The Spring 2013 CLACS (Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies) Research Colloquium at NYU will be on “What’s Left of Cuba? Culture, Politics, and Civil Society”
From the CLACS Colloquium Series site:
This Distinguished Speaker series addresses where Cuba is now in the geopolitical imaginary that once heralded Cuba as the exemplar of radical left projects in Latin America. In recent years, Cuban culture has challenged the projects of the revolution and has recast the cold war frames of embargo, exile, and exceptionalism. A new generation of writers, bloggers, visual and performance artists, and political activists and dissidents have insisted on freedom of expression, the rule of law, the politics of remembering, and the notion of civil society. Both on and off the island, many campaign “for an other Cuba” (Por Otra Cuba), reclaiming the nation and challenging the state. From a burgeoning presence in social media to smaller, poignant acts of reclamation such as political tattoos and graffiti, these social actors are creating spaces of expression and action that open fissures and apertures in the discourse of the revolution and the control of the state. Although they vary in political philosophies, these new voices demand both universality and contingency: an agenda that mixes the politics of human rights, Cuban values, and the unfinished projects of both the republic and the revolution.
Schedule of Upcoming Speakers (times and locations available here):
January 30 – Tomás Fernández Robaina
February 4 – Coco Fusco
February 25 – Jorge Cortiñas
April 1 – Albert Laguna
April 8 – Tony Lopez
April 15 – Alex Vazquez
April 22 – Antonio Jose Ponte
May 6 – Tania Bruguera
Description of the Research Series Colloquium:
Each semester, CLACS hosts a Research Colloquium series which combines a graduate level course with a speaker series. The course is co-taught by faculty of distinct disciplines, bringing together different academic fields of study. The event series invites top scholars from around the world to present current research to the NYU community as well as the general public. These cutting-edge themed colloquium series and conferences are the result of faculty working groups.
More information on CLACS here.
