Throughout the spring semester, the Hispanic Studies and Latin American Studies programs of the UMD Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures will host of series of films and faculty lectures called Equity and Diversity in Latin America and Spain. The series begins with two films.
On Wednesday, March 1, the Guatemalan film, Ixcanul (Volcano) will be presented by Dr. Jennifer Gómez Menjívar, Associate Professor of Spanish and Latin American Studies. This 2015 film marks the debut of Guatemalan director Jayro Bustamante and is the first film ever made entirely in the Kaqchiquel Mayan language. The film is the story of a young Mayan woman who must make a decision that will change her life forever.
On Thursday, March 2, the Spanish film, Retorno a Hansala (Return to Hansala) will be presented by Dr. Jennifer Brady, Assistant Professor of Spanish/Hispanic Studies. This 2009 film explores the perilous lives of migrants through the story of Leila, an undocumented Moroccan migrant living and working in southern Spain, who loses her brother to the treacherous waters between northern Africa and southern Spain and begins a quest to return his body to their homeland. Both films will be shown free of charge from 7-9:00 pm at the Zinema 2 (222 E. Superior St).
The lecture series will treat a wide variety of topics, from gender and race to migration, violence and the environment, in the literature and arts of Latin America and Spain:
- Wednesday, March 15: “Confessions of Violence in Contemporary Guatemalan Performance” by Dr. Jamie Ratliff
- Tuesday, March 21: “The Transformative Gaze of the Eroticized and Exoticized Other in Spanish Im/migration Cinema” by Dr. Maureen Tobin-Stanley.
- Tuesday, April 4: “African Roots/Puerto Rican Skies: Mythology and the Environment in Two Puerto Rican Children’s Books” by Dr. Carol Wallace.
- Tuesday, April 11: “Language and (Dis)ability: Alternative Ways of Being in a Recent Spanish Novel by Juan José Millás” by Dr. Jennifer Brady.
- Tuesday, April 18: “La subjetividad femenina en manos de Eros: Demasiado amor de Sara Sefchovich” by Dr. Milagros Gómez.
- Monday, April 24: “Literatura latinoamericana contemporánea: Una lectura de Late Victorian Holocaust de Salvador Luis” by Dr. Salvador Raggio.
All lectures will take place from 5-6:00 pm in UMD’s Kirby Plaza 312.
This series is supported by a grant from the University of Minnesota Office of Equity and Diversity. All events are free and open to the public.
Contact Dr. Jennifer Brady ([email protected]) if you have questions.