Religous Conflict & Mixtec Idenity Formation in the 1970s

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Third year History Ph.D student, Kathleen McIntyre, will present the results of her field research, "Religious Conflict and Mixtec Identity Formation in the 1970s."

The presentation will be at 12:00 at the Latin American and Iberian Institute (801 Yale NE).

Refreshments will be provided

Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST)

Come learn more about Brazil's Landless Workers’ Movement
Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST) on Wednesday, November 28 @ 12:00 noon

The MST is the largest social movement in Latin America
with an estimated 1.5 million landless members organized
in 23 out of Brazil's 27 states. The MST uses a variety
of tactics including land occupations, marches, and
protests to carry out land reform in a country mired by
unjust land distribution. The talk will focus on how the
movement has survived and even prospered in the face of
government repression and organizational dilemmas. What kinds of factors have lead to their success and what does this mean for other social movements in around the world?

The speaker, Albert Palma, is a PhD student in UNM’s
Political Science Department focusing on Latin American
social movements and will present findings from recent
research in Brazil.

The talk will be at the Latin American & Iberian Institute, located at 801 Yale NE. Refreshments will be provided.

The U.S. Holocaust in Central America

Author Thomas Melville speaks about his latest book,

Through a Glass Darkly: The U.S. Holocaust in Central America.

Monday, November 19, 2007.
7:00 PM
Albuquerque Center For Peace and Justice
(202 Harvard SE)

Thomas Melville, born in 1929, was ordained as a Maryknoll priest and sent to Guatemala in 1957. There he founded co-operatives and worked on economic development and land distribution programs. Melville was exiled from Guatemala for his work in organizing peasants in opposition to the government. After leaving the order and marrying former Maryknoll sister Marjorie Bradford, he returned to the United States to advocate against U.S. government and business practices in Guatemala. The Melvilles participated in the burning of draft records with napalm in Catonsville Maryland in hopes of bringing attention to U.S. involvement in Guatemalan affairs. After serving his time for the Catonsville incident, Melville earned a PhD in cultural anthropology and has continued as a scholar and activist in Guatemalan affairs. He is the author of a number of books including Guatemala: Another Vietnam and Guatemala: The Politics of Land Ownership. The Melvilles currently reside in Mexico.

*This event is sponsored by the Student Organization for Latin American Studies (SOLAS), Multinational Intellectual Thinkers and Doers (MITAD), Religious Studies, and the Freshman Learning Community*

Indigenous Identity in Monimbó, Nicaragua

Wednesday, November 14, 2007,

Aaron Sussman, who is pursuing Dual Masters Degrees in Latin American Studies and Community & Regional Planning, will present the results of his field research, "Indigenous Identity in Monimbó, Nicaragua as a Catalyst for Community Organizing."

The indigenous community of Monimbó, Masaya, Nicaragua is known for its fervent opposition to external influence. As an indigenous community whose essentialized characteristics have largely disappeared (language, dress), this rebellious and independent nature has been studied through the historical context of armed resistance during the Sandinista Revolution. This research seeks to understand how Monimboseño identity - a product of social, historical, and economic conditions – manifests itself today in the nature and objectives of local community organizing. It reveals that resistance to external forces persists and a real tension has emerged between
traditional institutions and modern development needs.

The presentation will be at 12:00 at the Latin American and Iberian Institute (801 Yale NE).

Refreshments will be provided

Grassroots Healthcare in Chiapas

Wednesday, November 7, 2007,

Second year Latin American Studies M.A. student, Wendy Courtemanche, will present the results of her field research, "La otra salud: Envisioning grassroots healthcare in Chiapas."

The presentation will be at 12:00 at the Latin American and Iberian Institute (801 Yale NE).

Refreshments will be provided