Cuerpos, Estéticas y Educación en América Latina:
Archivos, encuentros, límites y nuevos rumbos

Laura Anderson Barbata and the Brookyln Jumbies. Intervention: Ocean Blues. Photo: Shannel Resto
Objectives
Interdisciplinary work on aesthetics, sensibilities, and bodies in education has been having a new boom in the last decade, with contributions from visual studies, cultural studies, affect theory, and ‘new materialism.’ This has challenged education scholars to view old problems through novel lenses. To continue this conversation, we have organized an interdisciplinary event, where we will explore these topics with a focus on Latin America in dialogue with the United States.
The main goals of the event will be:
Format
The format of the event will itself be innovative in leaving traditional paper presentations behind in favor of direct conversation, debate, and collective engagement. Through conversations, speeches, artistic spaces, and other forms of reflection, this thought forum seeks to become a space that contributes to the questioning of the impact that we are having on school sensibilities.
Day 1 (May 22)
The first part of day one will involve ten roundtable discussions, each led by an innovative scholar that has crafted a series of open-ended questions to guide the conversation. This part of the day will be split into 4 blocks, with 2-3 tables working simultaneously during each block, each in a different room. Each session will last 1 hour and 15 minutes, starting with a conversation between the table participants and table leader, and ending with a space for questions and participation from the audience.
The first day will conclude with a keynote led by an interdisciplinary scholar. As a companion to that keynote, artist Laura Anderson Barbata in collaboration with the Brooklyn Jumbies will generate an interactive performance with the participants.
Given that the structure of the event calls for conversation, it is important that all attendees understand Spanish and English.
Day 2 (May 23)
On the second day, the ten table leaders, the keynote speaker, and the artist will convene to record an audiovisual document, with the goal of producing a shareable video that will help disseminate the event’s main ideas more freely and through channels that academic journals tend to have more difficulty reaching. The second day will not be open to the public.
Connection
To foster connections between Latin American higher education institutions and Columbia and Teachers College.
Conversation
To foster an interdisciplinary productive conversation between scholars, educators, artists, and social activists working in/on Latin America from the fields of curriculum studies, aesthetics, visual culture, history, philosophy, art, and cultural studies.
Amplify
To produce a bilingual publication (English/Spanish) and an audiovisual set of programming (to be widely distributed).
To amplify the voices coming from Latin America for U.S. audiences.