Meeting Theme

Cognita, Incognita, Imaginari

Cognita, Incognita, Imaginari: Known, Unknown, and Imagined Geographies of Colonial Latin America, the theme of this year’s meeting, focuses on the ways that colonial peoples experienced and imagined their surroundings. From riparian landscapes, tropical jungles, and desert frontiers to urban institutions and built environments, understandings and encounters with geography were central to the colonial experience.  We are particularly interested in exploring how notions and interactions with landscape and geography manifest across Spanish colonial Latin America. Based on the theme, we are planning a volume of interdisciplinary research on colonial geography.  Papers workshopped at this meeting and directly commissioned will be reviewed for publication in this anthology. While we encourage submissions on this year’s theme, proposals on other topics in colonial Latin America will also be given full consideration. 

About the Meetings

The Seminar’s annual meetings are conceived as welcoming and supportive venues to exchange ideas and to encourage collegiality and conviviality among colonial Latin Americanists of varied backgrounds and diverse research interests. From graduate students to senior faculty, the eight selected participants will present works in progress, including dissertation chapters, articles in development, or pieces of larger works. The papers, which should run no longer than 10,000 words, will be pre-circulated among the participants and will receive substantial and supportive commentary and discussion. While we strongly encourage submissions on various themes and subject areas, this year we are especially interested in works that focus on borderlands or utilize a borderlands related framework. For those selected to participate, the Seminar will cover local housing and meal expenses.

Questions?

For more information, contact the local host, Juliet Wiersema (Juliet.Wiersema@utsa.edu) and seminar organizer, R.A. Kashanipour (rykash@arizona.edu).