Wednesday, April 27, 2016

PEN New York

Por si andan en NY, los veo en estos eventos. ¡Vengan!


World Voices Festival 2016. 

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

BEHIND THE LECTERN by Matthew Zamudio

“We don’t write to represent ourselves,” Rivera-Garza explained. “But to leap — this vertiginous, maddening, at times glorious leap — out of ourselves and into the lives of others: What is it like to be a plant? A rock? A man? A planet?”
Her experimental writing style of beginning without a predetermined end often leads her down many dead end paths. Sometimes it takes two failed attempts, sometimes 10 and sometimes more, yet as her writing career shows, with diligence and unreserved passion, great literary works are made. 
“It takes discipline and a deliberate choice to sit down and put your thoughts to paper,” Rivera-Garza told the Guardian. “Even if you only write one sentence a day, that’s 375 sentences in a year. That’s the start of something.” 
As one of Mexico’s best-known writers, Rivera-Garza offers students a unique educational experience in writing creatively using the English language instead of Spanish, her native language that she writes in. Undoubtedly, much of the meaning of foreign literary works are “lost in translation” when converted to English, but, for Rivera-Garza’s students, much is gained as they are taught innovative ways of structuring sentences, crafting stories and selecting subjects as they draw from the poetic nature of their professor’s native tongue. 
Moreover, Rivera-Garza is highly aware of the ways in which people are reading literature today, noting that while the physical book is on the wane, it will never entirely disappear. Still, she is a supporter of the digital realm as a venue for publishing creative work, actively blogging and breaking ground on Twitter, where she coined the term “tweetnovel” — a timeline of tweets as tweeted by a fictional character. Through her work she focuses on ways in which millennials can broadcast their writing sans the traditional print publisher.
Read The Guardian´s UCSD article here 
--crg

Thursday, April 14, 2016

UCSD Literature Department Against Anti-Mexican Vandalism on Campus--a Multilingual Version

POSICIONAMIENTO DEL DEPARTAMENTO DE LITERATURA DE UCSD RESPECTO A LOS ACTOS DE VANDALISMO RACIAL CONTRA LA COMUNIDAD MEXICANA

El Departamento de Literatura de UCSD condena los actos de vandalismo racial  y racista contra la comunidad mexicana ocurridos en nuestro campus el viernes 7 de abril, 2016.  Somos un departamento con profesores, alumnos y personal administrativo caracterizados por una gran diversidad—de raza, género, clase, procedencia nacional, orientación sexual, participación lingüística—trabajando juntos en el campus más cercano a la frontera entre México y Estados Unidos de un Sistema Universitario de un estado en que la población hispana se ha convertido en la mayoría demográfica—por ello la violencia del graffiti anti-Mexicano nos hiere a todos. Estamos comprometidos con la creación de un campus dinámico y seguro, inclusivo y respetuoso de nuestras diferencias, capaz de servir a las comunidades que nos dan vida. Tal como lo hacemos en los salones de clase, artículos y libros, apoyamos el diálogo crítico y la práctica crítica como medios idóneos para producir una universidad conectada a su entorno, lista para enfrentar los retos del siglo XXI.   

El Departamento de Literatura se solidariza con las acciones tomadas por los miembros de la comunidad universitaria para exigir una acción resuelta contra los involucrados en estos actos que atentan contra los valores de esta institución. 



DEPARTMENT OF LITERATURE´S STAND AGAINST ANTI-MEXICAN VANDALISM ON CAMPUS--Translation by Jody Blanco

The Literature Department of UCSD condemns the acts of racist vandalism, which took place on our campus last Friday, April 7, against the Latina/o and Mexican communities. We are a department of professors, staff, and students that reflect diversity in its many forms – racial, gender, class, nationality, sexual orientation, and linguistic background. We work together on a UC campus distinguished from the others by, among other things, our closest proximity to the US-Mexican border. We live in a state where the Hispanic population has become the largest ethnic group – and for this reason, the violence of anti-Mexican graffiti wounds us all. We are committed to the creation of a dynamic and safe campus, which includes and respects our differences: a campus that serves the communities that sustain us. Just as we support critical dialogue and critical practice as the appropriate means of engaging our students and colleagues in our classrooms, research and publications, so too do we promote these activities toward connecting the university to its surrounding communities and environment, as we face together the challenges of the 21st century.

The Literature Department stands in solidarity with the actions taken by the university community to demand appropriate action against those involved in these acts, which attack and offend the values of this institution.


PRESA DI POSIZIONE DELLA FACOLTA’ DI LETTERE SUGLI ATTI DI VANDALISMO CONTRO LA COMUNITA’ MESSICANA--Tranlation by Stepanie Jed and Pasquale Verdicchio

La Facoltà di Lettere di UCSD denuncia gli atti di vandalismo razzisti contro la comunità messicana avvenuti sul nostro campus il 7 aprile 2016. Lavorando insieme sull'UC campus più vicino alla frontiera col Messico, la nostra facoltà–– compresi il personale e gli studenti––si distingue per la sua diversità di razza, gender, classe, provenienza nazionale, orientazione sessuale, formazione linguistica. Viviamo in uno stato in cui la popolazione ispanica è maggioritaria e quindi la violenza dei graffiti anti-messicani ferisce tutti noi. Siamo impegnati nel creare un campus dinamico, sicuro e inclusivo che comprende e rispetta la nostra diversità, un campus che è al servizio delle comunità che ci sostengono. In aula, a lezione, e nelle nostre attività di ricerca, promuoviamo il dialogo critico e una prassi critica come mezzi idonei per integrare l’università ai suoi dintorni, preparata ad affrontare le sfide del 21esimo secolo.

La Facoltà di Lettere esprime la sua solidarietà con chi esige un provvedimento disciplinare contro coloro coinvolti in questi atti di vandalismo che offendono i valori della nostra istituzione.


POSITION DU DÉPARTEMENT DE LITTÉRATURE CONTRE LE VANDALISME ANTI-MEXICAIN SUR LE CAMPUS--Translation by Oumelbanine Zhiri

Le Département de Littérature condamne les actes de vandalisme raciste commis sur notre campus vendredi dernier, 7 Avril, contre les communautés mexicaine et latina/o. Les enseignants, le personnel et les étudiants de notre département se distinguent par leur grande diversité en ce qui concerne la race, le genre, la classe sociale, l’origine nationale, l’orientation sexuelle et la langue. Notre campus est, de tous ceux de l’UC, le plus proche de la frontière entre les États-Unis et le Mexique. Nous vivons dans un état où la population hispanique est devenue majoritaire, et la violence des graffitis anti-Mexicains nous blesse tous. Nous sommes déterminés à créer un campus dynamique et sûr, qui inclue et respecte nos différences, et serve les communautés qui nous soutiennent. Nous promouvons un dialogue et une pratique critiques dans nos salles de classe,  nos recherches et nos publications. De même, nous travaillons à relier l’université avec les communautés qui l’entourent, afin de faire face ensemble aux défis du 21ème siècle.

Le Département de Littérature est solidaire de ceux qui exigent des actions disciplinaires appropriées contre les personnes impliquées dans ces actes qui attaquent et heurtent les valeurs de notre communauté.


Stellungnahme des Literaturfachbereichs gegen den anti-Mexikanischen Vandalismus auf unserem Campus--translation by Fatima El-Tayeb

Der UCSD Literaturfachbereich verurteilt den rassistischen, gegen Latinx und mexikanische Communitys gerichteten Vandalismus, der sich letzten Freitag, dem 7. April, auf unserem Campus ereignet hat. Wir sind ein Fachbereich, der sich aus ProfessorInnen, Angestellten und StudentInnen zusammensetzt, die Diversität in all ihren Variationen widerspiegeln – in Bezug auf Rasse, Geschlecht, Klasse, Nationalität, Sexualität und Sprache. Wir alle arbeiten zusammen auf einem UC Campus , der sich unter anderem dadurch von anderen unterscheidet, dass er direkt an der US-mexikanischen Grenze gelegen ist. Wir leben in einem Bundesstaat, der inzwischen mehrheitlich hispanisch ist – auch aus diesem Grund, sind die anti-mexikanischen Graffiti ein Angriff auf uns alle. Wir stehen für einen dynamischen und sicheren Campus,, der unsere Unterschiedlichkeiten vereint und respektiert: ein Campus, der den Communitys verpflichtet ist, die uns am Leben halten. Ebenso wie wir kritischen Dialog und kritische Praxis als die angemessene Strategie im Umgang mit StudentInnen und KollegInnen, im Unterricht, in der Forschung und in unseren Veröffentlichungen betrachten, so vertreten wir diesen Ansatz im Umgang mit den uns umgebenden Communitys. Nur so können wir uns gemeinsam den Herausforderungen des 21. Jahrhunderts stellen.

Der Literaturfachbereich ist solidarisch mit der Forderung nach Sanktionen gegen diejenigen, , die die Werte unserer Community mit Füßen treten.


More to come. 

--crg





Monday, April 11, 2016

CENTER FOR U.S.-MEXICO STUDIES

Conference: CIRCULATION, TRANSFER AND ADAPTATION OF KNOWLEDGE, NORMS, AND TECHNIQUES IN ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY BETWEEN EUROPE AND THE AMERICAS


Keynote: K61 NORTE BRECHA 124: AGRICULTORES EN TRÁNSITO A COLONIZAR TAMAULIPAS

April 15, 2016
9:30 am
Malamud Conference Room, Institute of the Americas, UC San Diego

--crg