2015 Latin American Studies Association Conference

2015 Latin American Studies Association Conference

Grant:
Lecturers' Professional Development Fund (LPDF)
Academic Year:
2014 - 2015 (June 1, 2014 through May 31, 2015)
Funding Requested:
$1,700.00
Project Dates:
-
Applicant(s):
dfrye
Overview of the Project:
I seek funding for attending the 2015 LASA meeting in San Juan, PR, where I plan to present a paper on "Cuban Science Fiction as a Mirror of Cuban Society and Culture," as part of a panel on "Cuban Utopias: Jewish and Other Quests for Home." This will accomplish three goals. First, interacting with international scholars of Latin America will directly benefit my teaching; I offer two courses on Latin America generally and use examples from the region in my other cultural anthropology courses. I will update lectures, class discussion notes, and AV materials based on new data and stories gleaned from panels and personal interactions at LASA (and on the streets of San Juan), as I have done in the past. Second, exchanging ideas with my fellow panelists and audience members will help sharpen my ideas for two works that I currently am preparing for publication. Third, my latest research project is translating a novel by a San Juan-based writer, Eduardo Lalo—interpreting his work in English while respecting and representing his culture—and I soon may begin translating a second novel by him. I expect to take advantage of the serendipity of the conference location to meet with the writer and to visit the neighborhoods and landmarks that feature prominently in his work, giving me valuable grounding that will improve my translations and help me convey the cultural meanings of his work more effectively to an English-speaking audience.
Final Report Fields
Project Objectives:

1) Interact with international Latin Americanist scholars, to benefit my teaching on the subject. 2) Exchange ideas with fellow panelists for ongoing research projects. 3) Meet with Puerto Rican novelists Eduardo Lalo, whose work I am translating.

Project Achievements:

1) I met with many scholars, as well as publishers and editors, and also attended panels and discussions at the LASA meeting, and have incorporated facts and ideas from talks, conversations, and papers into my classroom presentations. 2) Following up on my paper on "Cuban Utopias," I had fruitful conversations with fellow panelists and followed up at the 2016 LASA meeting with a well-received paper on "José Martí and Jewish Cuba." 3) My meeting with Eduardo Lalo was very valuable. My translation of his novel "Simone" was published in November 2016 by University of Chicago Press.

Continuation:
Not per se. I am however continuing to work on the three areas of research that were supported by this project (Latin American studies generally, to benefit my teaching; work on Jewish Latin America; and translation projects).
Dissemination:
1) I have incorporated knowledge gained from the LASA meeting into my classroom presentations for my courses on Latin American Society and Culture and Mexico: Society and Culture.
2) My paper on Cuban Science Fiction was well-received by the panel, and led to an invitation by a group of panelists to present a follow-up paper at the next LASA meeting, which I did in May 2016.
3) My translation of Eduardo Lalo's novel is now in print and has been favorably reviewed.
Advice to your Colleagues:
Giving a paper at a conference is not a particularly difficult project to carry out successfully, but the usual advice still applies: in general, the best projects are those with specific and realistic yet meaningful goals.
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