Ethnicity, Race, and Indigenous Peoples (ERIP)

A Section of the Latin American Studies Association

ERIP 2015
Virginia Commonwealth University
Richmond, Virginia, USA

CALL FOR PAPERS

4th Conference on Ethnicity, Race, and Indigenous Peoples in Latin America and the Caribbean

Conference dates: October 15-17, 2015

About ERIP

This conference is organized by ERIP, the LASA section on Ethnicity, Race, and Indigenous Peoples, in collaboration with Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and the Latin American and Caribbean Ethnic Studies journal (LACES). ERIP is committed to the promotion of research, teaching, and the exchange of ideas about all topics related to ethnicity, race relations, Indigenous peoples, Afro-descendants and other ethnic or racial groups in Latin America and the Caribbean. The ERIP 2015 Conference provides an opportunity for academics, graduate students, activists and practitioners in all the relevant disciplines to present panel, paper, and poster proposals on issues such as the rights of Indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples, territoriality and autonomy, bilingual and intercultural education, health and traditional medicine, consuetudinary justice, social movements and politics, racism and discrimination, resource conflict and resolution, performance and visual arts, literature and cultural studies, citizenship, multiculturalism, and ethnic and national identity.

Communities, Circulations, Intersections

Panel, paper and poster proposals focused on the motif “Communities, Circulations, Intersections” are especially welcome and encouraged. Throughout history, human communities have interacted with each other through voluntary and coerced migrations, the exchange of ideas and practices, and the circulation of natural resources and manufactured commodities. These encounters shape—and are shaped by—concepts and experiences of inclusion and exclusion, native and foreign, race and ethnicity, and gender roles and cosmovisions, among others. Because of their importance to developments within Latin America and the Caribbean, the ERIP 2015 Conference seeks to stimulate reflection on these issues and on the agency of Indigenous peoples and people of African ancestry in contemporary processes of migration, circulation and exchange. These topics are significant and worthy of discussion as we consider the challenges that globalization poses to the heritage of these communities, while simultaneously offering them opportunities to advance their own agendas.

Travel Grants for participants from Latin American and the Caribbean

ERIP, LACES and VCU have jointly established a Travel Grants fund to assist participants’ travel from Latin American and the Caribbean, on a competitive basis. Instructions for application coming soon at: http://erip.vcu.edu
 
Richmond, Virginia

Richmond, Virginia’s capital located on the James River, is a vibrant modern city with more than 400 years of rich history, and an especially fitting location in the U.S.A. for the 2015 ERIP conference. Central Virginia has been a place of convergence between indigenous, European, and African peoples since the early 17th century. The area was home to the Powhatan Confederacy, while nearby Jamestown was site of the first British settlement in the Americas, and disembarkation point for the first Africans to set foot in North America. Founded in 1737, Richmond quickly became one of the main centers of the plantation economy and transatlantic slave trade, and later became the Confederate capital during much of the American Civil War. In the second half of the twentieth century, Central Virginia was the setting of many struggles of the Civil Rights movement. In recent decades, Richmond has attracted an increasing number of Hispanic and Latino immigrants, and today the area is home to several indigenous groups from Latin America, including Mayas from Guatemala and a community of more than one thousand Mixtecos from Mexico.

Virginia Commonwealth University

Since its founding in 1968, Virginia Commonwealth University has mirrored the evolving realities of Richmond and Central Virginia. With more than 30,000 students, VCU is a dynamic and lively multi-ethnic academic community, and the state’s premier urban, public research university. The campus is ideally located in a major metropolitan area combining modern cultural attractions with the charm and convenience of a small historic city -- known for its architecture, museums, restaurants, craft breweries, vibrant art scene, and one of the nation’s largest river park systems. As part of its mission of scholarly, teaching, and community-engaged excellence, the VCU community looks forward to hosting the 2015 conference.

SUBMISSION  GUIDELINES

Submit online at: erip.vcu.edu/papers
Deadline: June 15, 2015

Presenters may propose individual papers, panels, or posters in English, Spanish or Portuguese. Proposals on all subjects related to the section’s mission and areas of interest in Latin American and Caribbean studies are welcome. In particular, the 2015 conference seeks to foster reflections on the involvement of peoples of indigenous and African descent in migrations, the circulation of ideas and practices, and the exchange of resources and commodities in Latin America and the Caribbean, and the challenges and opportunities posed to the heritage and development of these communities.

Panels
• Panel title and abstract (no more than 150 words)
• Presenters and discussant name, institutional affiliation, position/title (professor, associate professor, assistant
   professor, researcher, lecturer, PhD student, MA student, other)
• Individual paper titles and abstracts (no more than 150 words each)
• Keywords (minimum 3)

Papers
• Name, institutional affiliation, position/title (professor, associate professor, assistant professor, researcher,
   lecturer, PhD student, MA student, other)
• Individual paper title and abstract (no more than 150 words)
• Keywords (minimum 3)

Posters
• Name, institutional affiliation, position/title (professor, associate professor, assistant professor, researcher,
   lecturer, PhD student, MA student, other)
• Poster title and abstract (no more than 150 words)
• Keywords (minimum 3)

Possible Keywords (partial list):
Circulation • Community • Economy and Commodities • Environment and Ecology • Gender • History • Intersection • Labor • Languages and Literatures • Mass Media and Popular Culture • Migration • Political Mobilization • Power and Citizenship • Race and Ethnic Identity • Racism and discrimination • Religion and Religiosities • Social Movements • Indigenous peoples • Afro-descendants • Territoriality • Autonomy • Bilingual education • Health • Traditional medicine • Consuetudinary justice • Resource conflict and resolution • Performance arts • Visual arts • Cultural studies • Multiculturalism • Sub-regions within the Americas • Specific countries