Large FIU Delegation Participated in LASA Congress in Boston

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A panel on the visual, literary, and scientific discourses on slavery in late nineteenth-century Havana, organized by FIU graduate student Alberto Sosa. From left, Asiel Sepúlveda, Sosa, Jorge Duany, Roseli Rojo, Lilianne Lugo, and Yolanda Martínez-San Miguel. Courtesy of Asiel Sepúlveda.

Every year, specialists on Latin America gather at the International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA). Featuring over 900 sessions, including plenary sessions and informal meetings, the Congress is the world's premier forum for expert discussion on Latin America and the Caribbean, including Cuba. With over 12,000 members, over 65 percent of whom reside outside the United States, LASA brings together experts on Latin America from all disciplines and diverse occupational endeavors, across the globe. The last International Congress was held in Boston, Massachusetts, from May 24 to May 27, 2019.

More than twenty-five faculty members and graduate students from Florida International University attended the Boston meeting. Of these, over a dozen are affiliated with the Cuban Research Institute in various disciplines, ranging from literature and history to sociology and politics. They presented on topics as varied as 19th-century Cuban literature, prerevolutionary education and journalism, contemporary theater and cinema, recent migration trends, and population aging in Cuba. Among the Cuba specialists were Professors Elaine Acosta (Cuban Research Institute), Michael J. Bustamante (History), Jorge Duany (Cuban Research Institute), Guillermo J. Grenier (Global and Sociocultural Studies), Santiago Juan-Navarro (Modern Languages), Félix Martín (Politics and International Relations), and Maida Watson (Modern Languages). Also attending were doctoral students Richard Denis (History), Ivonne López Arenal (Modern Languages), Ramón Muñiz (Modern Languages), Ricardo Pelegrín (a recent History graduate), and Alberto Sosa (Modern Languages).

The next LASA Congress will be held in Guadalajara, Mexico, between May 13 and May 16, 2020.