2017 Berkshire Conference on the History of Women, Genders and Sexualities

June 01 - 04, 2017

This roundtable session critically examines “Latinidad” from a feminist perspective by bringing together Latina scholars and artists whose diverse forms of “work” engage institutional histories of exclusion. Since the mid-1980s, theorists have used “Latinidad” to conjure solidarity among distinct Latin American countries and cultures; however, Juana María Rodríguez has recently pointed to the term’s limitations, arguing that Latinidad shifts in relation to intersectional identities (i.e. women of color) and contexts (such as the Academy). Organized and moderated by Latina graduate students at Harvard University, this discussion will examine how Latinidad is constructed within, outside of, and across the confines of the Academy, as notions of identity and practice converge. In what ways can Latina heritages and experiences inform methods of research, writing, pedagogy, and performance? How might the Academy, and institutions similarly built on foundations of paternalism and exclusion, challenge or reinforce the solidarity of Latinidad?

Panelists include scholars of Afro-Argentina, Dominican migration, social anthropology, and race-based psychoanalysis and literature. Often because they did not see themselves reflected in the Academy, these women have also created video art, published poetry, and built new institutions. Inspired by their collective insights and experiences, the questions will consider conditions in which workers are unnoticed or undocumented, the ways heritage languages confront academic jargon, and how mobility constructs both research and identity. Guided by these groundbreaking women leaders, this roundtable will expand definitions of both “work” and “Latinidad.”