Past Events

COME AND HELP US SET UP AN ALTAR/OFRENDA AND LEARN ABOUT THIS HOLIDAYS! “Dia de los Muertos celebrates the lives of the deceased with food, drink, parties, and activities the dead enjoyed in life.” You can bring: A photo of a loved one, flowers—preferably marigolds, things that the person you are honoring enjoyed in life. No real candles, please. and
All Saints Days in Guatemala Around the world, people do things to remember their loved ones in different ways. It can be through celebrations and festivities or quiet prayer and mourning. In Guatemala, the most important holiday to pay respect to the deceased is on November 1, All Saints Day, or Día de Todos Santos. On this day, the country transforms into a lively exhibition of remembrance filled with flowers, artistic decorations, and food. Additionally, they have Kite Festival—Locals say that these huge kites are used as a way to connect with the deceased, and these kites take over the skies of Santiago Sacatepequez and Sumpango, where the largest kite festivals take place. They have other traditions such decoration the the tombs of their loved ones, as well as a ribbon race and a traditional meal. For more information on this event visit:
https://www.tripsavvy.com/all-saints-day-celebrations-november-1490539

El ciervo encantado presents Departures: Performance, Displacement, and Bodies in Post-Soviet Cuba Performance: Departures
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
12:00 – 1:15 pm
Wesley W. Posvar Hall 4130
“Departures” is a performance that deals with Cuban diaspora from 1959 to the present. It goes through each of the best-known migration crisis (i.e. 1980, 1994, etc.), and beyond, exploring this unceasing phenomenon that continues to occur today. Migration (forced or voluntary) has fragmented families, couples, friendships, communities, and because its all-encompassing nature,
has become a unifying element of Cuban identity. From the personal experience of actor Mariela Brito, her friends and family, interconnected with the personal stories of the audience, “Departures” seeks to be an act of reconciliation from a balanced approach to the events that have drastically changed the lives of so many, for good and bad. Taking the Cuban experience as a departure, this performance piece calls attention to a problem with global ramifications, at a moment of acute migration crisis and desperate flight of large groups from their geopolitical realities.
Director: Nelda Castillo
Actor: Mariela Brito Conference: Performance Art in Post-Soviet Cuba
Thursday, October 24, 2019
4:00 - 5:15 pm
306 Cathedral of Learning
Cuban performance troupe El ciervo encantado will be discussing the implications of producing performance art in Cuba today.
Reflecting on their trajectory of over 20 years of experience, two members of this group, namely director Nelda Castillo and actor Mariela Brito, will address their public intervention as an act of solidarity with Havana's LGBT parade in May 2019. Their intervention was surveilled by the police and challenged by cultural officials. Delivered in Spanish, this talk will shed critical light on the pitfalls of communism and the challenges of artistic freedom in Post-Soviet Cuba. Event Sponsors: Department of Hispanic Languages and Literatures, Center for Latin American Studies, Honors College, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies, Office of Diversity & Inclusion

Book Launch - "Becoming Hispanic-Serving Institutions: Opportunities for Colleges and Universities" Co-sponsored by University of Pittsburgh's School of Education and Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS). Join author and School of Education associate professor, Dr. Gina Garcia for a talk and Q & A about her book, Becoming Hispanic-Serving Institutions: Opportunities for Colleges and Universities. Following her talk, there will be a brief book signing. A limited quantity of copies of the book will be available for registrants for free, and other copies will be available for purchase. Light refreshments will be served. Free and Open to the Public! RSVP: https://app.education.pitt.edu/respond/form?id=311

Panoramas Rountables Series

With the support of the Center for Latin American Studies, we will explore 1) the problems Latinos in small yet rapidly growing populations face, and 2) how to solve those problems. We read articles and offer feedback to those who are writing manuscripts. We hope to get new writing and research collaborations going! Open to all interested: students, faculty, staff, and practitioners from Pitt and beyond. We will meet over coffee and light snacks in a relaxed atmosphere. If you want to get extra network time, we will be there 30 minutes before and after the meeting time. 1154 Public Health, 10:30 a.m.–11:30 a.m. For more information, see healthequity.pitt.edu or e-mail Chantel Durrant cjd13@pitt.edu. Next dates: Oct. 4
Nov. 8
Dec. 13

Fri., Sept. 27: Documentary
DisEmPowered: Puerto Rico’s Perfect Storm presented by Cecilio Ortiz García, PhD and MarlaLopez form the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez and Co-Founders of the National Institute of Energy and Island Sustainability at the University of Puerto Rico. Law School - University of Pittsburgh Sat., Sept. 28: Symposium
9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Keynote speaker: Dra. Yanira Reyes. Inter American University School of Law
Opening Remarks: Prof. Sheila Velez Martinez, University of Pittsburgh
Discussant: Prof. Jules Lobel, University of Pittsburgh
Law School - University of Pittsburgh Panels include:
2 Years from Hurricane María, Looking Back and Looking Forward
The Critical Mass of Summer 2019
Las artes de la alegria, conversando sobre las culturas de arte y protesta en Puerto Rico (Art and Protest in Puerto Rico)
Round table: A vision for the future