Thursday, October 24, 2002

International Conference on Focus on Latin America and Soviet Bloc

The Miami University Report

       Miami hosts its second international conference on the relationship between Latin America and the Soviet Bloc, "The Soviet Utopia In The Latin American Imagination," Friday, Nov. 8, in Room 100, art building.

       The conference explores the creative alliances that arose between the Soviet Union and Latin America during the 20th century. Keynote speakers will examine artistic, intellectual and ideological movements in Brazil, Nicaragua, Cuba and Peru. The discussion will gauge to what extent Soviet socialist models are still part of Latin American cultural, ideological and artistic debates. The conference is free and open to the public.

Keynote speakers are:

Larissa Semënova-Head, linguist from the University of Moscow-Lomonossov, professional interpreter for delegations from the USSR and various Latin American countries. Former official at the department of programs for Latin America of Radio Moscow, the Central Committee of USSR Syndicates and other organizations.

Jussi Pakkasvirta, author and specialist in the relationship between Latin American intellectuals and the Communist International, who has conducted extensive research in the Soviet Comitern Archive. Researcher at the Ibero-American Center of the University of Helsinki.

Ileana Rodríguez, former official in the Ministry of Culture during the Sandinista administration in Nicaragua. Author of Women, Guerrillas and Love. Professor of Latin American literature, cultural and subaltern studies at Ohio State University.

Luciano Picanço, author and specialist in the literature and culture of Brazil and the Caribbean. Former professor at Universidade Federal Fluminense in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Professor of French at the University of Cincinnati.

Program schedule:

4 p.m., Soviet-Latin American Alliances and Ideological Debates

5:15 p.m., Refreshment break

5:45 p.m., Soviet Bloc-Latin American Relations: Creative Alliances

7 p.m., The Soviet Utopia in the Latin American Imagination, panel discussion

7:45-8:30 p.m., Reception

       The conference is sponsored by the Havighurst Center for Russian and Post-Soviet Studies, the international studies program and the Latin American studies program.

For more information, contact: Ramon Layera, director of Latin American studies, 160 Upham, 9-1958.
Or e-mail: layerar@muohio.edu.