Announcing the International Colloquium for Vernacular, Hispanic, Historical, American, and Folklore Studies in Puebla, Mexico, from October 9-12, 2003. The Colloquium will be hosted by the Instituto de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades of the Autonomous University of Puebla. Presenters will be converging on the city from Latin America, the United States, and other parts of the world. The program and its panels tend to be both multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary, and panels and individual papers in this area may explore issues relevant to Chicana/o cultural studies.

Presentations might traverse cultural distinctions within genres—corridos, mitos, folklore, poetry, fiction, drama, radio, television, film, digital media. Topics might examine themes relevant to Chicana/o culture including but not limited to “resistance and affirmation”; nationalism and ethnic separatism; borders, frontiers, and territorialization; labor unions and social collectivity; machismo, feminidad, feminisms, and gender construction; immigration, internal colonialism, and indigenismo; religion and spirituality; mainstream depictions and ethnic stereotyping; La Raza Cósmica and cultural syncretism. Presentations might cover theoretical and/or creative and/or historical works by individual authors such as José Vasconcelos, Rudy Acuña, Luis Valdez, George I. Sánchez, Gloria Anzaldúa, Ana Castillo, Cherríe Moraga, and others. Proposals that address any aspect of Chicana/o culture are welcome.

See the conference website for additional information about the meeting and for registration information.

The deadline for submitting panel and paper proposals is May 5, 2003, but early paper proposals find the most compatible panels. To participate, submit a 100- to 200-word abstract to the area chair; if submitting by email, please include an attachment as well as a pasted copy. Please also be sure to include a presentation title and your preferred current postal-mailing address and academic/professional affiliation.