The arts, languages, and philosophy department invites the Spanish-speaking community at S&T to participate in the next “El Conversatorio” event at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22 via Zoom. Guest speaker María Aguilar Velásquez will present “Pensar en la historia de América Latina desde una mirada indígena transnacional” [“Thinking Latin American History through an Indigenous Transnational Lens”].

María Aguilar Velásquez is a Maya-K’iche’ historian from Guatemala and is currently finishing her PhD at Tulane University. María’s work centers on state violence, security forces and social movements in Latin America during the 20th century. Her current research project focuses on the Guatemalan National Police and its function during the country’s 36-year civil war. She has also worked in projects centered on historical memory in Guatemala, collecting testimony from indigenous communities and war survivors. Aguilar has a weekly column in Guatemala’s leading newspaper El Periódico, where she writes about the country’s current social and political issues and denounces repressive policies that affect the Maya population.

El Conversatorio is a one-hour informal virtual talk where guest speakers from different areas of the Spanish-speaking world share their thoughts on current events and issues. After a brief presentation of 15-20 minutes, followed by Q&A, participants have the opportunity to not only practice their Spanish, but also to engage in fun activities using break out rooms in Zoom. The fall 2020 series of El Conversatorio will take place every three weeks on Thursdays, starting Oct. 1. A Zoom link and password will be provided and all meetings begin promptly at 5:30 p.m. CDT.

For more information, please contact Dr. M. Emilia Barbosa at ebarbosa@mst.edu.