Tulane University

16th Annual Tulane Maya Symposium: The Ancient Maya and Collapse

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The Middle American Research Institute, in collaboration with Tulane’s Stone Center for Latin American Studies, New Orleans Museum of Art, and Mexican Consulate in New Orleans, is proud to announce the 16th Annual Tulane Maya Symposium beginning on Thursday, February 14, and concluding on Sunday, February 17, 2019. This year’s conference The Center Could Not Hold: The Ancient Maya and Collapse will explore recent developments in Maya studies as they relate to the broader topic of collapse. Speakers and workshops will address the issue of political decline over the span of ancient Maya prehistory. These researchers will help us address the collapse in a multi-disciplinary fashion and bring attention to recent research in the region.

Registration is now open!

On Friday, February 15, at 6:00 PM, the keynote address will be given by Jeremy A. Sabloff, External Professor of the Santa Fe Institute and Christopher H. Browne Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, Emeritus, of the University of Pennsylvania. In his talk Is ‘€œCollapse‘€ a Useful Term in Understanding Pre-Columbian Maya History?, Dr. Sabloff considers how the term ‘€œcollapse‘€ has, in recent years, become quite controversial, and argues that there is good reason to question the utility of this loaded word going forward. This keynote talk will focus on understandings of the late 8th and early 9th centuries CE cultural processes and environmental events in the Maya Lowlands that culminated in what has often been seen as a political collapse. Moreover, the talk will examine whether such understanding can help illuminate comparable trends at other times in Maya history and in other complex societies in general.

Since 2002, the Middle American Research Institute of Tulane University has hosted a weekend of talks and workshops dedicated to the study of the Maya civilization of Mexico and Central America. This yearly meeting has called upon scholars from a wide spectrum of specialties including archaeology, art history, cultural anthropology, epigraphy, history, and linguistics to elucidate the many facets of this fascinating Mesoamerican culture. In developing a broad approach to the subject matter, the conference aims to draw the interest of a wide ranging group of participants from the expert to the beginner.

To view the schedule, registration, and additional information, please visit the Tulane Maya Symposium website.

CANCELED 2019 Maya Symposium Educator Workshop

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The Stone Center for Latin American Studies, in collaboration with the Middle American Research Institute, will host an educator workshop in conjunction with the 16th Annual Tulane Maya Symposium on Sunday, February 17, 2019. The K-12 Educator Workshop will focus on a basic introduction to Maya archaeology and cultural heritage of the Maya today. The workshop includes a tour of the Middle American Research Institute’s main gallery Faces of the Maya: Profiles in Continuity and Resilience.

Registration for educators is now available. The registration fee includes the tour of the main gallery, the educator workshop, and lunch.

The 16th Annual Tulane Maya Symposium The Center Could Not Hold: The Ancient Maya and Collapse will explore recent developments in Maya studies as they relate to the broader topic of collapse. Speakers and workshops will address the issue of political decline over the span of ancient Maya prehistory. These researchers will help us address the collapse in a multi-disciplinary fashion and bring attention to recent research in the region. Since 2002, the Middle American Research Institute of Tulane University has hosted a weekend of talks and workshops dedicated to the study of the Maya civilization of Mexico and Central America. This yearly meeting has called upon scholars from a wide spectrum of specialties including archaeology, art history, cultural anthropology, epigraphy, history, and linguistics to elucidate the many facets of this fascinating Mesoamerican culture. In developing a broad approach to the subject matter, the conference aims to draw the interest of a wide ranging group of participants from the expert to the beginner.

TEACHER WORKSHOP SCHEDULE

Sunday, February 17, 2019

11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Tour of the MARI Main Gallery

12:00 PM
Lunch

1:45 PM – 3:15 PM
Introduction to Maya Archaeology

3:30 PM – 5:00 PM
Maya Cultural Heritage Management

For more information about the symposium, visit the Tulane Maya Symposium homepage.

The Liberace of Lucha Libre: An Evening with American-born Mexican luchador Cassandro

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Join the New Orleans Center for the Gulf South, the Newcomb Art Museum, Amigos de los Amigos, and krewedelusion in welcoming American-born Mexican luchador Saúl Armendáriz, or Cassandro, on Wednesday, February 20, 7:00 PM, in the Freeman Auditorium. Cassandro will speak about his personal story of growing up and training as a lucha libre in México. He became one of the first openly gay exóticos (a wrestler who dresses in a flamboyant style), and later he had the honor of being the first exótico to win a championship title.

Cassandro will speak about how he negotiated his gay identity and overcame adversity in the world of professional Mexican wrestling. He will also share his experiences outside of wrestling, as an LGBTQ activist, circuit speaker, and most recently as the subject of a feature documentary, Cassandro, The Exótico which received critical acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2018.

This event is free and open to the public. Parader and performer Antonio Garza will moderate.

For more information contact: New Orleans Center for the Gulf South via email dfrazier@tulane.edu, by phone (504-314-2889), or visit the event website.

Sponsored by: Newcomb Art Museum, Amigos de los Amigos, krewedelusion, and The New Orleans Center for the Gulf South.

In Celebration of Black History Month and Carnaval: African and indigenous presence in Boricua culture

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In celebration of Black History Month, the New Orleans Jazz Museum is proud to kick off Mardi Gras Mambo with a lecture by curatorial assistant Ilyanette M. Bernabel entitled Carnaval: The African and Indigenous Presence in Boricua Culture on Friday, February 22, 2019, 2:00 – 3:00 PM. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Bernabel will be presenting the research of her exhibition Carnival in Puerto Rico: Connections to the Homeland. The exhibition explores carnival traditions in Puerto Rico and its connection to Africa. This lecture will focus on the Carnival masked characters called Vejigantes, their unique cultural history from Spain to the Caribbean island, and the infamous musical and dance styles of bomba y plena. The goal of the lecture is to bring awareness to the similarities of two cultures as they relate to the spiritual aspect of masking.

The lecture will be followed by a performance from The Bombazo Dance Company.

Photo: Vejigante mask (made out of coconut and branches) worn for Carnival in Loiza, Puerto Rico.

Master class and panel discussion of Azul at the Southern Rep Theatre

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The Cuban and Caribbean Studies Institute at Tulane University, in collaboration with the Southern Rep Theatre, are proud to announce two events in celebration of the reopening of the Southern Rep Theatre and the spring premiere of the play Azul written by Christina Quintana, a New York-based writer with Cuban and Louisiana roots, and Estefanía Fadul, a Colombian-born, New Hampshire-raised, New York City-based director and producer. In this evocative new play, lifelong New Yorker Zelia struggles to center herself after the loss of her Cuban-born mother. As Zelia digs into her mother’s legacy, she learns of her tía-abuela, the great-aunt who remained in Cuba for the love of another woman. Echoes of the past inform Zelia’s own relationship with her wife and her struggle to place herself between worlds. A Master Class with Christina Quintana will take place on Friday, March 15, 2019 at 3:30 PM. There will also be a Panel Discussion before the play at the Southern Rep Theatre on Saturday, April 6, 2019.

The 13,000-square-foot former St. Rose de Lima Church on Bayou Road has given Southern Rep Theatre a permanent home, something it had lost since leaving Canal Place. The history of the project and more information about the theatre space may be found in the New Orleans Advocate article Southern Rep finds new home in former church.

Southern Rep Theatre will be showing Azul beginning March 27 continuing through April 14, 2019. Group tickets will be available for classes or student organizations. Tickets will be available at a reduced price for students, educators and young professionals at the following prices:

• All student rush tickets are $10 at the door with ID, plus box office fees = $13 (subject to availability)
• All teacher tickets are available in advance or at the door (subject to availability) for $25 plus fees
• All under-35 tickets (“young professionals”) are available in advance or at the door (subject to availability) for $25 plus fees

For more information about tickets, please contact Kaylene Torregrossa, Patron Services Coordinator at boxoffice@southernrep.com.

Presented in partnership with the Saints & Sinners Literary Festival, a project of the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival

2019 Global Read Webinar Series: Diversity in children's literature for the classroom

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This spring, the World Area Book Awards (Américas Award, Africana Book Award, Middle East Book Award, South Asia Book Award, and the Freeman Book Award) will sponsor a free 60 minute webinar on a book recognized by one of the awards and facilitate a discussion with the author on how to incorporate the book into the classroom.

The 2019 Global Read Webinar Series will focus on the theme diversity in children’s literature. Each webinar will feature a presentation by an award-winning author with discussion on how to incorporate multicultural literature into the classroom. The books are appropriate for students in grades 7 – 12. Please read along with us this spring as we explore the world through these award-winning books. We encourage all readers to join in on the conversations each month and ask the author your own questions live.

Be sure to join the conversation with our webinar hashtag #2019ReadingAcrossCultures.

To register and learn more information about the Spring 2019 series, please visit:
internationalizingsocialstudies.blog

Webinar Schedule

January 22, 2019
Middle East Book Award
The first webinar of the series is co-sponsored by the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University and the Middle East Outreach Council. The webinar will explore the book, The Map of Salt and Stars by Jennifer Joukhadar, winner of the 2018 Middle East Book Award for Youth Literature. The Map of Salt and Stars is part cartography, part poetry, and part call to action. The gripping narrative interweaves the journeys of two strong and intelligent female protagonists: Nour, a Syrian-American girl escaping the violence of the civil war, and Rawiya, a 12th-century girl who dresses as a boy to become apprentice to the famous mapmaker al-Idrisi. Beautifully written descriptions of Nour’s synesthesia help us understand her experiences in new ways.

February 15, 2019
Africana Book Award
This month’s book award is sponsored by the Africana Book Award. Please join us in learning more about the book, When Morning Comes by Arushi Raina. This fictionalized account of a student uprising that began in Soweto, South Africa, on June 16, 1976, unfolds through the first-person narratives of four young adults from different backgrounds whose lives intersect. An African student, Zanele, secretly organizes the protest against the Afrikaans Medium Decree Act, which required the use of English and Afrikaans (“the language of the oppressors”) in schools. Her apolitical friend Thabo heads a local gang, extorting money from an Indian store owner, whose daughter Meena, is sympathetic to the students. Meanwhile, Jack, a white Afrikaner, meets, befriends, and comes to love Zanele.

March 20, 2019
Américas Book Award
We will explore the book, Lucky, Broken Girl by Ruth Behar a 2018 Honorable mention Américas Book and winner of the 2018 Pura Belpré award. In this unforgettable multicultural coming-of-age novel – based on the author’s childhood in the 1960s – a young Cuban-Jewish immigrant girl is adjusting to her new life in New York City when her American dream is suddenly derailed. Ruthie’s plight will intrigue readers and her powerful story of strength and resilience, full of color, light, and poignancy, will stay with them for a long time. Additional support generously provided by Florida International University, Tulane University, University of Florida, University of Texas at Austin and the University of Utah.

April
Freeman Book Award

May 8, 2019
South Asia Book Award and picture books from all book awards
The South Asia Book Award highlights the work of Mitali Perkins with her work, You Bring the Distant Near. Five girls. Three generations. One great American love story. Ranee, worried that her children are losing their Indian culture; Sonia, wrapped up in a forbidden biracial love affair; Tara, seeking the limelight to hide her true self; Shanti, desperately trying to make peace in the family; Anna, fighting to preserve her Bengali identity.

All sessions are free and open to the public. All times listed refer to Central Standard Time (CST). Sponsored by the Consortium of Latin American Studies Programs, the South Asia National Outreach Consortium, the Middle East Outreach Council, and African Studies Outreach Council, and The National Consortium for Teaching about Asia.