In early 2024, NALAS launched the inaugural edition of the “Best Master Thesis Award in Latin American Studies”, inviting master’s students from all Nordic institutions and disciplines who defended their theses on Latin American Studies in 2023. The call received an enthusiastic response, with many outstanding submissions.

The evaluation committee consisted of Dr. Alberto Sosa Cabanas (Center for Latin American Studies, Rutgers University) and Dr. Ana María Ramírez Gómez (Department of Literature, Area Studies, and European Languages, University of Oslo).

After a thorough review of all submissions, the prize was awarded to Hanne Tangstad for the thesis titled “Salud, orgullo y prejucio. Las personas transgénero en Cuba 1972-2022” This work stood out for its originality, depth of research, and insightful analysis of the transgender experience in Cuba over five decades, situating these experiences within the broader Latin American socio-political context. Tangstad’s thesis enriches our understanding of LGBTQ+ issues, contributing to critical discussions on human rights, identity politics, and social justice in the region.

The study is based on a rich collection of qualitative data, including in-depth interviews with transgender individuals, which vividly portrays the achievements as well as the challenges undergone by this community. Tangstad uncovers the complexities of transgender life in Cuba, examining issues related to healthcare, social acceptance, and legal recognition, highlighting the dual nature of Cuban state-led initiatives, which have both supported and limited transgender rights. Grounded in a multi-theoretical framework that draws on gender theory, queer theory, and trans theory, the thesis offers a comprehensive analysis of the cultural, political, and social factors influencing the transgender experience in Cuba. Tangstad’s originality lies in her integration of diverse perspectives, from media representation to public policy and historical narratives, offering a nuanced understanding at both macro and micro levels.

Congratulations!

 

NALAS Conference 2025

“Encounters, Transitions, and Resistances”

Venue: University of Bergen

Date: June 19-20, 2025

Call for Proposals

The Norwegian Association of Latin America Studies (NALAS), in collaboration with the University of Bergen, invites academics and practitioners, as well as other professionals working on cross-cutting topics related to Latin America to submit a proposal to the 3rd NALAS Conference. The conference seeks to promote the cross-disciplinary field of Latin American Studies by fostering a necessary dialogue among actors involved in understanding the region’s “Encounters, Transitions, and Resistances”.

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By focusing on "Encounters, Transitions, and Resistances in Latin America" the third NALAS conference aims to explore the region’s responses to the current planetary polycrisis and shed light on ongoing processes of ecological, social, cultural, technological and political change. Latin America’s encounters with and resistance to such crises are evident in various movements, plural ‘knowledges’ and politics, and unique initiatives from the region, such as those emerging from debates proposing post-growth, post-materialist, post-development, biocentric, post-extractivist, decolonial, and pluriversal paradigms (Quijano, 2007; Escobar, 2007, 2011, 2021). All of them re-imagining transitions to an altogether different world.

To what extent have these encounters, transitions, and resistances to systemic failures shaped the identities, cultures, arts and politics of Latin America? How have different groups resisted, challenged, or supported, the dominant discourses and structures of power that drive these processes? What are the current obstacles and opportunities for dealing with intersecting crises in Latin America today? What role can human rights activism, new forms of political engagement, arts, and popular culture at large play? How can we understand the polarizing tendencies in politics, identities and society at large? How have governments in the region responded to these current challenges in terms of policies and related to demands from civil society and voters? These are some of the questions that the conference aims to explore by bringing together scholars and practitioners from different disciplines and backgrounds.

We welcome proposals that address the conference theme, or any other relevant topic related to Latin America. Submissions from all disciplines in the Humanities and Social Sciences are welcome. The conference also welcomes submission of film presentations, book launches, and alternative formats that might fit thematically and logistically our program.

Although hybrid panels are possible, the conference will prioritize proposals based on in person presentations. Proposals containing only virtual presentations will not be considered.

All proposals should be sent to nalasconference2025@nalas.org

Deadline to submit proposals: November 29, 2024.

For more information and updates, please check our conference webpage.

Proposal modalities:

1. Panel

• A panel should comprise a minimum of three and a maximum of four presentations. Panels with participants from different institutions will have priority.

• A panel should comprise presenters, a chair, and discussant(s). The chair might also be a presenter or a discussant in the same panel.

• A participant can have only one panel presentation during the conference. In addition, (s)he might hold the role of chair or discussant in one additional panel or in another proposal modality.

• The panels may be organized in English, Spanish, or Portuguese. Each panel submission should be submitted in one language only.

2. Individual paper

• Participants can submit one individual paper to be included in a panel by the conference.  

• Participants can submit an individual abstract only if they are not part of a panel proposal as a presenter. In addition, participants might hold the role of chair or discussant in one additional panel or in another proposal modality.

• The abstract may be in English, Spanish, or Portuguese.

3. Round table

• A round table should comprise a minimum of four and a maximum of six members. Round tables with participants from different institutions will have priority.

• A round table should comprise one moderator and three to five speakers.

• A participant can be part of only one round table either as moderator or speaker. Participants of a round table can also be part of one additional proposal modality in any role - applying panel’s restrictions.  

4. Film presentation

• A film presentation should comprise one to three members

• A film presentation should comprise at least one chair and, at most, two discussants.

• A participant can be part of only one film presentation either as chair or discussant. Participants of a film presentation can also be part of one additional proposal modality in any role - applying panel’s restrictions. 

5. Book launch

• A book launch should comprise two to three members

• A book launch should comprise at least one author and one to two discussants.

• A participant can be part of only one book launch either as an author or a discussant. Participants of a book launch can also be part of one additional proposal modality in any role - applying panel’s restrictions.

Requirements for proposals:

1. Panel proposals should include:

• a title;
  

• a description of max 250 words;

• names of presenters, institutional affiliation, title of their presentations with an abstract of max 200 words;

• name of the chair, institutional affiliation and email address.

2. Individual abstract:

• a title:

• a description of max 200 words:

• names of the author(s), institutional affiliation and email address;

3. Round table proposals should include:

• a title:

• a description of max 500 words;

• names of speakers, institutional affiliation;

• name of the moderator, institutional affiliation and email address.

4. Film presentation proposals should include:

• a title:

• a description of max 500 words;

• names of speakers, institutional affiliation;

• name of the moderator, institutional affiliation and email address.

5. Book launch proposals should include:

• a title:

• a description of max 500 words;

• names of discussants and institutional affiliation;

• name of the author(s), institutional affiliation and email address(es).

Organizing committee

Yuri Kasahara, Gabriela Mezzanotti, Ana Maria Ramirez Gomez, Kjettil K. Bøhler, Ana Lorena Ruano, Hans Egil Offerdal, Marcela Douglas, Jorge J. Locane and Leiv Marsteintredet.  

The Norwegian Association of Latin American Studies (NALAS) is delighted to introduce the NALAS Best Master’s Thesis Award. The goal of this award is to acknowledge both the scholarly excellence and hard work of master’s students writing about Latin American subjects.

 

Therefore, we are calling on master students from Scandinavian institutions and all disciplines who have defended their MA thesis in Latin American Studies in 2023 to participate. The competition is open to those who have achieved a grade of A or B (or equivalent) for their thesis. The submitted works will be evaluated by an interdisciplinary jury.

 

The best MA thesis will be awarded a prize of 4,000 NOK, recognizing the student's significant contribution to the field. While we welcome submissions from all disciplines, please note that the thesis must have a clear focus on Latin America, or a specific Latin American country or countries. Moreover, you need to be an active member of NALAS to be considered eligible for the NALAS Best Master’s Thesis Award.

 

To participate, please submit the following documents to nalas@nalas.org with a copy to kari.salkjelsvik@uib.no

 

1.     A copy of your MA thesis.

2.     A grade report confirming your received grade of A or B.

3.     A letter of recommendation from your thesis advisor or main advisor underlining your academic merit and the significance of your research.

 

The deadline for submissions is March 8, 2024. We encourage all eligible students to participate and seize this opportunity to gain recognition for their academic efforts.

 

We are looking forward to reading your innovative and insightful theses. The winner of the NALAS Best MA Thesis Prize will be announced on May 15, 2024.

The Norwegian Association of Latin America Studies (NALAS), in collaboration with the University of South-Eastern Norway, invites scholars from Norway, the Nordic countries, and the rest of the world from a broad range of disciplines and theoretical perspectives to present proposals for individual papers for the 2nd NALAS Conference.

Venue: Universitetet i Sørøst-Norge, Campus Drammen

Date: 15-16 June 2023
 

The title of the conference, “Islands, Borders, Archipelagos”, places a non-exclusive emphasis on the Caribbean region and particularly Cuba. It was the Martinican thinker Édouard Glissant who coined the term archipelago as an image for thinking about forms of cultural interaction that do not suppress particularities. We propose the terms islands, borders, and archipelagos as analytical tools to approach the Caribbean and Latin American context, which is marked by widespread crisis and uncertainty, and a strong tension between neo-fundamentalisms, cultural and political reinscriptions, and the centrifugal force of globalization.

From this initial trigger, we wish to rethink the meaning of islands and borders in Latin America and the Caribbean. We use these categories in both literal terms (Cuba, the Malvinas Islands, Hispaniola, Chiloé, Tierra del Fuego and the borders that, for example, segment the original Gran Colombia or separate Latin America from the USA) as well as in metaphorical and abstract terms. That is, as identitarian islands, archipelagos of changing identities, and linguistic, social, and contested borders of identity politics. In this double dimension, the terms allow us to explore, from different disciplines and methodologies, heterogeneous aspects such as:

• Linguistic forms that demarcate political and/or cultural domains as well as contact varieties such as Portuñol or Spanglish.
• Islands and urban borders, which may include poverty ghettos as well as their opposite, gated communities.
• Ethnoscapes or cultural and economic enclaves.
• Migrations involving transits between specific domains (countries, regions, Latin America-USA) thought of as islands always intercommunicated as archipelagos.
• Identities (gender, national, ethnic, class, religious, etc.) that involve borders, but at the same time displacements or transits and coalitions.
• Literary, linguistic, and cultural translation as a way of creating archipelagos.
• Non-acculturating fusions or transculturations.
• Political transformations, such as those occurring in Chile, Colombia, or Brazil, which presuppose national specificity, but at the same time interactions and trends on a regional and/or an international scale.
• The sea as an ecosystem, also in its legal status and as a means of transit between islands. 
• Historical perspectives on islands, borders, and archipelagos.

All presentations will be in person. The panels will be organized in parallel sessions. Papers dealing with issues related to Cuba and the Caribbean region are particularly welcome and will be grouped in specific panels. 

Although we have chosen the title “Islands, borders, archipelagos” as focus for the plenary sessions at the congress, any proposal related to Latin America research is also welcome.

Deadline to submit proposals: February 15th, 2023.

Please check the list of accepted panels on our website and mention in the proposal the panel that would best match the proposed paper.

Paper proposals should include:

• the title

• a short abstract of max 250 words

• presenter’s full name

• email address(es)

• The presentations should be in English, Spanish, or Portuguese. The proposal should be written in the language to be used by the panel.

 

The conveners would be in charge of organizing the panels before the congress.

The proposals should be submitted to nalas2023@nalas.org by February 15th 2023.

 

Fees

NALAS Members: 750 NOK

NALAS student members: 100 NOK

Non-members from Europe and USA: 1500 NOK

Non-member students: 500 NOK

Scholars based in Latin America, Africa, and Asia: Free

 

 

Organizing committee

Jorge J. Locane, Hans Jacob Ohldieck, Ole Jacob Løland, Guro Nore Fløgstad, Yuri Kasahara, Alissa Vik, Kari Soriano Salkjelsvik, Jørgen Sørlie Yri, Vegard Bye, Fabian Mosenson, Astrid B. Stensrud

 

Keynote speakers

Florencia Garramuño

After one of the most turbulent elections in recent history, former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won a third mandate defeating the incumbent Jair Bolsonaro by the narrowest margin ever registered. Brazil seems to come out of the elections as a more divided and polarized country than ever. This webinar discussed what happened during the Brazilian elections and what to expect from the new government.
Recorded on December 7, 2022.

Speakers: 

• Marcus Melo is a Full Professor of Political Science at the Federal University of Pernambuco in Brazil. He is an expert in Brazilian politics and Executive-Legislative relations. 
  
• Solveig Aamodt is a Senior Researcher at the Center for International Climate Research (CICERO) in Norway. Her work focuses on environmental policy in Brazil and its role in international climate negotiations. 
  
• Diego W. Arguelhes is an Associated Professor of Law at Insper in Brazil. He has written extensively on the role of the Supreme Court in Brazil and its effects on Brazilian politics. 
  

The webinar was  chaired by Yuri Kasahara (OsloMet).