Deadlines for proposals submission: 1 March 2017 (papers) and 1 April 2017 (panels).

Latin America is one of the world regions in which borders are malleable or fragile, yet resistant. As its nations seek to establish and assert themselves on a continental and global stage, challenging, and being challenged by, outside influences, historical, political, geographic and economic fault lines often appear to check progress and modernisation. One only has to think of Brazil, which recently hosted a truly global mega-event, with its citizens being keen to present their best face to a watching world after years of economic progress. However, this center stage international performance threatened to be undermined by the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff and worries over the Zika virus. This multidisciplinary conference seeks to explore the discontinuities and resistance in Latin America from a critical perspective.

The Postgraduates in Latin American Studies (PILAS) Committee invites postgraduate researchers and junior academics from the arts, humanities and social sciences fields to present their work, engage in debate, and share their research on Latin America. 

PILAS Annual Conference 2017 will be held at the University of Leeds on the 26 and 27 of June 2017. The Conference is free to attend and will include keynote speakers, a masterclass and engaging social activities.

Professor Eduardo Posada-Carbó (University of Oxford), Professor Manuel Barcia (University of Leeds) and the journalist Patricia Simón (Professional Women in Media Spanish Association Prize Winner) have already confirmed their attendance. 

The theme of the conference is “Discontinuities and Resistance in Latin America”.

We welcome proposals from all fields for this interdisciplinary event. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

1. Race, Ethnicity, and Religion. 
2. Gender and Sexuality. 
3. Political Activism, Conflict, and Violence. 
4. Nationhood and National Identities. 
5. Migration, Geographical and Cultural Borders Studies. 
6. Inter-Cultural Dialogue and Polemics. 
7. Literary and Cultural Criticism. 
8. Literature, Culture, and Translation. 
9. Economic Policies and Economic Inequalities. 
10. Communication and (Digital) Media. 
11. Climate Change and Environmental Crisis.

The conference will consist mainly of traditional panels of 90 minutes, allowing for three papers of 20-minute each, followed by a 30-minutes Q&A.Papers will be presented preferably in English, although presentations in Spanish and Portuguese will be also considered. Panel proposals should allow three papers of 20 minutes each or four papers of 15 minutes each.

More information and submission guidelines can be found at: pilasconference.com