The Department of French, Hispanic and Italian Studies (FHIS) invites you to attend the FHIS Research Seminar—an opportunity to delve into the latest research surrounding the languages, literatures, and cultures of the Romance language-speaking world. The seminar will feature presentations from guest speakers, faculty members, and graduate students. Enjoy coffee, tea, and light snacks while you engage with our vibrant academic community. Please RSVP in advance.
January 22, 2025
Pensamiento Liberacionista Latinoamericano: Sujeto y Naturaleza
Presented by Prof. Carolina Pizarro Cortes (Universidad de Santiago de Chile) and Prof. José Santos-Herceg (Universidad de Santiago de Chile)
Date: January 22, 2025 (Wednesday)
Time: 3:00 - 4:30 PM
Location: Buchanan Tower, Room 726
About the talk:
Latin American liberationist thought ("pensamiento liberacionista") has an extensive tradition. At the center of its reflections is the status of the “other” subject within the context of Eurocentric modernity, whose origin is located in the period of the conquest of the South American continent. From this point of view, colonial domination – which manifests itself to this day as coloniality – produced an oppressive value hierarchy in which American subjects, as well as their natural world, were left in a situation of inferiority that made them "available" for the Westerners. Starting from this premise, we would like to address some of the most relevant milestones of Latin America’s “pensamiento liberacionista,” whose critical diagnosis constitutes a contribution to contemporary debates on the relationship between the human and non-human and on nature as a subject of rights.
Sponsored by: Latin American Research Cluster, Dorothy Dallas Fund
February 5, 2025
Return Migration across the Black Atlantic: The “Brazilians” in Francophone West Africa
Presenter: Dr. Antje Ziethen, Associate Professor of French (FHIS)
Discussant: Dr. Marco Schaumloeffel, Lecturer of Portuguese (FHIS)
Date: February 5, 2025 (Wednesday)
Time: 3:00-4:30 PM
Location: Buchanan Tower, Room 726
About the talk:
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, 3000-8000 Africans and African descendants mainly from Brazil relocated to the Bight of Benin and developed extensive urban settlements in what is today Benin, Ghana, Nigeria, and Togo. Two Francophone African authors have drawn attention to the Brazilian returnee communities and their immense legacy in Togo and Benin. In their novels Les Enfants du Brésil and Les Fantômes du Brésil, Kangni Alem and Florent Couao-Zotti retrieve an obscured chapter of transatlantic history and reimagine the establishment of an economic, political, and cultural elite whose influence can still be felt in cities such as Lomé and Ouidah. Both authors infuse their novels with historical and ethnological elements that are transformed by literature through what Alem calls “material imagination”. I will read the novels through the lens of what Russell King and Anastasia Christou call “return mobilities”, a term that describes a wide variety of migratory counter-currents and thus enables me to discuss the novels’ complex returnee identities and notions of home. I particularly draw on Christin Hess’ concept of “reverse diaspora”, originally used in the European context.
February 13, 2025
Stories of Loss: Tourism, Gender and Precarity
Presenter: Anna Casas Aguilar, Associate Professor of Spanish (FHIS)
Respondent: Mirta Roncagalli, PhD Student of Hispanic Studies (FHIS)
Date: February 13, 2025 (Thursday)
Time: 3:00-4:30 PM
Location: Buchanan Tower, Room 726
About the talk:
Description coming soon!
February 27, 2025
Defeat and Development: Fragmented Identities, Betrayal, and the City in the early Works of Roberto Marcallé Abreu
Presenter: Dr. Ramón Antonio (Arturo) Victoriano-Martinez, Assistant Professor of Spanish (FHIS)
Respondent: Paul Haase, PhD Student of Hispanic Studies (FHIS)
Date: February 27 (Thursday)
Time: 3:00-4:30 PM
Location: Buchanan Tower, Room 726
About the talk:
This presentation explores the early works of Roberto Marcallé Abreu, a Dominican author known for his critical portrayal of urban life and political transitions in Santo Domingo during the post-1965 period. Focusing on Las dos muertes de José Inirio (1972) and Cinco bailadores sobre la tumba caliente del licenciado (1978), the analysis reveals Marcallé's engagement with themes of fragmented identities, political betrayal, and urban alienation under Joaquín Balaguer’s authoritarian regime. Employing fragmented narrative structures, Marcallé captures the psychological disorientation of characters grappling with the socio-political upheavals of 1965 and their aftermath. His portrayal of Santo Domingo as both a symbol of modernization and a site of displacement underscores the paradoxes of urban growth and social inequality.
March 13, 2025
Stanislavski’s Method of Physical Actions for the Study of Plays by Ana Caro and Maria de Zayas
Presenter: Natalia Soracipa Ortiz, PhD Student of Spanish (University of Calgary)
Respondent: Elizabeth Lagresa-González, Assistant Professor of Spanish (FHIS)
Date: March 13, 2025 (Thursday)
Time: 3:00-4:30 PM
Location: Buchanan Tower, Room 726
About the talk:
Description coming soon!
If you have questions, please contact Dr. Katharina Piechocki (katharina.piechocki@ubc.ca).
UBC Vancouver is situated on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam) People.
