Virtual Symposium Marks Milestone for NC State’s Latin American Studies Journal

When NC State’s Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures founded a journal on Latin American studies in 2003, it was one of the first online, open access scholarly publications of its kind. A Contracorriente recently marked its tenth anniversary in a similarly technologically advanced style.

Faculty associated with the journal hosted a virtual symposium on Latin American studies using advanced videoconferencing technology to gather scholars from locations across the United States and Latin America. They covered topics related to Latin American and Spanish literature, cultural studies, history, politics and indigenous people, among others.

Two distinguished keynote speakers were also on hand: the University of Oregon’s social historian Carlos Aguirre and the University of Pittsburgh’s cultural critic John Beverley.

Aguirre talked about the circumstances surrounding the violent war between the Peruvian government and the Maoist guerrilla organization Shining Path during the mid-1980s. Beverley addressed the relationship between the humanities and the concept of equality from Rousseau to the present day. Both keynote lectures were broadcast live through NC State’s Youtube channel.

A Contracorriente editor and NC State Professor Greg Dawes and Ruth Gross, professor and head of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures addressed the virtually assembled group to share the journal’s history and the role the publication plays in the department and around the globe. Here’s to the next ten years!

Original story by Samuel Sotillo (FLL Lecturer/Webmaster). Lauren Kirkpatrick (CHASS Director of Communication) contributed to this story.