Drs. Michelle Wibbelsman (Spanish and Portuguese), Kendra McSweeney (Geography), and Alcira Dueñas (History), are pleased to announce the creation of the Humanities Institute Interdisciplinary Working Group on Continuity and Change in the Andes and Amazonia.  There are more than 40 OSU faculty members and students working from a variety of disciplinary perspectives in this area of Latin America, and it is hoped that the connections established through this Working Group will lead to future collaborations and ongoing interdisciplinary exchanges on campus and beyond.  Faculty and students interested in presenting in Autumn 2014 please contact Dr. Wibbelsman.

The inaugural meeting to launch the group will be Thursday, February 20, 1:00-3:00 p.m, featuring a talk by Professor Alcira Dueñas.  Dr. Dueñas will present a working draft of her article "Native Letrados and Legal Translation Practices in El Cercado de Lima" which examines examples of indigenous officials' administrative practices in colonial Lima from the perspective of the legal ritualism involved, the production of the indigenous colonial archive, and the roles of native lettered subjects in the making and unmaking of the Spanish Empire.

Alcira Dueñas is an international scholar and Associate Professor of Latin American History at OSU Newark. She works on the political culture of Andeans under colonial rule. She has published a number of articles in journals in the United States, Perú, and  Colombia, and published her first book, Indians and Mestizos in the Lettered City, in 2010. She is currently preparing a second book on the roles of the 'Republic of Indians' in the creation of a legal empire in the Andes as a result of the transatlantic cultural interaction inherent in Spain's colonial project.

To confirm your attendance and request a copy of this working paper for discussion please RSVP via email to Dr. Wibbelsman. Refreshments and snacks will be provided.

Hope to see you there!