About the Symposium
Tufts University will host a landmark symposium on April 20, 2007, bringing together scholars and activists from the Andes, Canada, Mesoamerica, Hawai’i, and the U.S. mainland to examine indigenous movements and intellectuals throughout the Americas.
This symposium will explore political, social, and cultural activism in native communities throughout the hemisphere, as well as the emerging participation of indigenous groups and individuals at national and state levels of government. It will examine anthropological constructions of indigeneity as well as the role of indigenous political movements such as the Zapatistas in Mexico and individual actors such as Evo Morales, the first indigenous president of Bolivia. It will also explore new forms of mobilization in the struggle for indigenous rights and recognition, including new initiatives in education, and the revival of indigenous languages and cultures. The conference will also highlight the increased participation of indigenous peoples in more mainstream forms of media and the arts.
This event is particularly significant as it brings together academics and activists who will discuss the crucial impact that indigenous peoples are having on the reshaping of contemporary and conventional forms of politics and intellectual production. The conference will also be unique in creating a dialogue between activists and intellectuals from throughout the Americas, both North and South.
Participants include Ramona Peters, spiritual leader of the recently recognized Mashpee Wampanoag of Massachusetts; Terence Turner, professor emeritus at Cornell University; Luis Millones, professor at the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Peru; Victor Montejo, Maya scholar and anthropologist at the University of California at Davis, and elected member of the Guatemalan congress; Faye Ginsburg, David B. Kriser Professor of Anthropology at NYU; and Stefano Varese, Chair of the Native American Studies Department, and Director of the Indigenous Research Center of the Americas, at the University of California at Davis.
Presented by Latin American Studies and Romance Languages
With Major Funding Provided By:
The Center for Interdisciplinary Studies
The Dean of A&S Office
The Diversity Fund
The Smith Fund
Co-Sponsored By:
American Studies
Anthropology
International Relations
Latino Studies
Native American Studies
World Civilizations