Conversations about Utopia and Anti-Utopia in Latin America: Co-Authored Writing Projects Located in Nicaragua and Colombia

Les W. Field and Lara Gunderson

During the markedly strange time for research and writing engendered by the pandemic, I came to realize that for many years I had noticed with alarm that utopian narratives and imaginaries, in written and visual media, had almost completely disappeared, whereas dystopian and anti-utopian imaginaries had everywhere proliferated. I initiated conversations with former and current students to co-theorize this historical moment in the ways alternative futures are conjured and represented. Out of those conversations the two projects presented here developed: on the one hand, a conversation with Lara Gunderson, (PhD in Anthropology 2018) about the utopian imaginary in Nicaragua was published in an article entitled “Solentiname’s Utopian Legacies and the Contemporary Comunidades Eclesiales del Base (CEBs)” based upon my own former research and Lara’s dissertation research about the CEBs. On the other hand, a conversation with Felix Manuel Burgos (PhD in Spanish and Portuguese 2013) developed around the anti-utopian world of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias Colombianas (FARC) and Felix Manuel’s memories of living in the FARC controlled Zona de Despeje (1999-2002).

The Conquest of the Desert: Argentina's Indigenous Peoples and the Battle for History

Carolyne R. Larson, St. Norbert College

Winner of the 2021 Thomas McGann Book Prize from the Rocky Mountain Council for Latin American Studies For more than one hundred years, the Conquest of the Desert (1878–1885) has marked Argentina’s historical passage between eras, standing at the gateway to the nation’s “Golden Age” of progress, modernity, and—most contentiously—national whiteness and the “invisibilization” of Indigenous peoples. This traditional narrative has deeply influenced the ways in which many Argentines understand their nation’s history, its laws and policies, and its cultural heritage. As such, the Conquest has shaped debates about the role of Indigenous peoples within Argentina in the past and present. The Conquest of the Desert brings together scholars from across disciplines to offer an interdisciplinary examination of the Conquest and its legacies. This collection explores issues of settler colonialism, Indigenous-state relations, genocide, borderlands, and Indigenous cultures and land rights through essays that reexamine one of Argentina’s most important historical periods.

Beyond Fordlandia: Film Screening and Conversation with Director Marcos Colón

Marcos Colón

Written, directed and produced by Marcos Colón, Beyond Fordlândia (2017, 75 min) presents an environmental account of Henry Ford’s Amazon experience decades after its failure. The story addressed by the film begins in 1927, when the Ford Motor Company attempted to establish rubber plantations on the Tapajós River, a primary tributary of the Amazon. This film addresses the transition from failed rubber to successful soybean cultivation for export, and its implication for land usage. This film offers insight into the history and current state of extractive international industries in the Amazon rainforest, furthering discussion of the relationship between the local and global, consumption, inequity and the environment.

Architectural Layout and Inka Imperial Tactics in Northern Chile (AD 1400-1532)

Beau Murphy, UNM

From ancient Rome to the Aztec Empire, polities frequently use architectural monuments to promote state ideologies, advertise state power, and foster acceptance of inequality. This presentation discusses in-progress research investigating how architecture has been used for similar ends specifically within conquered imperial provinces, where empires must communicate authority to peoples who may be hesitant to accept imperial rule. The research focuses upon an archaeological case study from the Inka Empire (AD 1400-1532), with emphasis on architectural data collected at the Inka provincial center of Turi in Chile’s Atacama Desert since 2013. The study to date indicates that monuments should be understood as one facet of imperial tactics embedded in architecture, often articulated with an overall site plan or ‘layout’ designed to facilitate imperial rule. Beau Murphy is an archaeologist and PhD Candidate in the Department of Anthropology researching provincial political architecture in the Inka Empire. He entered the field of archaeology in 2011, and has conducted work in Peru, Chile, Romania, Belize, and the American Southwest since this time.

Working at the U.S. Department of State: The Foreign Service and Other Opportunities

This event will highlight opportunities to work for the State Department and inform students of special programs that they may want to consider.

Mi Cultura Cura/Healing Through Culture: Testimonios de la Nueva México Digital Archive Project

Kells and Romero will discuss their Mi Cultura Cura: Testimonios de la Nueva México Digital Archive and their research approach to the examination of diverse public discourses through grassroots community engagement. Kells and Romero apply a social epistemic rhetoric approach toward constituting a public archive to generate rich descriptions of the public health experiences, environmental conditions, and cultural landscapes of New Mexico communities impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The project implements a reciprocal research process through a cooperative of New Mexico institutions and community organizations to constitute and contribute to the construction of Mi Cultura Cura: Testimonios de la Nueva México Digital Archive.

Forecasting Volcanic Eruptions in Latin America

Tobias Fischer

Tobias Fischer currently works in Bolivia on Uturunku Volcano. This volcano is particularly interesting because it has been deforming massively in recent decades but has not erupted. Tobias and his team are working with an international group from other US Universities, the UK, and Bolivia. Tobias also works closely with a former Ph.D. student who is on the science staff at a volcano observatory in Costa Rica. Latin America has a very large number of active volcanoes and many population centers close to these volcanoes. Volcanic hazards are not theoretical there but an everyday reality.

Classical (Concert) Music/Musicians in Latin America: Yesterday and Today

Karl Hinterbichler

A presentation with numerous musical examples. An overview of selected Latin American composers, both current and from the recent past, whose concert works have entered the international standard repertoire and are performed world-wide by prominent ensembles and soloists. Current performers, especially conductors, from Latin America that have achieved widely lauded international careers.