CLAS Events > Autumn Quarter 2007-08 Calendar

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9/21/07 Friday, 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM, Bolivar House (Lunch will be served)

MA Student Orientation

Latin American Studies welcomes its new Master's Students to Stanford. Orientation begins at 10am at the main entrance to Green Library. (Alternatively, students can meet at 9:30am at Bolivar House and walk over together.) Following the library orientation with Adan Griego, students will return to Bolivar House for a tour of the department. Lunch will be served while students are introduced to MA requirements and department regulations.

MA Orientation PowerPoint: Requirements and Programs

MA Student Handbook

9/21/07 Friday, 1:00 - 3:00 PM, Bolivar House (Food and drinks will be served)

Undergraduate Open House

The Center also welcomes all undergraduates to visit Bolivar House and learn more about our resources and our academic programs (Minor, Honors, Co-term options). Snacks and drinks will be provided courtesy of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education.

9/24/07 Monday, 2:00 - 4:00PM, Bolivar House

Working Groups Orientation

Congratulations to those individuals who were funded as part of our Working Groups Fund! We are very excited about your upcoming events and research! Before the year gets under full swing, we will be holding a mandatory orientation meeting to discuss Stanford requirements and reimbursements. A representative from each working group must attend.

Tuesday, September 25
11:45 AM - 12:15 PM (Cafecito), 12:15 PM - 1:05 PM (Lecture Series)

12:15 PM

Dr. CELIA CUSSEN

"The Saint and his City: Martin of Porres in Seventeenth-Century Lima"

There is probably no better documented life of a Peruvian man of African descent in the colonial period than that of Martín de Porres (1579-1639), who became an official saint of the Catholic Church in 1962. By tracing his story as the son of a former slave and a Spaniard, one learns much about ways in which the free Afroperuvian population of Lima built lives, identified opportunities, and created social networks in this racially diverse city.

Celia L. Cussen holds an AB in International Relations from Stanford University (1979), and a doctorate in History for the University of Pennsylvania (1996). She currently teaches Latin American history at the Universidad de Chile and at Stanford’s Center for Latin American Studies in Santiago. Professor Cussen’s publications have appeared in Hispanic American Historical Review, Cuadernos de Historia (Santiago), Revista Indígena and Anuario Colombiano de Historia, Sociedad y Cultura (Bogotá). Her research centers on the social and religious history of Peru and Chile. She is currently finishing a book manuscript on the life and times of the colonial Peruvian saint, Martín de Porres.

Tuesday, October 2
11:45 AM - 12:15 PM (Cafecito), 12:15 PM - 1:05 PM (Lecture Series)

October 2, 12:15pm

THOMAS O'KEEFE

"Separating Truth from Fiction in a New Era of Latin American Trade Pacts"

The 1990's saw a revival of older Latin American economic integration projects and an explosion in new trade pacts like the Common Market of the South or MERCOSUR. With the onset of the 21st century, progress in achieving the ambitious goals laid out by the different Latin American economic integration projects appeared to falter and stagnate. This presentation will analyze the achievements and setbacks, to date, of the major Latin American trade pacts such as the Andean Community, the Central American Integration System (SICA), and the MERCOSUR, and will explore the impact of the United States decision to abandon the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) process in favor of bilateral free trade agreements as well as the mercurial policies of Hugo Chavez and his Bolivarian vision of a united Latin America.

Thomas Andrew O’Keefe is the President of Mercosur Consulting Group, Ltd., a legal and economic consulting firm that assists companies with their strategic business planning for South America as well as advises Latin American firms exporting to the United States. Mr. O’Keefe did his undergraduate work at Columbia University, and received his J.D. from the Villanova University School of Law. In 1986 he worked for the legal departments of the Chilean Human Rights Commission and the Vicaría de la Solidaridad (the human rights office of the Archdiocese of Santiago). He also worked as an associate for a number of years at the Wall Street law firm of Carter, Ledyard & Milburn and the Boston-based Gadsby & Hannah before returning to study at the University of Oxford, where he received an M.Phil. in Latin American Studies (History and Economics) in 1992. He has taught courses on Western Hemisphere economic integration and the Political Economy of the Southern Cone countries of South America at Johns Hopkins University, George Washington University, George Mason University, and Stanford University. In 2005 he received a Fulbright Scholars Award to lecture on international trade topics at the National Universities of Córdoba and Rosario in Argentina and conduct research on the Argentine energy sector for a chapter in a book published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in 2007. Between October 2005 and October 2006, O’Keefe was the Legal and Economic Integration Specialist for the US AID funded Caribbean Open Trade and Support Program based in Antigua that provided trade capacity building and competitiveness assistance to the governments and private sectors in both Antigua and Barbuda as well as Dominica.

10/5/07 Friday, 6:00 - 9:00PM, Bolivar House Garden

Latin American Studies Reception

To kick-off the new academic year for 2007-08, we are inviting all students and faculty associated with the Center to mingle at an outdoor dinner. We invite all current affiliates and their partners to join us in welcoming new students and faculty. Please bring a warm coat or jacket as it may get cold in the evening.

Please RSVP by contacting Geraldine Slean (slean@stanford.edu; tel. 650-725-0383).

Tuesday, October 9
11:45 AM - 12:15 PM (Cafecito), 12:15 PM - 1:05 PM (Lecture Series)

October 9, 12:15pm

ELIANE KARP DE TOLEDO

"Indigenous Resistance to and Participation in the Formation of Latin American Democracy"

This open conversation will focus on Indigenous Peoples' achievements over the last 500 years, since the Spanish Conquest. This talk will review the development of Indigenous claims, the process of resistance, and the shaping of "politics of ethnicity". In a number of Latin American countries, Indigenous Peoples have made significant progress in promoting their policy agenda and introducing amendments to their national constitutions. This talk will focus on specific Andean cases and will review aspects of the newly approved United Nations Human Rights Commission for Indigenous Peoples.

Eliane Karp de Toledo served as the First Lady of the Republic of Peru from July 2001-2006. The main objective of her office was to promote the social and economic empowerment of people living in extreme poverty and promote the rights of the Indigenous People. Since then, she has continued advocating for the rights of the indigenous through different organizations and capacities. She has also worked as a consultant for USAID, OAS, UNICEF, and the UNDP as well as a project officer for the World Bank.

Thursday, October 11, 1:15 PM - 2:15 PM, Bolivar House

TYLER BRIDGES

In the Wake of Destruction: The Aftermath of the Peru Earthquake

On August 15, 2007 a 7.9 Richter-scale earthquake hit Peru, followed by dozens of aftershocks, that razed areas just south of Lima. Pisco, a town on the southern coast, lost 70% of its infrastructure. Hundreds died and thousands were left without food or shelter. Violence and looting ensued, and the Garcia government was blamed for delayed and ineffective responses.

Mr. Bridges is the Lima bureau chief for the Miami Herald. He has been a member of two Pulitzer-prize winning teams at the Herald, in 1999 and 2001 (for investigative reporting and deadline reporting, respectively).

Friday, October 12, 12:00 PM, Bolivar House

The Brazilian Working Group and the Brazilian Student Association present

Dr. CANDACE SLATER

"Violence, Change, and Wonder in Contemporary Popular Narratives "

The talk will address a series of “contemporary” narratives that turn out to be extremely old, even archaic forms still common in Northeast Brazil. Why do these narrators—men, women, and children of various ages—keep returning to pilgrimage tales, chapbook or cordel stories, and accounts of an enchanted landscape when they could (and often do) make use of other, more modern-seeming options such as hip-hop lyrics, blogs, and graffiti to express their thoughts and feelings? In what ways are these seemingly-archaic forms as revealing an expression of a present in which representations of Brazil both at home and abroad are as likely to include drugs, gangs and strife-ridden urban slums as they are samba, soccer, or Carnaval?

Dr. Slater is a Professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Berkeley. She is a specialist in Brazilian literature and is very involved in the study of ecology.

Friday, October 12, 2:15 - 3:15 PM, Bolivar House (Lunch is provided!)

Career Development Workshop Series

In collaboration with the Career Development Center (CDC), Latin American Studies is launching a new workshop series to provide support for master's students and undergraduates who are concerned about finding full-time jobs, summer jobs, and internships. All Stanford students are welcome to attend these Friday afternoon sessions (from October 12th through November 9th) that will assist students with their job search and placement.

Lunch will be served to all participants.

How to Take Advantage of CDC Resources (Sam Rodriguez, CDC)

Monday, October 15, 12:00 - 1:00 PM, Pigott Hall (Bldg 260), Room 237

Introductory Meeting for Latin American Literary Dialogs Reading Group

You are invited to join a new reading group open to (graduate) students interested in creating a community dedicated to the new generation of Latin American writers. Each quarter we intend to meet twice prior to the arrival of a prominent writer to discuss his/her work and prepare for the writer's visit. On the day of the author's visit, we plan to hold a roundtable discussion with the reading group participants. In the afternoon, the writer will give a reading open to undergraduate and graduate students, and engage in dialog with the general student community. Mexican author, Cristina Rivera-Garza, has accepted our invitation for the fall quarter, and she will speak on November 28, 2007.

Feel free to brown-bag your lunch for Monday's meeting. Light refreshments will be provided.

Please note that group meetings and discussions will be conducted in Spanish.

For more information, please contact Francisca Gonzalez Flores fgflores@stanford.edu or Angela Weikel (aweikel@stanford.edu)

Tuesday, October 16
11:45 AM - 12:15 PM (Cafecito), 12:15 PM - 1:05 PM (Lecture Series)

October 16, 12:15pm

Dr. MARK THURBER

"PEMEX, Petrobras, and PDVSA: Three Very Different Latin American Oil Companies"

In an environment of sustained high oil and natural gas prices, national oil companies (NOCs) are resurgent in global energy markets and now control a sizable majority of the world's oil and gas reserves. Unlike international oil companies, these state-controlled entities serve various purposes of their governments apart from pure profit maximization. The Program on Energy and Sustainable Development (PESD) is engaged in a multi-year study of the factors that influence the performance of NOCs. The three most important NOCs in Latin America -- PEMEX (Mexico), Petrobras (Brazil), and PDVSA (Venezuela) -- offer striking contrasts in performance and strategic behavior, and this talk will consider why.

Mark Thurber is the Research Program Manager with Stanford's Program on Energy and Sustainable Development (PESD). Before coming to PESD, Dr. Thurber worked in high-tech industry, focusing on volume manufacturing operations in Mexico, China, and Malaysia. This work included a multi-year assignment in Guadalajara developing local technological capability in precision manufacturing measurements. Dr. Thurber holds a Ph.D. from Stanford in Mechanical Engineering (Thermosciences) and a B.S.E. from Princeton in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering with a certificate from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. His academic research has included engineering studies of gas-phase laser diagnostics as well as policy analyses of technology management in the developing world and power plant emissions reductions strategies in the United States.

Wednesday, October 17, 7:00 PM, Bolivar House

Introductory Meeting for Latin American Microfinance Working Group

You are invited to join a new working group dedicated to exploring issues around microfinance in Latin America. This working group intends to bring prominent practitioners and supporters of microfinance in the Americas during the upcoming academic year.

For more information, please contact Jessica Richman (jessica.richman@gmail.com).

Friday, October 19, 2:15 - 3:15 PM, Bolivar House (Lunch is provided!)

Career Development Workshop Series

Lunch will be served to all participants.

Non-academic Jobs & Internships and How to Find Them (Stephanie Eberle, CDC)

Tuesday, October 23, 9:00 - 11:00 AM, Bechtel International Center Dining Room

The Mexican Studies Working Group and the Mexicanos at Stanford present

Roundtable Discussion with Dr. GERARDO JIMÉNEZ, Director of the Mexican Nacional Institute for Genomic Medicine (INMEGEN)

Dr. Jiménez will lecture on the recently created Institute and the challenge it faces to commercialize and distribute its research. The lecture will be followed by a series of brief student commentaries on relevant issues to be considered and then will open to a roundtable discussion. Refreshments will be served.

Event will be in Spanish

Tuesday, October 23
11:45 AM - 12:15 PM (Cafecito), 12:15 PM - 1:05 PM (Lecture Series)

October 23, 12:15pm

Dr. SHAWN MILLER

"Brazil's Colonial Monopolies and Their Unintentional Role in Conserving Resources"

The colonial period in Latin America is generally perceived as one of almost incomparable degradation to soils, forests, rivers, and wildlife. While such impacts are well documented, giving them our exclusive attention disguises an important colonial reality. True enough, unrestricted production of colonial goods, whether sheep, sugar, or silver, produced profits. But sometimes production got in the way of profit, and if the Iberian crowns and their elite beneficiaries could increase their own profits by limiting production and trade, they did so. In Brazil, the Portuguese crown monopolized many natural resources, not primarily to conserve them, but to enrich themselves by the exclusion of competitors. Conservation was an unintended result. To what extent did royal monopolies of whales, brazilwood, and diamonds have on reducing colonialism's impact on Brazil's nature, and should the colonial period, with its myriad restrictions on production, trade, and immigration be seen as a gentler mode of production distinct unto itself?

Shawn Miller joined the BYU history department in 1997 after completing a Ph.D. at Columbia University. He specializes in the colonial and environmental history of Brazil and Latin America. His publications include Fruitless Trees: Portuguese Conservation and Brazil's Colonial Timber (Stanford University Press, 2000); "Stilt-root Subsistence: Colonial Mangrove Conservation and Brazil's Free Poor" (Hispanic American Historical Review); and "Fuelwood in Colonial Brazil: the Economic and Social Consequences of Fuel Depletion for the Bahian Recôncavo, 1549-1820" (Forest & Conservation History). His scholarship was honored in 2006 with a Brigham Young University Young Scholar Award, and his teaching with the Class of '49 Young Faculty Award. Professor Miller has just completed a book entitled An Environmental History of Latin America for Cambridge University Press, and currently serves as Department Chair.

Wednesday, October 24, 7:00 PM, Bolivar House

The Peruvian Consulate of San Francisco and Stanford's Latin American Studies Center present

Dr. ROSA GARIBALDI DE MENDOZA

"Support from the Peruvian Corpancho Mission to the Benito Juarez Government"

On November 21, 1861, Peruvian President Ramon Castilla appointed Manuel Nicolas Corpancho as Consul to Mexico. The Peruvian Chancellor instructed Corpancho to apprise him on “details of the armed invasion in that theater of operations and to assess all developments in order to establish what America had to expect from European policy.” Corpancho began his duties by carrying out important diplomatic tasks in Washington, D.C. on behalf of Mexico. Moreover, shortly after his arrival, Mexico entered into war with France, and Corpancho sent the Peruvian Chancellor detailed analyses of the serious situation facing Mexico.

Dr. Garibaldi highlights in her book that “the support the Castilla government provided Mexico was far more concrete than mere expressions of solidarity. On May 11, 1862, Chancellor Ribeyro sent Corpancho instructions to place a group of Peruvian officials at the disposal of the Mexican military, with the purpose of rebuffing the allied invasion.” The so-called “Corpancho Mission” constitutes one of the fundamental milestones in Peru-Mexico bilateral relations.

Rosa Garibaldi is a Peruvian diplomat to the United States who received a Ph.D. in History from Temple University. Her doctoral thesis was the basis of her book, Peru’s Foreign Policy in the Era of Ramón Castilla: Hemispheric Defense and Defense of National Jurisdiction, which she presented to the Peruvian community, including the diplomatic service and other individuals involved in foreign affairs and policies. Rosa Garibaldi’s book constitutes objective, academic research into an important gap in the history of Peru’s international relations.

Friday, October 26, 2:15 - 3:15 PM, Bolivar House (Lunch provided!)

Career Development Workshop

Are you interested in applying to international organizations or jobs overseas? If so, come hear about resume/CV and cover letter requirements for international jobs.

LEN MATERMAN, Coordinator for the Center on Ecotourism and Sustainable Development, will also talk about his personal experiences writing and reviewing resumes and cover letters for governments, foundations, and nonprofits.

How to Write the Perfect Resume and Cover Letter for International Jobs (Sam Rodriguez, CDC)

Lunch provided

Sam Rodriguez is the Assistant Director of Counseling Services at Stanford's Career Development Center. Sam has an M.S. in Counseling with Career and College concentrations, and a B.A. degree in psychology and sociology. He has over 12 years of international business experience in marketing communications. Sam sees all students and is the International Careers Specialist. He has over 15 years of career counseling experience, and has worked with undergraduate and graduate students in liberal arts and engineering, MBA candidates, and international students. Additionally, he currently serves as the liaison to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center.

Len Materman is the Coordinator for the nonprofit, Center on Ecotourism and Sustainable Development. Len also currently consults to foundations and nonprofits on building their organizational capacity, and designing and implementing their environmental, economic, educational, and health related programs. For the past two years, Len has consulted to the U.S. State Department, helping European countries with their land use and tourism issues, and he is working to create Montenegro's first community foundation. Previously, Len served in the Clinton Administration on two White House Task Forces related to integrating economic and environmental issues, and he served as UC Berkeley's government affairs director. Len has bachelors degrees in Biology and Political Science from UC Davis.

Tuesday, October 30
11:45 AM - 12:15 PM (Cafecito), 12:15 PM - 1:05 PM (Lecture Series)

October 30, 12:15pm

JUAN DE RECACOECHEA "AMERICAN VISA and the Birth of the Bolivian Crime Novel"

Mr. Recacoechea and Adrian Althoff discuss Recacoechea’s groundbreaking novel, American Visa, the novel’s film version, and the convergence of genre fiction with social polemic in the Bolivian context. Short clips from the film will be shown. Published in the U.S. last April, American Visa offers a provocative glimpse into emigration bureaucracy from a Latin American perspective. It has been described by The Boston Globe as “hilarious” and “harrowing,” and as “dark and quirky, a revealing excursion” by The New York Times Book Review. The film adaptation, starring Mexican actors Demián Bichir and Kate Del Castillo, garnered Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actress honors at Mexico 's Ariel Awards as well as a Goya nomination for Best Foreign Film, and has been described by U.S. critics as an “earthy” and “thoughtful” portrayal of the post-9/11 political climate.

Juan de Recacoechea was born in La Paz, Bolivia, and worked as a journalist in Europe for almost twenty years. After returning to his native country, he helped found Bolivia's first state-run television network, served as its general manager, and dedicated himself to fiction writing. Recacoechea is the author of seven novels. American Visa is his first novel to be translated into English.

Friday, November 2, 2:15 - 3:15 PM, Bolivar House (Lunch is provided!)

Career Development Workshop Series

Lunch will be served to all participants.

What You Should and Shouldn't Do in a Job Interview (Sam Rodriguez, CDC)

Have you ever wondered how to approach a job interview for a nonprofit or a bank? What are the basics? And what should you avoid in the interview setting? Learn how to perform your best!

Sam Rodriguez will start by offering guidelines on how to prepare for job interviews. Jennifer Landesmann will then follow by sharing her experiences working as a banker in Latin American markets and interviews she has conducted.

Jennifer Landesmann spent 14 years in banking at JP Morgan, and later Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch in New York, where she was made Vice-President. Throughout her career she has dealt with Latin American clients. She focused primarily on Brazil, working first in Corporate Finance and then establishing herself in Private Banking. She has currently taken a break from working to raise her daughter, now a fifth grader here in Palo Alto. She is a graduate of the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona. Although originally from La Paz, Bolivia, she also grew up in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Tuesday, November 6
11:45 AM - 12:15 PM (Cafecito), 12:15 PM - 1:05 PM (Lecture Series)

November 6, 12:15pm

Dr. JACQUELINE ADAMS

"Art for Democracy in Pinochet's Chile"

How do visual forms of communication facilitate democratic struggle under dictatorships? Although numerous studies have examined resistance to dictatorial regimes, few have focused on the visual arts. This paper analyzes the ways in which visual art forms assist pro-democracy struggles, and what makes them effective. It pays particular attention to the ways in which art may help raise international awareness and support for organizations working to undermine a dictatorship. It also demonstrates the ways in which art-making groups may provide, within the society under the yoke of a military regime, a forum for the dissemination of information about human rights violations. The focus is on Chilean “arpilleras,” pictures of poverty and repression made in large quantities during the Pinochet regime by women from the shantytowns and the relatives of the disappeared.

Jacqueline Adams’ Latin American research focuses on low-income women’s resistance to the Pinochet regime and their economic survival strategies. She is currently working on a book, Art and Human Rights, about the role of shantytown women’s arpilleras in the struggle for democracy, and the effect of repression on the clandestine production, exporting, selling, and reception of this art form. She is the winner of the 2007 award “Distinguished Contribution to Sociological Perspectives” and currently a visiting scholar at the Beatrice Bain Research Group on Gender at the University of California at Berkeley.

Wednesday, November 7, 3:00 PM, Bolivar House

Graduate Lecture Series

LAURA CHIARAMONTE, KYLE SPIKES, and JEFF SHRAGGE

"Geophysical Imaging of the Ambato Archaeological Site, Catamarca, Argentina "

Event in Spanish and English

Presentation of a geo-archaeological imaging experiment in the Ambato Valley, Catamarca, northwestern Argentina. The goal of this experiment was to generate reliable, pre-excavation site characterization with geophysical techniques, in particular ground penetrating radar (GPR).

Thursday, November 8, 3:00 - 5:00 PM, Bolivar House

YU’ÇTA MUSSE

"Plan Colombia, Oil and the War on 'Narcoterror': Local Perspectives and Alternative Visions from Putumayo, Colombia"

Translated by Kristina Lyons, Ph. D. Candidate in Anthropology at UC, Davis

Yu´çta Musse is an indigenous leader and interlocutor for the Nasa people of Colombia, in particular the indigenous reservation of Puerto Vega-Teteyé in the department of Putumayo and ACSOMAYO—The Peasant Association of Southwestern Putumayo. Putumayo is one of the region’s most affected by U.S. funded Plan Colombia antinarcotics and antiterrorist policies and has been the target of intense aerial fumigation campaigns, militarization, guerrilla violence and paramilitarization, as well as the invasive practices of multinational oil companies and megaprojects that threaten the sovereignty, health, and sustainability of its human and non-human populations. Yu´çta joins us with the intention of sharing the realities of the indigenous and peasant communities living in southwestern Putumayo and the direct impacts that U.S. foreign policy and the multinational oil industry has had on the region since 2000. He will also share with us the alternative visions and projects that local communities are developing in defense of life, territory and the environment amidst the humanitarian crisis that Plan Colombia has and continues to generate.

Co-sponsored by Latin American Studies and the Anthropology Department

Friday, November 9, 2:15 - 3:15 PM, Bolivar House (Lunch is provided!)

Career Development Workshop Series

Lunch will be served to all participants.

Expanding Your Contacts: Networking and Informational Interviewing

SAM RODRIGUEZ, Assistant Director, CDC

Dr. DAVID ABERNETHY, Professor Emeritus, Political Science

Most jobs are secured through some form of networking. How important is it to let others know that you are seeking a job? Learn how to actively pursue job opportunities that are not always listed!

Dr. David Abernethy joined Stanford University's Department of Political Science in 1965 and became Professor Emeritus at the start of 2003. He received a Ph.D. in Government from Harvard in 1966. Professor Abernethy is currently examining the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the political and economic development of poor countries.

Monday, November 12, 2:00 PM, Bolivar House

In the Cauldron of Drugs, Poverty and Environmental Destruction: A Conversation with Carlos Albacete and Piedad Espinosa

Carlos Albacete and Piedad Espinosa are the co-founders a Guatemalan environmental organization, Trópico Verde. Trópico Verde seeks to conserve natural resources throughout Guatemala and to defend the rights of impoverished rural communities to sustainable livelihoods and a healthy environment. The organization is particularly active in efforts to preserve the mangrove ecosystems of Guatemala’s coastal areas and the sub-tropical forests in the northwest of the country.

Albacete and Espinosa have been successful in challenging oil exploration that threatens fragile ecosystems in Guatemala They have also worked to expose the environmental impacts of drug trafficking inside Guatemala's impoverished Mayan Biosphere Reserve (the second largest carbon sink in Latin America), which has become a central transit zone for drugs headed into the U.S. They have documented the collusion of state actors in this illicit activity. Their work resulted in a major media exposé in Guatemala in 2006. In January of this year, Carlos and Piedad were the targets of an assassination attempt in Guatemala City, when gunmen opened fire on their taxi. They are temporarily living in the U.S.

Co-sponsored with the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

Monday, November 12, 7:00 PM, Bolivar House

Meeting for Latin American Microfinance Working Group

You are invited to join a working group dedicated to exploring current trends in microfinance in Latin America. This working group intends to bring prominent practitioners and supporters of microfinance in the Americas during the upcoming academic year. During this meeting, participants will hear from Katherine Roubos and her microfinance initiatives in Ecuador.

For more information, please contact Jessica Richman (jessica.richman@gmail.com).

Tuesday, November 13
11:45 AM - 12:15 PM (Cafecito), 12:15 PM - 1:05 PM (Lecture Series)

November 13, 12:15pm

Dr. DOMINGO CAVALLO discusses "Argentina after the Hyperinflation" with Dr. WILLIAM RATLIFF and Dr. JOHN TAYLOR

Dr. Domingo Cavallo is Chairman and CEO of DFC Associates, LLC, a consultancy firm, and President of Acción por la República, the political party he created in Argentina in 1977. He is also a Member of the Group of Thirty. In Argentina, he was Minister of the Economy (1991-1996 and 2001) and Minister of Foreign Affairs (1989-1991). He was an elected National Congressman during two terms (1987-1991 and1997-2001). He also served as Chairman of the Central Bank of Argentina in 1982. He was Professor of Economics at the National University of Córdoba, Visiting Professor of Economics at the Stern Business School at NYU, and Robert F. Kennedy Visiting Professor of Latin American Studies at Harvard University. He has received honorary doctorates from the University of Bologne, the Université Paris Panthéon-Sorbonne, the University of Turin, Ben Gurion University and Genoa University. He is also Correspondent Member of the Royal Academy of Moral and Political Sciences of Spain. Mr. Cavallo is the author of several books, including Economía en Tiempos de Crisis, La Argentina Que Pudo Ser, El Desafio Federal, and El Peso de la Verdad and Pasión por Crear. Mr. Cavallo holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University and a doctorate in Economics from Cordoba National University.

Dr. William Ratliff is a research fellow and curator of the Americas Collection at the Hoover Institution. He is also an adjunct fellow at the Independent Institute. He is currently working on interpreting Latin American history and Chinese histories and politics and U.S. foreign policy.

Dr. John Taylor is the Mary and Robert Raymond Professor of Economics at Stanford University and the Bowen H. and Janice Arthur McCoy Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. He formerly served as the director of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, where he is now a senior fellow, and he was founding director of Stanford's Introductory Economics Center. Taylor’s academic fields of expertise are macroeconomics, monetary economics, and international economics. He is known for his research on the foundations of modern monetary theory and policy, which has been applied by central banks and financial market analysts around the world. He has an active interest in public policy. For four years from 2001 to 2005, Taylor served as Under Secretary of Treasury for International Affairs where he was responsible for U.S. policies in international finance, which includes currency markets, trade in financial services, foreign investment, international debt and development, and oversight of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Wednesday, November 14, 12:30, Pigott Hall (Bldg 260), 2nd floor

Meeting for Latin American Literary Dialogs Reading Group

Mexican author, CRISTINA RIVERA-GARZA, will be visiting Stanford on November 28, 2007. In preparation for her visit, we invite you to attend our meeting to discuss her book, Nadie Me Vera Llorar.

Feel free to brown-bag your lunch for Monday's meeting. Light refreshments will be provided.

Please note that group meetings and discussions will be conducted in Spanish.

For more information, please contact Francisca Gonzalez Flores (fgflores@stanford.edu) or Angela Weikel (aweikel@stanford.edu)

Thursday, November 15, 12:00, GSB S171

MARCUS REGUEIRA & SIMON OLSON, "A Sea Change Underfoot"

FIR CAPITAL: Private Equity and Venture Capital in Brazil

In a region known for spectacular booms and catastrophic busts, in an industry where a million dollar investment can yield a billion dollar return, what is it like practicing venture capital in an emerging market like Brazil? Among other things, the presentation will address the following questions: Why Brazil? Why now? What (if anything) is different this time around? What are the unique challenges posed by venture capital in emerging markets, and how do you overcome them? Secondary topics will include an overview of the private equity landscape in Brazil, and an explanation of the emergence of the BOVESPA. All subjects will be illustrated with specific examples, such as the sale of FIR Capital's portfolio company Akwan to Google (one of Google's first foreign acquisitions), and FIR Capital's recent agreement to become Draper Fisher Jurvetson’s (DFJ) partner in Brazil. The talk will offer rare insights into real-life issues from two practitioners who confront them on a daily basis.

FIR Capital Partners

Founded in 1999, FIR Capital Partners (FIR) is a leading Brazil-based venture capital and private equity firm which invests in seed, early, and expansion-stage companies. In 2007, FIR Capital became the Brazilian partner of Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ), one of the world¹s leading venture capital firms, responsible for such successes as Hotmail, Skype, and Baidu. FIR Capital recently closed a US$40 million second fund, DFJ FIR Brazil Fund I, capitalized almost exclusively by Latin America¹s largest pension funds, marking the first time that they have invested in venture capital, and is in the process raising DFJ FIR Brazil Fund II, a US$150 million fund for off-shore investors.

Marcus Regueira -- Founding Partner

In 1977, after earning his MBA from the Wharton Graduate School of Business, Marcus served as an officer of Unibanco, one of the largest commercial banks in Brazil. At Unibanco, Marcus was responsible for the largest project finance portfolio in Latin America. Later, Marcus moved to New York where he served as a Director and Vice President of the investment banking, underwriting and capital markets groups of the Bank of America and First Chicago.

During the Brazilian external debt moratorium, Marcus was a member of the negotiating committee. Over the course of his career, Marcus was the lead manager on over US$1 billion in syndicated transactions, and represented various multinational and Brazilian corporations in M&A transactions, and technology joint-ventures in Brazil.

He is the current President of ABVCAP, the Brazilian Private Equity and Venture Capital Association.

Simon Olson -- Partner

Simon earned a Juris Doctorate degree from Northwestern University School of Law. Prior to joining FIR Capital Partners, Simon was a principal at Galt Capital, a St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands-based hedge fund where he worked with trading legends Ed Seykota and Curtis Faith. Simon also worked as an associate in the start-up group of Fenwick & West and served as a consultant to one of the world's first synthetic biology companies, Chromatin, Inc. At FIR Capital, Simon played a critical role in the sale of portfolio company Akwan to Google, Inc, and led the firm’s effort to partner with Draper Fisher Jurvetson. Simon also serves on the firm’s investment committee. Simon is a former member of the board of directors of Computers to Help People, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of handicapped people through the use of technology, and was an advisor on the Stanford University-Reuters Foundation-Phillips NV ŒVoices in Your Hand¹ project, a social enterprise for the digital inclusion of some of the world¹s poorest people. Simon has written on a variety of topics including mash-ups, the social graph, NORT applications, the effect of technology on social norms, and emerging markets venture capital. Simon's current areas of interest include: Synthetic Biology; Cognitive Computing; Regenerative Medicine; Bioremediation, and Internet-related ventures.

Co-Sponsored by the Hispanic Business Students Association (HBSA), Latin American Students Club, Private Equity Club, Venture Capital Club

Friday, November 16, 12:15 PM, Bolivar House

The Brazilian Working Group and the Brazilian Student Association present

SAM DUBAL

"The Neoliberalization of Football: Negotiating Commercialization within Independent Supporter Organizations"

At the end of 2004, Brazilian football team Corinthians announced a 10-year, multi-million dollar partnership with British investment firm MSI. A year later, English giants Manchester United were bought out by the American investor Malcolm Glazer. This talk will address how these foreign takeovers reflect larger neo-liberal policies that have infused the world's most popular sport at the elite professional level, transforming football clubs from community-based organizations into profit-driven transnational companies. How have fans reacted to these neo-liberal changes? How do they understand neoliberalism and commercialization? How do they connect the dots, for example, between Corinthians President Alberto Dualib and Fernando Henrique Cardoso? Discussion will draw from ethnographic fieldwork conducted in São Paulo and Manchester this past summer.

Sam Dubal is a senior majoring in Cultural and Social Anthropology with a minor in Portuguese. He is currently writing his honors thesis under the direction of Professor James Ferguson in the Department of Anthropology.

Tuesday, November 27
11:45 AM - 12:15 PM (Cafecito), 12:15 PM - 1:05 PM (Lecture Series)

November 27, 12:15pm

Dr. CLARA NICHOLLS

"Challenges and opportunities for Agroecology and Rural Development in Latin America"

Clara Nicholls has taught "Perspectives on Sustainable Rural Development in Latin America" at UC Berkeley, Stanford University and Santa Clara University since 2002. She teaches future professionals involved in rural development to understand that the challenges of agriculture go beyond technical problems and include socioeconomic, environmental, cultural and political dimensions. Solutions may involve activities at all levels from local to international. Dr. Nicholls is deeply committed to participatory research, where farmers not only help shape the research agenda but also conduct and evaluate the research and use the results. She is co-author of three books and more than 30 scientific articles on agroecology and rural development.

Wednesday, November 28, 4:00 - 5:30 PM, Bolivar House

The Latin American Literary Dialogs Working Group presents:

CRISTINA RIVERA GARZA

"Historia, Fotografía y Ficción: El Manicomio de La Castañeda en la Historia Mexicana y en la Novela,Nadie me Verá Llorar"

Matilda Burgos llegó al manicomio general de “La Castañeda” en la ciudad de México el 21 de julio de 1921. Esta llegada se registró en el Expediente 6563 de la Institución. Muchos años después, la historiadora y escritora Cristina Rivera Garza dio con este documento en el Archivo Histórico de la Secretaría de Salubridad y Asistencia y quedó fascinada por la imagen de la paciente y los textos que de ella se conservaban. Éste fue el inicio de una investigación histórica que llevó a una tesis doctoral y a una novela ganadora de tres premios nacionales e internacionales. La charla “Historia, fotografía y ficción”, que ofrecerá Cristina Rivera Garza el próximo 28 de Noviembre de 2007, explorará las distintas maneras en que se puede leer un documento histórico, invitando a considerar en todas sus posibilidades la utilidad de la mezcla de géneros para la recreacion de una época y un lugar.

Cristina Rivera Garza is both an historian and a novelist. As an historian, she has focused her research on poor women in Mexico, medicine, and disease. Some of her academic articles are included in the Hispanic American Historical Review, and The Journal of the History of Medicine, among others. For her literary work, she won the prestigious 2002 sor Juana Ines de la Cruz Prize for her novel Nadie me verá llorar (2000), which was translated into English as No One Will See Me Cry. Carlos Fuentes said of her work, "No One Will See Me Cry is one of the most beautiful and perturbing novels every written in Mexico." Her books have won six of the most respected literary awards in Mexico and Latin America. She has taught at various universities in the U.S. and Mexico and is currently teaching at the Mexican Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Toluca and lives in Metepec.

This event has been organized by Angela Weikel and Francisca González Flores. For more information, please contact Angela (aweikel@stanford.edu) or Francisca (fgflores@stanford.edu).

Thursday, November 29, 4:00 - 6:00 PM, Hammarskjold (next door to Bolivar House) Free Dinner!

Noche de Paella: Cooking Demonstration & Dinner

JOSE LUIS RELINQUE, Chef at Iberia Restaurant in Menlo Park, will teach the art of paella-making starting at 4 PM in the Hammarskjold Cafeteria. Come participate in the process while enjoying drinks and snacks. And then savor the paella over dinner.

Please RSVP to Geraldine Slean (slean@stanford.edu).

Friday, November 30, 2:15 - 4:15 PM, Bolivar House (Lunch is provided!)

Career Development Workshop Series

Alumni Career Panel

Even wonder what you can do with a degree in Area Studies or International Studies? LAS Alumni return to Stanford to talk openly about their job searches and career tracks. Learn about their career opportunities and decision-making out of Stanford and the paths they have taken since leaving Palo Alto.

Free Lunch served

Participants include:

Beatriz de la Mora, Research Mobilization Specialist, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Beatriz has a cross-discipline background and international experience in business development, marketing, communications, public relations, fundraising and philanthropy. She currently does Resource Mobilization for UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, an international development agency that promotes the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity. She fundraises for programs to reduce poverty and to ensure the access to reproductive health supplies. Beatriz was previously Associate Director of Individual Giving and Membership at El Museo del Barrio, lead Museum dedicated to the presentation and preservation of Latino and Latin American Art. She was in charge of both business development and membership growth for the Museum. Her business background is paralleled by 15 years as an active philanthropy volunteer in Aids and childrens' organizations around the world. She holds two Masters (Spanish & Portuguese and Latin American Studies) and PhD (ABD) (Spanish & Portuguese) from Stanford University, and a BA from Tufts University. She was the recipient of the Donald Kennedy Public Service Fellowship.

Diana Derycz-Kessler, CEO and Owner, Los Angeles Film School and Los Angeles Recording School. Diana Derycz-Kessler was an Elite fashion model who received a Master of Arts in Latin American Studies from Stanford and her law degree from Harvard Law School. She double majored as an undergraduate at UCLA in History and Latin American Studies. Immediately after graduating from law school, Diana worked for a New York law firm where she traveled to Mexico City working with Pemex and other Latin American clients. She then became the youngest and first female corporate legal counsel in Occidental Petroleum Corporation’s international division, where she oversaw legal issues related to Occidental's oil and gas investments in Latin America, specifically Ecuador, Argentina, Venezuela and Peru. After creating her own consulting firm, Diana joined the Bristol investment companies as an owner, investment manager, and general counsel. Here she dedicated her time to providing investment capital to companies.

Diana’s ongoing interest in film and investments led her to her next challenge. She currently acts as one of the owners and the CEO of two prized assets, The Los Angeles Film School, and The Los Angeles Recording School(formerly known as The Los Angeles Recording Workshop), private post-secondary educational institutions dedicated to teaching its students the craft of filmmaking and the art of music recording. Under her direction, The Los Angeles Film School has become one of the most renowned film schools in the world. Diana has expanded the schools’ curriculum as well as their capacity.

She is currently an executive producing her fourth feature film, “All Ages Night” which began filming this past summer. In addition, to being a member of the California and New York bar organizations, Diana maintains related investment banking licenses. She was recently awarded the 2006 Honoree of the Hollywood Chamber Commerce Foundation 13th Annual ‘Women of Distinction’ Luncheon.

Sebastien Saiegh, Assistant Professor of Political Science, UC San Diego. Sebastian M. Saiegh earned an M.A. in Latin American Studies from Stanford University in June 1996 and a Ph.D. in Politics from New York University in January 2004. Before joining UCSD, he had previously taught at the University of Pittsburgh. His research interests cut across the fields of comparative politics, positive political theory and political economy. They include the study of institutional design/change and of the effects of political institutions on policy outcomes. His primary focus is on Latin American countries. His work has been published in the American Journal of Political Science, the British Journal of Political Science, Comparative Political Studies, and Comparative Politics. He has also served as a consultant for the Inter-American Development Bank in a number of development projects.

Monday, December 3, 12:00 PM, Piggot Hall (Bldg 260), Room 237

ELSA DRUCAROFF

"Los Prostibulos Eran Como Fabricas a Destajo"

"En El infierno prometido, historia de una prostituta de la Zwi Migdal, la escritora y crítica literaria ELSA DRUCAROFF toma datos de la realidad para dibujar la historia de Dina, una mujer esclavizada en un burdel de Boedo que terminará huyendo con un anarquista, en un recurso que DRUCAROFF llama de memoria utópica" (Silvina Friera, Página/12)

Elsa Drucaroff, Doctoranda en Filosofía y Letras, Doctoranda en Ciencias Sociales, Profesora adjunta Universidad de Buenos Aires. Libros: Mijail Bajtin. La guerra de las culturas (1996); Roberto Arlt, profeta del miedo (1998), Historia Crítica de la Literatura Argentina, Vol. 11, dirección (2000), La patria de las mujeres (novela, 1999), Conspiración contra Güemes (novela, 2002), El infierno prometido (novela, 2006).

Sponsors: Latin American Literary Dialogs Reading Group, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, and the Center for Latin American Studies

Tuesday, December 4
11:45 AM - 12:15 PM (Cafecito), 12:15 PM - 1:05 PM (Lecture Series)

December 4, 12:15pm

Dr. DAVID REHER

"Addressing the Challenges of Migration in Spain Today: The 2007 National Immigrant Survey"

In recent years, Spain has gone from its traditional role as an exporter of human capital to other parts of the world to one as a major center of attraction for international migration. These flows, which started in earnest about 1999 and continue unabated to the present, pose important challenges for Spanish society, for local policy makers and for all people concerned about migration issues. This turn of events is the result of age structural problems beginning to affect the native population of working age, of the processes of social change that took place over the past few decades, of a cycle of strong economic growth, and possibly of migrant-friendly policies. According to official Spanish statistics, over 10% of the population of Spain is now foreign-born, with net arrivals often totaling more than 500,000 persons per year. Even allowing for possible over counts, it is safe to say that Spain is now at the forefront of international migration issues. In an effort to generate more reliable information about these new immigrants, at the behest of a group of researchers specialized in migration issues the Spanish National Statistical Institute (INE) decided to carry out an ambitious survey on immigrants in Spain. This survey, called the National Immigrant Survey (ENI – 2007), has been administered to more than 15000 respondents between November 2006 and February 2007. It gathers information on a wide-range of issues including: socio-demographic characteristics of immigrants, their families and household structures, their educational and reproductive histories, the conditions holding upon departure from their native countries and upon arrival in Spain, their migratory trajectories, housing conditions, labor force activity, and contacts with their countries of origin and with Spanish civil society. Soon the initial results of this ambitious survey, unmatched in Europe, will be made public and the data will become available to the public for further analysis. The purpose of this lecture is to present the main characteristics of this important new data source together with some of its provisional results.

David Reher is currently Professor in the Department de Sociology II (Human Ecology and Population) at the School of Political Science and Sociology of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. A native of California and born in 1948, he attended Loyola High School in Los Angeles and has degrees from Santa Clara University (AB [1972]), California State University, Northridge (MA [1973]), and the University of Madrid (Licenciatura [1978] and PhD [1983]). Professor Reher has held positions in Spanish and in international scientific organizations, most notably Chair of the Historical Demography Committee of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP). He has been on the Editorial Board of the journal Continuity and Change ’(UK), Revista de Historia Economica (Spain), Statistica (Italy) and Historical Methods (USA). Currently he heads of an important research network dedicated to the study of population issues and including researchers from a number of different institutions (the Grupo de Estudios Población y Sociedad – GEPS).

Wednesday, December 5, 4:15 PM, Bolivar House

K. DAVID HARRISON

"When Languages Die: Tracking Global and Local Trends of Language Extinction"

K. David Harrison is an Assistant Professor of Linguistics at Swarthmore College, and is Director of Research at the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages has appeared on the Colbert Report, and of course the work of the Institute has been discussed in several other media outlets including National Geographic, National Public Radio, New York Times, US News and World Report, etc.

Sponsors: African Studies, CREEES, the Center for Latin American Studies & the Center for South Asia

Thursday, December 6, 6:00 - 9:00 PM, Bolivar House

Latin American Studies Holiday Party

Spouses and children are welcome at this fiesta.

This is intended to be a potluck dinner, so please try to bring something to share with the other guests. We understand that everyone is very busy during this time of the year, so if you cannot bring food, we still welcome your company. In order to make sure we have a balanced meal, we ask that you please follow the suggested food assignments and indicate what item you will be bringing when you RSVP. Thank you!

If your first name starts with the following letters, then please bring the following edible...

Letters A-C: Please bring an appetizer

Letters D-M: Please bring a main dish

Letters N-R: Please bring a side dish (vegetables, rice, beans, etc.)

Letters S-Z: Please bring drinks or dessert

We will also be playing pictionary and a version of the White Elephant Gift Exchange. These activities are completely optional for all guests. If you wish to participate in the White Elephant Gift Exchange, then please bring a cheap gift (no more than $5) or a used item in good condition that you are willing to part with. Please wrap these gifts so that individuals cannot readily see what they are. If you have questions, please contact Geraldine Slean (slean@stanford.edu).

PLEASE RSVP to slean@stanford.edu and indicate what food or drink you will be bringing.

Felices Fiestas!

Friday, December 7, 6:00 PM, Bolivar House

Reception for Brazilian Junior Table Tennis Team

In order to celebrate the arrival of the Brazilian Table Tennis Team to Stanford for the upcoming 2007 World Junior Table Tennis Championships, Latin American Studies invites you to attend a light reception in their honor.

For information on the Championships:<

Os Melhores Jogadores Brasileiros competindo no Campeonato Mundial Junior de Tênis de Mesa 2007 em Stanford University de 8 a 15 de Dezembro.

Assista Tênis de Mesa de alto nível com atletas de 37 países disputando medalhas individuais e por equipe. Pela primeira vez no Estados Unidos.

Ingressos e mais informaçoes em: www.2007wjttc.org. Ou ligue 1-800-Stanford ou 650-723-1021

The best Brazilian table tennis players will be competing in the 2007 World Junior Table Tennis Championships at Maples Pavilion, Stanford University, December 8-15.

For the first time in history, the United States will be hosting athletes from 37 countries, who will be competing for individual and team medals in table tennis.

For more information, please go to: www.2007wjttc.org. Or call 1800-Stanford or 650-723-1021.