Conference Recovery; or “No Curse Words, Rene”

In this first episode after the Imagining Latinidades opening conference, Rene Rocha and Darrel Wanzer-Serrano discuss what the conference meant to them and then dive into the recurring controversy over the term Latinidad.

Show Notes

Darrel and Rene are feeling exhausted (and in the best of ways) from the opening Imagining Latinidades conference.  Today, they talk about what they learned, discussed histories and presents of Latina/o/x Studies and Ethnic Studies, and waded into the debate over the term/concept of Latinidad. (No bullet points because that about covers it.)

★ Thanks to our sponsors ★

• The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s generous support through its Sawyer Seminar program allowed “Imagining Latinidades: Articulations of National Belonging” to launch at the University of Iowa. This podcast was born from the Sawyer Seminar and we hope it will continue on afterward.
• The Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, at Iowa, was the birthplace of our Seminar theme, which gave rise to this podcast.

Show notes:

• Opening conference: Imagining Latinidades in Global and National Perspective – Imagining Latinidades
• POROI: Project on Rhetoric of Inquiry | Obermann Center for Advanced Studies — the article Darrel talked about is “Rheoric of Inquiry: Projects and Prospects” by Nelson and Megill in the Quarterly Journal of Speech: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00335638609383756
• The Latino Native American Cultural Center (LNACC) at Iowa has a rich history: https://guides.lib.uiowa.edu/c.php?g=625215
• Rusty Barcelo is the student (turned University president!) to which Darrel referred as having a big role to play in the founding of LNACC at Iowa. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nancy_%22Rusty%22_Barceló
• Cabán, Pedro A. “Moving From the Margins to Where? Three Decades of Latino/a Studies.” Latino Studies 1 (2003): 5–35. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.lst.8600014
• Oboler, Suzanne. “An Open Letter to University Presidents: The Necessity for Latino Studies.” Latino Studies 1, no. 1 (2003): 361–65. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.lst.8600052
• Iowa State University’s US Latina/o Studies program: https://usls.las.iastate.edu. The 25th anniversary symposium information is here: https://language.iastate.edu/usls25/
• Remezcla’s recent (July 30, 2019) Latinidad article: When it Comes to Latinidad, Who Is Included and Who Isn’t?
• The Nation’s recent (Sept. 16, 2019) Latinidad article: The Problem With Latinidad | The Nation
• Scholars on Latinidad(es) — not an exhaustive list: Aparicio, Frances R, and Susana Chávez-Silverman, eds. Tropicalizations: Transcultural Representations of Latinidad Hanover, NH: Dartmouth College, University Press of New England, 1997. Beltran, Cristina. The Trouble With Unity: Latino Politics and the Creation of Identity. London: Oxford University Press, 2010; Latina Feminist Group. “Introduction: Papelitos Guardados: Theorizing Latinidades Through Testimonio,” In Telling to Live: Latina Feminist Testimonios, edited by Latina Feminist Group, 1–24. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2001; Rivera-Servera, Ramón. Performing Queer Latinidad: Dance, Sexuality, Politics. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2012; Rodriguez, Juana Maria. Queer Latinidad: Identity Practices, Discursive Spaces. New York: New York University Press, 2003; Valdivia, Angharad N. Latina/o Communication Studies Today. New York: Peter Lang, 2008.
• La Bamba on October 10th at Film Scene in Iowa City: Film Scene - LA BAMBA

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• Hosts on Twitter: Darrel is @DoctorDWS, Ariana is @aryruiz710, Rene is @rene5311
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Credits

• Our cover art, a photo of an installation titled “El Hielo / I.C.E,” is provided courtesy of the artist, Fidencio Fifield-Perez.
• Music by Juan Ruiz.
• Our hosting is provided by Transistor.fm, which we really love.
• Our podcasting app of choice is Overcast.fm, which also makes a handy app that streamlines the process of making the chapter markers in this podcast.

What is Imagining Latinidades?

Three Latina/o professors discuss topics and interview guests central to Latina/Latino/Latinx Studies today.