Norma E. Cantú, the Murchison Professor of the Humanities at Trinity University, founder of the Society for the Study of Gloria Anzaldúa, has announced an international conference to be held in San Antonio Nov. 3-5 honoring the Chicana writer and feminist.
The conference, El Mundo Zurdo 2016, is sponsored by the Society for the Study of Gloria Anzaldúa and the UTSA Women’s Studies Institute in collaboration with Trinity University. It will take place Nov. 3-5 at UTSA’s downtown campus.
The conference -- Nepantla: Theories and Practices – will bring together scholars from all over the world including Brazil, Germany, and Mexico as well as from all over the United States.
Cantú said the conference title draws on one of the key notions of Anzaldúan thought, Nepantla. “It reflects an integral part of both the academic scholarly endeavor and the community activist actions that undergird much of Anzaldúa’s work,” Cantú said. For the past 10 years, the Society has held conferences where scholars, activists, community members, and students have gathered to discuss and present their research on Anzaldúa, who died in 2004. El Mundo Zurdo 2016 seeks to continue offering a transformative and invigorating environment for our collective and individual growth.
Speakers include Maria Lugones, associate professor of comparative literature at State University of New York, Binghampton, who will speak about the “interstitial movement” and how it relates to the art of writing; Emma Perez, professor in the University of Colorado at Boulder’s Department of Ethnic Studies; and Isabel Millán, assistant professor in the Department of American Ethnic Studies at Kansas State University.
Cantú said undergraduates gain invaluable experience by attending conferences such as El Mundo Zurdo. “Not only do students get to interact with other students but they get to meet and hear scholars whose work they may have read in their classes,” she said, adding, “Additionally, in this case, because it is Anzaldúa, they get to engage in conversations about issues that are relevant and close to home. Having luminaries of the academic world like Maria Lugones, Emma Perez, and others as part of the program means that the engagement is deep and transformative for participants.”
Also serving on the organizing committee for the conference from Trinity is Rita Urquijo-Ruiz, associate professor of Modern Languages and Literatures Department, who has reviewed presentation proposals and has been a moderator at previous conferences.
About 10 Trinity students will attend the conference.
In conjunction with the conference, an art exhibit and poetry reading will take place at Galeria E.V.A., 3412 S. Flores St., from 6 to 8 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 4.
To register, contact the Women’s Studies Institute at UTSA at Carolyn.motley@utsa.edu or 210-458-6277. Fees range from $40 to $95.
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