(Re)Mapping Galician Studies in North America: A Breakthrough Symposium
The Department of Spanish and Portuguese at UW-Milwaukee is pleased to announce the “(Re)Mapping Galician Studies in North America: A Breakthrough Symposium”, to be held May 2-3, 2014 on the UW-Milwaukee Campus in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This Symposium will offer a meeting point to facilitate the exchange of critical ideas and (inter)disciplinary proposals on the present and future of Galician Studies in North American academia.
Overview

At a time when scientific disciplines tend progressively to a higher degree of specialization, it is becoming more and more complex to set up an effective and interdisciplinary dialogue among scholars from different fields in the Humanities and the Social Sciences. This Symposium, organized by the Galician Studies Research Group at UW-Milwaukee, would like to offer a meeting point to facilitate the exchange of critical ideas and (inter)disciplinary proposals on the present and future of Galician Studies in North American academia. We therefore propose a space to discuss, through a reflective look at the field itself, topics such as:
- The development, presence, and recent achievements of Galician Studies in North America, including Language & Literature and the Humanities, as well as the Social Sciences. An effort will be made to critically evaluate a broad range of proposals, in order to clarify goals and processes, discuss (post)national approaches, and/or establish bridges with similar debates, contemporary or not, in parallel settings such as Catalonia, Quebec, or Ireland.
- The intellectual and strategic paths to be designed and explored to promote more efficiently Galician Studies in North America through concrete tasks and goals.
- The historiography and discourses on this field within North American academia, addressing, from a positive perspective, the potential contribution that the Galician national debate could make to current cultural and sociopolitical issues.
Keynote Speakers
- Thomas Harrington, Associate Professor, Trinity College
- Sharon Roseman, Professor, Anthropology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada
Organizing Committee
- Benita Sampedro (Hofstra)
- Gabriel Rei-Doval (Chair)
- José A. Losada (UWM/CUNY, Co-chair)
- Iria Basoa Calvo
- Isabel Méndez Santalla
- Katie Ginsbach
- Paula Rodríguez Abruñeiras
- Sabela Juan Taborda
- Vera Vázquez López
Funding for the Symposium
Major funding for this Symposium has been provided by the Xunta de Galicia (Secretaría Xeral de Política Lingüística and Secretaría Xeral de Cultura).
Additional funds for this event have been provided by:
- UWM Office of Research
- UWM Department of Anthropology
- Instituto Cervantes
- UWM College of Letters and Science
- UWM Department of Spanish and Portuguese
- UWM Center for International Education
- UWM Center for Celtic Studies
- UWM Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies
- UWM Center for 21st Century Studies
- UWM Department of Linguistics
- UWM Department of Foreign Languages and Literature
- UWM Department of French, Italian and Comparative Literature
Schedule
Friday, May 2 2014
Session | Time |
---|---|
Registration and Coffee | 8:15-9:00am |
WelcomeGabriel Rei-Doval, Spanish and Portuguese, UW-Milwaukee (Video)Antonio Martínez Luciano, Director, Instituto Cervantes, Chicago (Video)Valentín García Gómez, Secretary of Language Policy, Xunta de Galicia (Video)Marija Gajdardziska-Josifovska, Dean, Graduate School, UW-Milwaukee Director (Video)Johannes Britz, Provost, UW-Milwaukee (Video) | 9:00-9:45 |
Session 1, Iberian and Transatlantic StudiesPresider: José del Valle, CUNY, Graduate CenterMario Santana, University of Chicago: “Translation and Iberian Studies: The Case of Galician Literature”Robert P. Newcomb, UC-Davis: “‘A Ribbon of Silver’: Images of the Portuguese-Galician Border at the Fin de Siècle”Joseba Gabilondo, Michigan State: “Postnationalism and Postnationalist History, Literary and Otherwise”Respondent: Benita Sampedro, Hofstra | 9:45-11:15 |
Session 2, LinguisticsPresider: Henrique Monteagudo, Real Academia Galega/Universidade de SantiagoJ. Javier Rivas Rodríguez, Colorado-Boulder: “Usage-Based Approaches and Galician Linguistics: An Example with Aí o vén and Similar Constructions”Obdulia Castro, Regis College & Gabriela DeRobles: “The Orality-Literacy Continuum and Language Maintenance and change: New Mexican Spanish and Galician”Ana Burgers, Minnesota: “Pragmatic implicatures and language choice in three Galician television spots and their relation with the socio-political context in Galicia”Respondent: Henrique Monteagudo, Real Academia Galega/ Universidade de Santiago | 11:30-13:00 |
Lunch | 13:00-14:00 |
Session 3, Cultural, Queer, and Ethnographic StudiesPresider: Paula Rodríguez Abruñeiras, UW-MilwaukeeDanny Barreto, Colgate: “From the Closet of Galician Nationalism: Queering Literary History”Ana Carballal, Nebraska-Omaha: “Approaching Postcolonialism in Galician Studies: The Case of Castelao”Heidi Kelley & Ken Betsalel, North Carolina-Asheville: “Teaching Galicia in Appalachia: Lessons from Anthropology, Ethnographic Poetry, Documentary Photography and Political Theory”Neil Anderson, North Carolina-Chapel Hill: “Microgeographies: an approach to Galician Cultural Studies” | 14:00-15:30 |
Session 4, Camiño de SantiagoPresider: George Greenia, College of William & MaryNicole Rasch, Grand Valley State: “Representing Galicia: Narrations of the Camiño de Santiago in North American Literature and Film”Eugenia Afinoguénova, Marquette: “The Nature of Tourism-Driven Difference and the Place of Galicia on the Camiño de Santiago”Ryan Goodman, College of William & Mary: “Modern Galician Youth: Pilgrimage and Diaspora”Respondent: George Greenia, College of William & Mary | 15:45-17:15 |
Keynote SpeakerSharon Roseman, Memorial University, Canada: “The Production of Galician Space: Confronting the Area Studies Legacy”Presider: Benjamin Campbell, UW-MilwaukeeRespondent: Tracey Heatherington, UW-Milwaukee: 18:10-18:30Discussion, 18:30-19:00 | 17:30-18:10 |
Saturday, May 3 2014
Session | Time |
---|---|
Session 5, Discussing the Literary CanonPresider: David Mackenzie, University College, CorkFrancisca González Arias, Massachusetts, Lowell: “Exiled from Her Native Land? Emilia Pardo Bazán in the Context of Galician StudiesNeringa Pukelis, University of Chicago: “Gonzalo Torrente Ballester: La saga/fuga de J.B. and the Albany Experience, (1966-1972)”Tatjiana Gajic, Illinois, Chicago: “Rafel Dieste: Disseminating Galicia”Catherine Barbour, St. Andrews, UK: “Where Do We Draw The Line? Dialectics of Identity in Galician and Spanish Language Prose”Juan Caamaño, Queen’s College, CUNY: “‘Hai moito tempo que andan polos teatros as dúbidas’: Approaching Álvaro Cunqueiro’s O incerto señor don Hamlet” | 9:00-10:45 |
Session 6, Critical TheoryPresider: José A. Losada, UW-Milwaukee/ CUNYIsabel Castro Vázquez, Towson University: “After the Prestige Negra Sombra: Eco-criticism of Galician Literature”Antía González Ben, UW-Madison: “That Little Something That Doesn’t Quite Fit In: Intra-group Identity Tensions around the Notion of Spanish-ness”Carmen Pereira Muro, Texas Tech: “Language as Struggle, Subject as Lack: Rosalía de Castro and the Origins of Modern Poetry”Respondent: Germán Labrador, Princeton | 11:00-12:30 |
Lunch | 12:30-13:30 |
Session 7, Programatic Needs and the CurriculumPresider: Gabriel Rei-Doval, UW-MilwaukeeViola Miglio, UC-Santa Barbara: “Galician within the panorama of linguistic studies in the U.S.A”Kathleen March, University of Maine: “Twice-Told Tales: What Translators (and Readers) of Galician Literature Need to Know”Eugenia R. Romero, Ohio State: “The Role of Galician Studies in the Undergraduate and Graduate Curriculum”Bettina Arnold, UW-Milwaukee: “Remapping Celtic Identity in Prehistoric Europe: The Celts in the Iberian Peninsula” | 13:30-15:00 |
Keynote SpeakerThomas Harrington, Trinity College: “Peripheral Systems, Doctrinal Enforcement and the Future of Galician Studies”Presider: Benita Sampedro, HofstraRespondent: Germán Labrador, Princeton: 16:00-16:20Discussion, 16:20-16:50 | 15:15-15:55 |
Concluding Remarks*Bilingual Poetry Galician/ English: Claudio Rodríguez Fer (via skype) / Kathleen March: 17:15-17:45*Business meeting, Galician Studies Association of North America: 17:45-18:30*Dinner: 19:00 |