Dear LACSI community,

¡Feliz año nuevo! Feliz ano novo! Kusisqa mosoq wata!

With the start of the new year and the new semester, we hope that everyone is prepared for an exciting term that will highlight the critical role that the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Institutes has played at UGA. Following on the steadfast leadership of Dr. Amy Ross, we begin the 2024 calendar year with well-deserved accolades and events that demonstrate the wide-ranging accomplishments and investments of UGA’s Latin Americanist community, a group that extends well beyond Franklin College to include faculty and students from across the university.

It is with this dedication to scholarly diversity in mind that Jorge and I step into our new roles as Interim Director and Assistant Director at LACSI. Together, joined with the invaluable support of Carla York as Administrative Assistant, we bring with us 20+ years of experience working with units throughout Franklin (and beyond) to promote and expand the interests of UGA’s robust Latin Americanist community. We are humbled by the opportunity to help LACSI continue its outstanding tradition of research, teaching, service, and outreach.

Among the many events scheduled for Spring 2024 is the upcoming 27th Annual Conference on the Americas, scheduled for February 16-17 at the Miller Learning Center. This event has become a staple for students and scholars in Georgia and surrounding states working in Latin America and the Caribbean, and we are pleased to be hosting this event for the second year. This year’s event features a plenary address by Dr. Pilar Chamorro (Dept. of Linguistics at UGA) on Saturday, February 17th at 1:30. Conference registration is not required to attend Dr. Chamorro’s presentation. Additional information regarding the schedule will be provided in the coming weeks.

Please consider visiting us at the Casa Amarilla/Casa Amarela/Q’ellu Wasi, perhaps to participate in one of our Weekly Conversation Tables (schedule TBD) or to share some ideas on ways that LACSI might contribute to furthering Latin American and Caribbean studies across campus. We look forward to greeting you all soon!

¡Hasta pronto! Até logo! Ratukama

Chad, Jorge, and Carla

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New York, NY – 6 December 2023 – The Modern Language Association of America today announced its thirty-third annual Katherine Singer Kovacs Prize for an outstanding book published in English or Spanish in the field of Latin American and Spanish literatures and cultures. The winner is Éric Morales-Franceschini, associate professor of English and Latin American and Caribbean studies at the University of Georgia, for The Epic of Cuba Libre: The Mambí, Mythopoetics, and Liberation, published by the University of Virginia Press. Javier Guerrero, associate professor of Spanish and Portuguese at Princeton University, has received an honorable mention for his book Escribir después de morir: El archivo y el más allá, published by Ediciones Metales Pesados.

The 27th Annual Conference on the Americas will be in the Miller Learning Center to be held on February 16-17, 2024, and hosted by the University of Georgia.

About the Conference
The Latin American and Caribbean Studies Institute (LACSI), the University of Georgia (UGA), and the AU/UGA Medical Partnership are hosting the 27th annual Conference on the Americas in 2024 in Athens, GA. This conference provides a venue in which faculty and students from the University System of Georgia (USG) can engage and share their interest and expertise regarding the Caribbean, Latin America and Canada. Held annually for the past 26 years, we explore critical socio-cultural, political, economic, health, environmental, global, regional and national issues. While the focus of this conference is primarily for university/college faculty members, graduate and undergraduate students are encouraged to showcase their research on the Americas.

LACS 1000 (2 SECTIONS): INTRODUCTION TO LACS
The interdisciplinary study of Latin America and the Caribbean. Examination of ethnic and cultural diversity and issues of gender, race, class, and culture within Latin American and Caribbean society. Consideration will also be given to the historical, political, economic, geographic, and social experiences of Latin American and Caribbean ethnic and cultural groups with special attention to their diversity and unity.

Offered Tuesday/Thursday 9:35AM - 10:50AM & 11:10AM - 12:25PM


LACS 4911: LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN STUDIES SENIOR CAPSTONE SEMINAR
To enhance the knowledge gained and deepen the appreciation of Latin American and Caribbean Studies. Students will demonstrate proficiency in the major regional language of choice.

Offered Tuesday/Thursday 11:10AM – 12:25PM


LACS(ANTH)(SOCI) 4311/6311: CRITICAL CONCEPTS IN LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN STUDIES
Covers a range of theories and perspectives instrumental to Latin American and Caribbean Studies across disciplines and over time. Examples include dependency theory, liberation theology, subaltern studies, the decolonial turn, indigenous epistemologies, and Latin American feminisms. Concepts addressed may include colonialism, imperialism, coloniality, criollismo, indigenismo, mestizaje, hybridity, testimonio, and lo popular.

Offered on Tuesday/Thursday 12:45PM – 2:00PM


LACS (JRLC) 5060: TELENOVELAS, CULTURE, AND SOCIETY
Examination of the connections between media, culture, and society as participants study the world's most watched television genre: the Latin American telenovela. The class focuses on the
genre's contexts of production, consumption, regulation, and globalization, and analyzes telenovelas as a public forum for the negotiation of sociocultural issues.

Offered on Tuesday/Thursday 3:55PM – 5:10PM

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