In addition to the annual LALS Heritage Lecture and the LAS Celebration of Women Lecture, the LALS program co-sponsors a number of free public events that provide our students and the greater Louisville community with the opportunity to learn more about the diverse cultures of Latin America. These include the annual Latin American Film Festival, the Living la Vida Loca: Celebration of Hispanic Heritage Festival, as well as artistic performances by musicians, dancers, and theatrical troupes, and numerous lectures by visiting guest speakers, particularly writers, anthropologists, historians, and experts in the field of political science.

  Past Co-Sponsored Events

Fall 2008

• Public Lecture: “Ritos y mañas en la novela caribeña”; by Puerto Rican Author Carmen Montañez; Tuesday, November 18, 2008; 4:30-5:30; Humanities 202; Sponsored by Latin American and Latino Studies

• “Rebuilding Local Food Economies”; Presented by Rodrigo Lopes of Brazil’s Landless Workers Movement; November 5, 2008, 10-11 a.m., UofL Ford Hall, room 407; Co-sponsored by Agricultural Missions, Community Farm Alliance, World Hunger Year, Grassroots International, Latin American and Latino Studies, Brazilian Studies, and the Department of Political Science.

• Day of the Dead Celebration; November 3, 2008; U of L Red Barn, 10:00-2:00; Altar Installation in Ekstrom Library; October 27 to October 31, 2008. Organized by the Spanish Division of the Department of Classical and Modern Language. Co-sponsored by the The Modern Languages Fund, Latin American and Latino Studies, the Spanish Club, the Lewis Educational Fund, the Brazilian Studies Program, Al Día en América, and Arco Iris Latino.

• Downtown Louisville Day of the Dead Altar Installation and Celebration; The Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft and 21c Museum ; November 1-8, 2008; Co-sponsored by the A & S Committee on Communities and Cultures, Department of Fine Arts, Latin American and Latino Studies, 21C Museum Hotel, and the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft.

• Fourteenth Ibero-American Film Festival! October 23-25, 2008; UofL Belknap Campus and Bellarmine University; Co-sponsored by The Spanish Section of UofL’s Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Bellarmine University’s Department of Global Languages and Cultures, the Lewis Education Fund, the Modern Languages Fund, the Spanish Club, and the Latin American and Latinos Studies Program.

• Lecture by Dominican-American Writer Junot Díaz; Thursday, October 23, 2008; Elaine Chao Auditorium of Ekstrom Library; 7:30p.m. Co-sponsored by the Axton Reading Series; English Department, and Latin American and Latino Studies.

• Simón Sedillo International Film Tour: “Effects of Globalization in Oaxaca, Mexico”; Presented by the Human Rights Documentary Filmmaker Simón Sedillo; Friday, October 10, 2008; 7:30 pm; UofL’s Floyd Theater; Co-sponsored by the Anthropological Student Association (ASA) and the Anthropology Department, Commonwealth Center for Humanities and Society, Latin American and Latino Studies, KY Interfaith Taskforce on Latin America and the Caribbean (KITLAC), Student/Farmworker Alliance (SFA).

• The 7^th Annual LALS Heritage Lecture: “Fair Trade: Transforming Globalization in Latin America”; Presented by Dr. Laura Raynolds, Co-Director, Center for Fair & Alternative Trade Studies and Professor of Sociology at Colorado State University; Wednesday, October 1, 2008; 4:30-5:30; Elaine Chao Auditorium; Co-sponsored by the Anthropology Department, the College of Business, The Cultural Center, Latin American and Latino Studies, and the Sociology Department.

• Concert by Ecuadorian Classical Guitarist Terry Pazmiño; Thursday, September 25, 2008; Humanities Rm. 100; 7:30-8:30 pm. Co-sponsored by the Cultural Center, Kentucky Humanities Council, the Kentucky Institute for International Studies, Latin American and Latino Studies, and the Modern Languages Fund.

• “Dream Chasers: The Art of Living on the Backside”; April 14 - December 31, 2008; Exhibit at the Kentucky Derby Museum; Latin American and Latino Studies collaboration with the Kentucky Derby Museum and the Klein Family Learning Center

Spring 2008

• “Comprehensive Immigration Reform: Policy, Practice and Activism.”
• Christopher Moore presents his Documentary Film on Hugo Chávez.
• Dr. Phyllis Zatlin presents “In Theatrical Translation, There is No Lack of Conflict.”
• Social Justice and Engaged Scholarship Symposium
• Dream Chasers: The Art of Living on the Backside

2007 Events

•  Argentine Writer Perla Suez Presents Keynote Hispanic Presentation at the Annual Louisville Conference on Culture and Literature since 1900.
•  Alexis Levitin Offers Public Lecture on “Translating the Music of Poetry.”
• LALS Particiapates in WorldFest.
• Dr. Manuel Martinez-Maldonado presents “Poesía, narrativa y música en la cultura puertorriqueña.”
• Dr. Dan La Botz presents the 6th Annual LALS Heritage Lecture.
• “Challenges Facing New and Established Latino Communities: A Dialogue.”
• Annual Celebration of the Day of the Dead.
• Clayton Eshleman presents a lecture on his bilingual edition of poetry by the Peruvian poet César    Vallejo.  

2006 Events

• Mexican Writer Cecilia Urbana Presents Keynote Spanish Address at the Annual UofL 20th Century Lecture and     Culture Conference.
• Elin Luque, Professor of the Centro de Cultura Casa Lamm, Presents a Lecture on a Popular Mexican Art Form.
• Cultivating Equality in Brazil: The Landless Rural Workers Movement.
• Claudia Gómez Haro, Director of the Centro de Cultura Casa Lamm, Lectures on Africa’s Presence in     Contemporary Cuban Art.
• LAS Co-sponsors the Spanish Club’s Celebration: A Moment in Latin America.
• Alejandro Portes Delivers the 5th Annual LAS Heritage Lecture: “The New Latin Nation: Immigration & the     Hispanic Population of the US.”
• Living La Vida Loca 2006: A Celebration of Hispanic Heritage.
• Day of the Dead Event at the Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft.
• U of L’s XII Annual Latin American Film Festival and the Latin American Jewish Film Festival.

2005 Events

• Exile Dreams, Exile Loss: The Grammar of Contested Memory in Selected Literature of Hispanic Diasporas.”
• Latin American Studies Inaugurates Celebration of Women Lecture Series.
• Anthropologist Elayne Zorn Explores Social Repercussions of Tourism.
• Argentine Writer Alicia Kozameh Returns to U of L.
• The 4th Annual LAS Heritage Lecture: Explore Jewish-Argentine Identity. – by Darrell Lockhart
• U of L’s XI Annual Latin American Film Festival.
• Living La Vida Loca 2005: A Celebration of Hispanic Heritage.  

2004 Events

• The 10th Annual Latin American Film Festival.
• 3rd Annual LAS Heritage Lecture: “From Serfdom to Secretary of States in 36 Years: Ecuador’s Indigenous Rights Movement.” By Lynne Meisch
• Latin American Studies Sponsors Campus Visit of Argentine Writer Tununa Mercado.
• Living La Vida Loca 2004: A Celebration for Hispanic Heritage.
• Mexican Author Juanita Garciagodoy Prepares Students for “El Día de los Muertos.”
• The Annual Gottschalk Lecture: Migration and Modernity in the Western Hemisphere.
• U of L 20th Century Literature Conference: “Scenes from The Empty Chalices: Life and Poetry of Delmira     Agustini by Judy Veramendi.”
• “The Art of Giving Thanks: The Exvotos in Museum of the Basílica of Guadalupe” by Elin Luque.
• “Narrativa argentina en la posdictadura.”Keynote Spanish lectura by the Argentine writer Ana María Shua.

2003 Events

• Living La Vida Loca Celabates Hispanic Culture.
• Destination Cuba: The IX Latin American Film Festival.
• 2nd Annual Latin American Studies Heritage Lecture Presented by Cuban Writer, Dr, Gustavo Pérez Firmat.
• Mexican Activist Speaks about NAFTA.
• “Globalization From Below” in Latin America: Rural Justice Tour.
• Tres Vidas, Chamber Music Theater Production.
• Latin American Studies co-sponsor Poetry Recital by Fernando Operé.

2002 Events

• The 8th Annual Latin American Film Festival.
• El Día de los Muertos.
• David William Foster  Speaks on Gender Issues in Contemporary Argentina.  
• 1st Annual Latin American Studies Heritage Lecture Presented by Mexican Writer Alberto Ruy Sánchez.