RITHAL)

This event will focus on the state of the art of research and activism in relation to domestic work in the 21st century among three leading researchers in the study of domestic service in the Americas. The "three Marias" are Mary Romero, author of Maid in the USA and President of the American Sociological Association; Mary Goldsmith, UAM researcher and scholar-activist in Mexico City; and Mary Garcia Castro, eminent Brazilian sociologist and co-editor of the landmark volume Muchachas No More (1985), a text that has influenced research and activism to the present day. The panel will have English-Spanish and -Portuguese simultaneous translation.

A Discovery of Visual Poetry: Reading UNM's Collection of Mexican and Chilean Comics and Zines

Elizabeth Gackstetter Nichols

Graphic novels, comics, and artistic zines have, for several decades, served as an outlet of marginalized or subaltern expression. Using both written and graphic texts, these publications- often handmade and non-commercial, offer a unique avenue of escape. As publications outside the academy, zines often don't receive the attention that they deserve. In this talk, I'll show and discuss the visual poetry to be found in the Center for Southwest Research's collection of Mexican and Chilean zines. Dr. Elizabeth Gackstetter Nichols is a Professor of Spanish and Gender Studies at Drury University. She specializes in the area of Women and Gender Studies with current research interests in Latin American and International Beauty Practices, Cosplay, and Popular Culture. Dr. Nichols is the author of a variety of books, articles and encyclopedia entries in her research fields, including: Popular Culture in Latin America and the Caribbean, Beauty, Virtue, Honor, and Success in Venezuela 1850-2015, and Beauty Around the World: A Cultural Encyclopedia. Dr. Nichols’ current investigations focus on the beauty work of women such as Evita Perón, Carmen Miranda, and Frida Kahlo as well as the international practice of cosplay in the Americas. She is a cosplayer herself, a cosplay mom, and an advocate for fan-led artistic creativity. She blogs at www.cosplaymom.com.

Fragments Reassembled: Conservation of the Maya Murals of San Bartolo, Guatemala

Angelyn Bass

In 2001, extraordinarily well preserved Maya murals were discovered at Las Pinturas, San Bartolo, Guatemala. Subsequent archaeological investigation revealed elaborate murals devoted to Maya mythology, complete with hieroglyphic texts--the first artworks combining figure and text--buried in successive architectural phases dating from ca. 400-100 B.C. In addition to the 15 meter-long Late Preclassic-period wall paintings still standing in Sub-1A, there were over 7,000 mural fragments from four separate painted chambers within the pyramid that were intentionally broken into fragments and cached by the Maya as they dismantled older architecture to make room for new construction. Conservation of the wall paintings has been a 20-year collaboration between an international team of conservators, archaeologists, engineers, materials scientists, excavators, epigraphers, and iconographers. In this presentation l will discuss the materials and methods used to conserve the in situ wall paintings, as well as the mural fragments now in the collection of the Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología, Guatemala City. Our ultimate conservation goal was to maintain the artwork’s physical condition in ways that make space for new values and narratives to emerge. Angelyn Bass is an architectural conservator specializing in the conservation of archaeological sites, with a focus on architectural features, finishes, and wall paintings. She is a Research Assistant Professor of Anthropology at the University of New Mexico, and has been a conservator with PARASBX Proyecto Regional Arqueológico San Bartolo-Xultun since 2002.

A PLÁTICA WITH DENISE CHÁVEZ: La Frontera: Real and Imagined

Plática, a Conversation with renowned author, activist, playwright and UNM alumna Denise Chávez, an event co-hosted by the UNM English Department and the Western Literature Association. Denise will read and discuss her current book project, The Ghost of Esequiel Hernández, a novel exploring the dark history of the U.S.-México border with its ever- present military presence that has tragically impacted his inhabitants and their way of life. The novel is set in Redford, Texas, formerly called El Polvo/The Dust, where eighteen-year-old goat herder, Esequiel Hernández, was killed by a U.S. Marine in 1997. Chávez’s maternal roots are in this remote and magical corner of Far West Texas. The novel explores familial dysfunction as well as the legacy of life on the Frontera, the liminal space that is the break between these worlds.

International Opportunities after UNM

Are you interested in working, serving, and studying abroad after graduation? This panel will introduce various international opportunities including Peace Corps, Department of State, and Fulbright program. Presenters: Antoinette Hurtado, Diplomat in Residence Southwest, US Department of State Hallie Brown, 2018-2020 Peace Corps participant to The Gambia Kiyoko Simmons, US Fulbright Program Advisor, UNM Honors College

Amazonian Cosmopolitans

Suzanne Oakdale

In this lecture Dr. Suzanne Oakdale will discuss her recent book, Amazonian Cosmopolitans, focused on two Brazilian indigenous leaders’ autobiographical accounts. This work is an attempt to appreciate a distinctive form of historical consciousness, which, in keeping with broader lowland patterns, is focused on bodily states. She also connects these leaders’ small Amazonian group (the Tupian-speaking Kawaiwete) to national and world events. Both men provide unique perspectives on these as they played out in the Brazilian interior over the course of their lives, especially during the decades of the 1920s-60s. Moving beyond village-centered ethnography, Dr. Oakdale looks at how these men established long or short-term relationships with many non-Kawaiwete individuals and became part of different kinds of networks as the Brazilian interior became the target of “modern” state projects. Suzanne Oakdale is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at UNM. She has done ethnographic research in the Brazilian Amazon as well as historical research about this area since 1989. She has written on Kawaiwete (formerly known as Kayabi) ritual, and autobiographical narrative in I Foresee My Life: The Ritual Performance of Autobiography in an Amazonian Community published by 2005 by the University of Nebraska Press.

Conflict-Related Sexual Violence Prosecutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Dr Ajla Škrbić , Freie Universität

The Department of History presents a Women's History Month Lecture: Conflict-Related Sexual Violence Prosecutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina presented by Dr Ajla Škrbić, Postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Law, Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany. Dr. Škrbić will present on the topic of the application of international law by the Bosnian courts on conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) prosecutions

Juntas de Saneamiento in the Struggle for Water: The Catholic Church, The Peace Corps, and The World Bank-IDB in Rural Paraguay

Joseph García

The Peace Corps recently celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2021, with the Pandemic creating the conditions for the removal of volunteers worldwide and a big push to diversify the organization through an initiative to collect oral histories of volunteers. Chicana and Chicano Studies Adjunct Professor Joseph J. García was recognized for his service with the Peace Corps being featured in the "Many Faces of Peace Corps 60th Anniversary" video and Peace Corps Oral History Project. Coinciding with his current effort to publish his masters thesis. Dr. García will discuss his experience as a Chicano Peace Corps Volunteer during the time of major political strife and project work in Paraguay (1997-1999) and subsequent research on critical groundwater governance and development he was involved as a volunteer and graduate student at UNM. Dr. García will also discuss how his experience growing up in rural segregated south Texas and the voting rights activism/ organizing his parents led influenced his service, education, and trajectory. Dr. Joseph García has a doctorate in Latin American Studies from the University of New Mexico and Dual-Degree Masters in Community and Regional Planning and Latin American Studies. He has taught at the University of New Mexico (Chicana and Chicano Studies), Union College (Latinx, Latin American and Caribbean Studies), and Texas A&M International University (history and sociology). His research focuses on the historical sociology of environmental justice movements and leadership in the Americas. He was a Peace Corps volunteer in rural Paraguay where he conducted post-service critical groundwater governance research. He is the son of voting rights organizers and has published on the history of voting rights and Latinx political participation and engagement in Texas. He has also taught at the secondary level and is currently a senior policy analyst with the NM Legislative Education Study Committee. https://chicanos.unm.edu/people/faculty/joseph_j_garcia.html

Indigenous Climate Resiliencies in Latin America: Teaching Climate Justice and Local Activism Through Documentary Film

The University of New Mexico’s Latin American & Iberian Institute (LAII) will be hosting a free professional development workshop for educators to explore how climate change impacts Latin American Indigenous communities, such as the Yaqui, Maya and Wixárika, through the documentary film La Vocera, directed by Luciana Kaplan. This unit focuses on a broader collective resistance of Indigenous peoples in Latin America and their leadership in the fight for climate justice. The resources presented include an entire unit on the documentary La Vocera, and two additional lesson plans - one of which encourages students to create their own documentary on climate justice and resiliency in their own communities. The resources presented at this workshop are targeted at middle school students, but can be applied to all classrooms with adaptation.