David Maawad, born in Oaxaca, Mexico, in 1952, has been documenting the social, cultural, and environmental impact of mining in Mexico over the course of more than thirty years with spectacular vistas of unearthly postindustrial landscapes. His black and white photographs capture the human dimensions of this economic activity with astonishing beauty, showing the resilience and strength of Mexican mine workers, but also the difficult conditions under which they perform their labor.

The works will be on view at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art (1430 Johnson Lane, Eugene, Oregon 97403) from April 3-29, 2012. The artist will give a public talk on Wednesday, April 25, 2012 at 5:30 pm in the Ford Lecture Hall at the JSMA.

After their exhibition in Eugene, the works will be moved to the White Stag Light Court Commons (70 NW Couch Street, Portland, Oregon 97209), where they will be on view from May 3–June 9, 2012.

This exhibition has been made possible through the generous support of the Americas in a Globalized World Initiative; the Oregon Humanities Center Endowment for Public Outreach in the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities; the Latin American Studies Program; the Environmental Studies Program; the Center for Latino/a & Latin American Studies; the Office of International Affairs; the Global Oregon Initiative; the Department of Art History; the Department of Comparative Literature; the Department of English; the Department of Ethnic Studies; the Department of Romance Languages; Academic Affairs, Portland; the College of Arts & Sciences; and the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art.

Thursday, March 1, 2012
Browsing Room, Knight Library
7:00 PM

“Fighting Impunity in National Courts: Human Rights and Transitional Justice in Latin America.”

This talk addresses critical issues in the efforts to bring to court human rights violators in Latin America. It discusses two types of national courts litigation: first, when litigation is available in the country where the crime occurred; and second and most commonly, when litigation takes place in third country national courts (also known as universal jurisdiction). An analysis of the Alien Tort Statute in US courts and the impact of these cases in the transitional justice efforts in Latin America will be included, as well as a review of the practice and implementation of Universal Jurisdiction in Spain in relation to Latin America. Using cases from El Salvador and Guatemala, this lecture sheds light on the possibilities and challenges of using legal instruments in transnational efforts to bring justice and reparation to victims of human rights violations.

Almudena Bernabeu

Dr. Bernabeu is an International and Human Rights Attorney for the Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA) since 2002, where she leads its Latin America program. She currently serves as the lead private prosecutor on two human rights cases before the Spanish National Court: one filed on behalf of survivors of the Guatemalan Genocide and the other brought against senior Salvadoran officials for the massacre of Jesuit priests in 1989.

Dr. Bernabeu has published several articles on human rights litigation in national courts and its effectiveness in the struggle against impunity, as well as on reforming Spanish asylum and refugee law. Throughout the 1990s, she worked pro bono for Amnesty International-Spain and served as an investigator for the European Court for Human Rights. She was recently elected vice-president of the Spanish Association for Human Rights, serves as a board member at a US-based Human Rights organization called Equatorial Guinea Justice, and is a member of the advisory board of the Peruvian Institute of Forensic Anthropology, a forensic group providing evidence on human rights violations investigations and prosecutions.

This lecture is organized by the Latin American Studies Program and co-sponsored by the Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies, the School of Law, the Departments of Romance Languages, Political Science, and International Studies, and the St. Thomas More Newman Center at the University of Oregon.

Research will be presented on any aspect of climate change and indigenous peoples anywhere in the Americas at this student-focused conference.  Topics may range from public perceptions of climate change, climate science, policies, climate change impacts, adaptation, mitigation, history, or traditional ecological knowledge (TEK). The goals of this conference are to promote student research, provide professional experience for students, and generate dialogue about the critical issues facing indigenous peoples related to climate change.

Charles Walker is Professor of History at UC Davis and the author or editor of several books, including Shaky Colonialism: The Earthquake – Tsunami of 1746 in Lima, Peru and its LongAftermath (Duke University Press, 2008) and Diálogos con el Perú: Ensayos de Historia (Fondo Editorial San Marcos, 2009). He is currently working on a book about the Tupac Amaru rebellion in colonial Peru.

Rosa Chávez (1980) is a Guatemalan poet of Maya K’iche’ origin. Among her books of poetry, we find Casa solitaria (2005), Piedra abaj’ (2009), El corazón de la piedra (2010), and Quitapenas (2010). She is currently studying cinema and television in Casa Comal and participates as part of the Mayan Artists’ Movement, Ri Akux Nikotzijan.

Her work has been published in many journals and anthologies of poetry throughout the United States and Latin America. She has been invited to a number of poetry readings across the Americas and Europe.

Briceida Cuevas Cob (1969) is a Mayan poet from Tepakán, Calkiní, Campeche, México. She has published several poetry books, U yok’ol awat peek’ (El quejido del perro / The dog’s moan) (1995), Je’ bix k’iin (Como el sol / Like The Sun) (1998), Ti’ u billil in nook’ (Del dobladillo de mi ropa / From My Clothes’ Hem) (2008). Her poems have been translated into French, Dutch, English and Italian. She is a founding member of the Mexican Association of Writers of Indigenous Languages.

This Fall, the Department of Philosophy will host an international conference on ETHICS IN THE AMERICAS.  The conference will be held from the 11th to the 13th of November at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art.  The event will include the participation of philosophers and thinkers from Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, the United States, and from Native American traditions. Among the speakers to present will be Enrique Dussel (UNAM, Mexico), Eduardo Mendieta (Philosophy Department Stony Brook University), Walter Mignolo (Duke University), Pablo Oyarzun (Chile), Ofelia Schutte (University of South Florida), Charles Scott (Vanderbilt University), and Daniel Wildcat (Haskell University). All events will be free and open to the public. A detailed program for the event will be posted on the Philosophy Department website. For further information, contact Alejandro Vallega, avallega@uoregon.edu.

The conference is co-sponsored by The Oregon Humanities Center, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Latin American Studies Program, the Department of International Studies, and “The Americas in a Globalized World” initiative.

This event is designed to engage our campus-wide community in a dialogue around concepts of Indigenous education. Together, we will critically reflect about how to conceptualize curriculum, determine appropriate teaching strategies, identify core values that resonate with Indigenous peoples, and develop lesson plans to honor their cultures. Speakers include Mary Kim Titla, an educator, publisher, journalist, and long-time advocate for Native American youth; David Lewis, Cultural Resources Department Manager of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde; and Johnpaul Jones, UO 2011 Pietro Belluschi Distinguished Visiting Professor and prominent Native architect. Facilitated by Dr. CHiXapkaid Pavel, Education Studies, and Dr. Brian Klopotek, Ethnic Studies.

Carlota Duarte, MFA, began the Chiapas Photography Project in 1992 to serve the indigenous Maya in Chiapas, the southernmost state in Mexico. Since then, over 300 indigenous men and women from different ethnic groups and religious backgrounds have learned how to use photography as a mode of personal artistic expression, and many have undertaken projects that celebrate and engage members of their communities. The CPP has gained recognition from the Mexican, American, and international press, the academic community, and the art world.

With the guidance of Chiapas Photography Project, 250 Maya photographers have documented contemporary Maya culture and lifestyle in the state of Chiapas Mexico since 1992. Over 35,000 photographs are cataloged at Archivo Fotografica Indigena, a digital archive available for anthropological research, based at a study center near San Cristobal de Las Casas. This project has been funded by the Ford Foundation since 1995.

Presenters include

CARLOTA DUARTE, founder and director of the Chiapas Photography Project, is a graduate of the Rhode Island College of Design. Her photographs and paintings have been published and exhibited in the US, Mexico and Iceland. She lectured and taught at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. She holds dual American and Mexican citizenship and is a nun of the Society of the Sacred Heart. The Society as been active in Mexico for more than a century. Depending on the venue, Duarte will present in Spanish or in English.

MAYA PHOTOGRAPHERS: Accompanying Carlota Duarte are two Maya women photographers, Juana Lopez Lopez author of Nuestro Chile and Antonia Santiz Giron.who will wear their unique community dress, assist in workshops and demonstrate backstrap weaving techniques. Juana’s native tongue is Tzotzil,Antonia’s is Tzeltal – two of 12 languages spoken by Maya in the state of Chiapas.