Penn in Latin America and the Caribbean's (PLAC) Fifth Annual Symposium: Presenter Abstracts, Bios, & Information Sheets September 30, October 1, and October 2, 2020
Wednesday, September 30, 2020: Symposium Opening
Welcome: Antonia M. Villarruel, Professor and Margaret Bond Simon Dean of Nursing Opening Remarks: Wendell Pritchett, University Provost
Wednesday, September 30, 2020: Session I: Social -- Cities, Economics, Politics, Law, and Education
Moderator: Emilio Parrado, Dorothy Swaine Thomas Professor of Sociology; Director, Population Studies Ctr
PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS
• The Zoonotic Disease Research Laboratory in Arequipa, Peru Michael Levy, Associate Professor in Biostatistics, Epidemiology & Informatics, Perelman School of Medicine In Arequipa, Peru the UPenn/UPCH Zoonotic Disease Laboratory is working with the Ministry of Health to control Chagas disease, canine Rabies and bed bugs. • The Water System in Western Puerto Rico: Determining Vulnerabilities in a Changing Climate Alana Paccione, Department of Earth and Environmental Science, CAS This presentation will focus on water accessibility issues in Puerto Rico's western region due to climate change, and offer recommendations for mitigation. Alana’s overall research project evaluates the region’s current water infrastructure and its flaws, and highlights its resulting effect on community life in rural and urban areas. Additional Information in Appendix • Asylum from Central America Fernando Chang-Muy, Thomas O’Boyle Lecturer in Law, Carey School of Law This presentation will cover the U.S. definition of a refugee, and reasons why individuals from Central America leave their countries of origin and seek protection in the U.S. • Reporting on the Venezuelan Crisis Patrick Ammerman, MSW, Alumnus of School of Social Policy and Practice / 2019 PLAC Pulitzer Center Student Fellow Patrick Ammerman was the recipient of the 2019 PLAC Pulitzer Center Student Fellowship. He traveled to Colombia, where he interviewed recently arrived Venezuelan immigrants and refugees on themes ranging from health to employment to legal status. Patrick will share his key findings from the trip.
• Out of sight, out of mind? Spillover Effects and the Pacifying Police Units (UPP) in Baixada Fluminese Maria Francesca Arruda de Amaral (C’20), Department of Criminology and International Relations This presentation explores the unintended consequences of the Pacifying Police Units initiative in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It intends to show how crime may have been displaced to other areas of the state, mainly the neighboring region of Baixada Fluminense. Additional Information in Appendix • Corporate Transitional Justice: Lessons from the Brazilian Experience Eduardo Saad-Diniz, Associate Professor of Criminology and Criminal Law, University of São Paulo, campus Ribeirão Preto; Latin American and Latinx Studies (additional bio here) Problematic accountability and corporate complicity with authoritarian regimes are frequently neglected in Latin American Studies. The current research aims to define what and how could be a next generation of transitional justice studies, based in the idea of holding corporations accountable for their support of atrocities and systematic human rights violations. The research also has a secondary purpose of raising the moral voice of the private sector against the rise of authoritarian trends in Latin America.
• A Snapshot of the Menstrual Movement in Latin America Becca Bean (C’21, W’21), The Huntsman Program, Wharton Menstruation, particularly the menarche, has become an increasingly common topic of discussion among researchers and activists in Latin America and the Caribbean. This coupled with exposed and increased inequalities as a result of COVID-19 has helped bring about activism surrounding shattering stigma, policy change, and prioritizing especially vulnerable menstruators. This presentation will discuss each of these menstrual justice methodologies with examples from Mexico, El Salvador, and Chile. • Thinking Similarly, Operating Differently: The Cuban State and SNET's Approach to Technological Sovereignty Mariela Morales Suárez, Annenberg School for Communication, CARG, Graduate Student This presentation will cover how the state and local tech communities in Cuba are approaching and conceptualizing the notion of technological sovereignty and how they are deploying it through the practice of formal and informal societal roles. Additional Information in Appendix • The Marginal Returns on Distance Education on Achievement: Analyzing Mexico’s Telesecundaries. Gabrielle Vasey, PhD Candidate, Economics The transition between primary school and middle school can be challenging for students in developing countries, especially those in rural areas with limited access to middle schools. In Mexico, distance education schools called Telesecondaries offer a solution, however little research has been done on their quality. We estimate the marginal effects of attending a Mexican Teleseconday school on 7th grade Math and Spanish test scores. We find positive treatment effects of Telesecondaries on achievement, but these estimates mask considerable heterogeneity. • Inter-American Educational Leadership Network (RILE) Ivan Rosales Montes, Alumnus of the Graduate School in Education The Inter-American Educational Leadership Network (RILE) is a collaborative initiative focused on promoting educational improvement in school organizations in Latin America and the United States. It is currently made up of the faculty of education of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, the Graduate School of Education of the University of Pennsylvania, the department of education of the Universidad Católica de Uruguay and the faculty of education of the Universidad Católica de Córdoba, Argentina. Through these institutions, RILE offers various training opportunities and conducts research and development initiatives.
Thursday, October 1, 2020: Session II: Scientific – Science, Technology, and Health
Welcome: Glen N. Gaulton, Ph.D., Vice Dean; Professor of Pathology and Lab Medicine; and Director, Center for Global Health, Perelman School of Medicine Moderator: Kent Bream, Associate Professor, Family Medicine and Community Health; Director, Guatemala Health Initiative, Sayre Health Center, and Harnwell College House
PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS
• Penn Nursing - 30+ Years of Collaboration with the World Health Organization Antonia M. Villarruel, PhD, RN, FAAN, Professor and Margaret Bond Simon Dean of Nursing; Director of World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Nursing and Midwifery Leadership Penn Nursing has been a designated WHO Collaborating Center (CC) for more than 30 years. The focus of our CC is in the PAHO region and specifically in advancing leadership in nursing and midwifery. Our current commitments include work in Nicaragua to reduce maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality, in Suriname to increase nursing capacity in healthcare provision, and throughout the region advancing nursing doctoral-level education.
• Service Learning: Clinical Care…Health Promotion…Popular Education in Guatemala Mamie Guidera, MSN, CNM, FACNM, Penn School of Nursing, Family & Community Health Penn Nursing has led educational exchange in Guatemala and Honduras for more than ten years. Students engage in health promotion and clinical care in Santiago Atitlan and gain more than they give through this experience. They work with local midwives, public health nurses, and hospital personnel. They also offer health education to school-age children and teens, using popular education techniques.
• Community Health Needs Assessment in Bienvenido, Dominican Republic: Analyzing the social determinants of health in global, low-income Hispanic communities Cassidy Gallagher, Undergraduate Senior, School of Nursing This research project focused on identifying the social determinants of health that affect globally low- resourced Hispanic communities. The study took place in the town of Bienvenido, an impoverished ‘batey’ community in the Dominican Republic, in collaboration with the local nonprofit organization, The Bienvenido Project. A community health needs assessment was conducted through door-to-door surveys to identify the most common diseases among residents and their social determinants.
• An Adaptive International Cardiology Curriculum accessible by remote distance learning (iCARDs-Haiti) Norrisa Haynes, MD, MPH, Cardiology Department As a cardiology fellow, I have developed a cardiology curriculum for the internal medicine (IM) trainees in Haiti in partnership with the IM chief residents at Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais (HUM). Given the increasing burden of cardiovascular disease throughout the Caribbean region, and the dearth of cardiologists, we partnered with local Haitian physicians and developed a sustainable, capacity –building cardiology curriculum for the IM residents at HUM. By combining the local expertise and experience of Haitian cardiologists with the recommended American College of Cardiology (ACC) core training competencies, we have developed a lecture series that utilizes a videoconference platform for curriculum delivery. We have demonstrated a quantifiable impact on the education of HUM’s IM trainees. With pre and post-survey assessments, we have demonstrated the efficacy and utility of our curriculum. We hope to empower and educate change agents who will implement this training and provide the best possible medical care within the constraints of locally available resources.
• Affordable Robot and M-health Technologies for Neurorehabilitation in Jamaica Michelle Johnson, PhD, Associate Professor, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation; Director, Rehabilitation Robotics Lab Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability in Jamaica. We have been working with Universities and Rehabilitation Entities in Jamaica to use robots, wearable and mobile technologies to support rehabilitation of people after stroke. I will present three key activities we have completed in the research and the STEM education realm.
• Penn LRSM collaborations with: University of Puerto Rico in Humacao during the last 22 years, And with the Sociedad Dominicana de Fisica Jorge J. Santiago-Aviles, Emeritus Faculty, Electrical and Systems Engineering The materials research center at Penn, LRSM and the Singh Center, have been collaborating with the University of Puerto Rico Humacao campus for nearly two decades through a series of NSF grants . We reported in last year PLAC , but new developments related to the Hurricane Maria and the sequence of Tremors during the last two years have resulted in new initiatives that might have affected the research and educational topics of common interest.
• Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP) and Chilean Longitudinal Social Protection Survey (SPS) Irma T. Elo, Professor & Chair, Sociology As is well-known, the world population is aging rapidly in most developing as well as developed countries. The composition of health issues is also changing rapidly, with relative increases in non- communicable diseases relative to communicable and infant and maternal diseases. Among the rapidly increasing non-communicable diseases, Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) are increasing in importance, but relatively little is known about factors that contribute to ADRD outside North America and Europe. And there are basic problems in measuring cognitive aging in population-based surveys, which are starting to be addressed in the United States and a few other countries (including Mexico) through the National Institute of Aging (NIA) – supported development of the Harmonized Cognitive Assessment Protocol (HCAP). Investigation of factors that contribute to cognitive aging in other rapidly- aging countries is important for greater understanding of changing global health. Our collaboration with the Centro de Encuestas y Estudios Longitudinales (CEEL) de Universidad Catolica de Chile will lay the foundation for investigation of cognitive aging in Chile, with its relatively high proportion of aging persons, by combining the HCAP survey instrument with unusually rich longitudinal data over ~15 years available in the Chilean Social Protection Survey (SPS).
• Hospital Quality of Care and Productivity in Chile Eileen Lake, Jesse M Scott Endowed Term Chair in Nursing and Health Policy; Associate Director, Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research Biobehavioral Health Sciences Department, School of Nursing In this U.S.-Chile research collaboration, funded partly by the Penn Global fund, hospital performance in relation to nursing resources was studied in a national sample of 40 hospitals in Chile. Utilizing a methodology that has informed policy change globally, the RN4CAST-Chile project included surveys of patients and nurses as well as patient hospitalization record data. The study produced important and actionable findings that hold promise for improving the outcomes of Chile’s public health services.
Friday, October 2, 2020: Session III: Cultural – Arts, Culture, and Humanities
Introduction: Scott Moore, Director of China Programs and Strategic Initiatives, Penn Global Welcome: Amy Gadsden, Associate Vice Provost for Global Initiatives Moderator: Mércia Santana Flannery, Ph.D, Senior Lecturer/Director of the Portuguese Language Program, Romance Languages/Hispanic and Portuguese Studies Department
PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS
• Discriminatory Discourse and aggressive language in digital communication in Brazil Mércia Santana Flannery, Ph.D, Senior Lecturer/Director of the Portuguese Language Program, Romance Languages/Hispanic and Portuguese Studies Department This presentation addresses the prevailing use of discriminatory discourse and aggression in digital communication in Brasil. Additional Information in Appendix
• The Debate Over the Legalization of Abortion: Audience Responses in Argentina María Celeste Wagner, Ph.D. Candidate & CARGC Fellow, Annenberg School for Communication In 2018, the Argentine congress debated for the first time in history a bill to legalize abortion. Given the role different public actors have in shaping debates and opinions among the citizenry, I conducted interviews in order to assess publics’ perceptions of the role of the media and of feminist activism weeks after the Senate narrowly rejected the bill. My findings shed light on publics’ opinions on the role of the media as information providers and opinion formers, gender differences in communication styles across actors, feminist activism, and overall perceptions of the social debate in a perceived polarized environment.
• Latin-Centric Indigenous Networks and the Call for a Pluriversal Internet Fernanda R. Rosa, Postdoctoral Fellow, Annenberg School for Communication, Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication (CARGC) This research examines the emergence of internet shared networks in Tseltal and Zapoteco communities in Oaxaca and Chiapas (Mexico) in which indigenous people shape their own digital citizenship and become codesigners of the global internet. It reveals how these communities participate in internet infrastructuring, building indigenous networks from scratch along with the electromagnetic spectrum, towers, radio antennas, houses rooftops, routers, cables, and what these devices and artifacts enact and constrain. Oriented by science and technology studies (STS) and the ethnography of infrastructure methods, the paper discusses how Tseltal and Zapoteco emancipatory and self-sustainability values motivate their actions while being challenged by the commercial values of big internet service providers at the very moment of network interconnection. This research adds to the understanding of infrastructure visibilities, showing how they occur when internet infrastructure is paradoxically absent. Additional Information in Appendix
• The Politics of (Mis)Recognition: Guyanese Hindu Parades in New York City Rupa Pillai, Senior Lecturer, Asian American Studies Program In Queens, New York, Caribbean Hindu parades are held twice a year to render the Indo-Caribbean community legible to the State. Through strategic performances, this new immigrant community negotiates their religion, ethnicity, and race to claim belonging to the United States. However, as I will argue, the growth and increasing visibility of these parades ultimately results in misrecognition, an outcome with troubling ramifications.
• Historicizing the Caribbean in Ana Lydia Vega’s “Encancaranublado” Isabella Pilotta Gois, Alumna, Department of Comparative Literature and Literary Theory This presentation focuses on “Encancaranublado,” a short story written by Puerto Rican author Ana Lydia Vega. It will address the ways in which history acts as a grounding force in the narrative, mainly through the use of allegorical, stereotypical characters and highly allusive language.
• Archival Shadows in Post-Emancipation Puerto Rico Daniel Morales-Armstrong, Joint PhD Student, Africana Studies and History By looking at archival documents from a small, sugar-producing town in southern Puerto Rico, my research elicits insights about the Black Puerto Ricans’ responses for the unfreedom that followed the abolition of slavery in 1873. These findings complicate prevailing scholarly narratives about the transition from slavery to free labor on the island and in the Spanish Caribbean. The project highlights how a focus on the hyper local can fill gaps in the scholarship about global policy and historical production within the Spanish empire at the end of the 19th century.
• Reconstructing the Population History of Mexico & The Caribbean Theodore Schurr, Ph.D, Professor, Anthropology In this talk, I will discuss our anthropological genetics investigation into the genetic ancestry of Dominican populations. Based on the DNA results and community engagement on issues of ancestry and origins, we gleaned new insights about the human settlement of the Dominican Republic (Hispaniola) and the construction of Dominican identity. Additional Information in Appendix
• A Heritage Preservation and Community Development Project in Tihosuco, Quintana Roo, Mexico Richard M. Leventhal, Professor, Penn Anthropology, Director, Penn Cultural Heritage Center Penn Museum For the past 9 years, Penn has been a partner in a large-scale community development and heritage preservation project in the modern Maya community of Tihosuco, Quintana Roo, Mexico. The heritage is focused upon the story and physical remains of the 19th century Caste War with an associated development of small-scale tourism within Tihosuco controlled by members of the community. This presentation will present the development and progress of the project and our local partners. Additional Information in Appendix
• Graduate Student Work on the Tihosuco Heritage Preservation and Community Development Project Samantha Seyler, PhD Candidate, Department of Anthropology Following the introductory presentation on the Tihosuco Heritage Preservation and Community Development Project, this talk will highlight specific work being conducted by current and former Penn graduate students. This presentation will discuss subprojects focused on archaeological remains, colonial structures, and oral histories in Tihosuco. Additional Information in Appendix
• Imagining Charlie Chaplin in Revolutionary Cuba Will Schmenner, Lecturer, History of Art Unexpectedly, Charlie Chaplin became the unofficial (and then official) mascot of the Cuban National Cinema Institute (ICAIC). I will trace this development and use it to expand upon Ana López's idea of a porous national cinema. Additional Information in Appendix
APPENDIX
I. Information Sheets
• ARRUDA DE AMARAL • FLANNERY • LEVENTHAL • MORALES SUÁREZ • PACCIONE • ROSA • SCHMENNER • SCHURR • SEYLER
II. Additional Bios
• HAYNES
“Out of sight, out of mind? Spillover Effects and the Pacifying Police Units in Rio de Janeiro.” Maria Francesca Arruda de Amaral C’20 and Junior Data Scientist, Department of Criminology
ABSTRACT For decades, the poorest and most vulnerable areas of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, suffered extreme levels of violence at the hands of powerful criminal organizations. The presence of the state in these communities, most commonly known as favelas, was effectively null. In 2008, however, a new policing initiative, the Pacifying Police Units (UPPs from the original Portuguese name), was launched, with the intention of driving out organized crime, bringing the state into these communities and ultimately driving down the crime rate. At the height of the program, 38 favelas were occupied, and at first glance it seemed to have paid off: crime rates were down, and the presence of the state seemed to be taking hold. However, 37 out of 38 UPPs were present within city limits, and most other areas of the state of Rio had no such experiment. Elsewhere, crime rates continued to rise, but most attributed that situation to the simple reality that their policing was still lacking. This thesis, however, intends to test an alternative explanation. Is it possible that crime continued to increase in these areas not because they did not have UPPs of their own, but rather because Rio’s units led to negative spillovers, raising crime rates elsewhere? In other words, did UPPs displace crime to other areas of the state? Using crime data for the years 2007-2018 from the Instituto de Segurança Pública (ISP, Public Safety Institute) and a short-horizon event study framework, this study finds that indeed the units seem to increase the lethal violence counts in the region in the short-term, provided the units created had a large population and were closer to Baixada Fluminense.
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Discriminatory discourse and aggressive language in digital communication in Brazil Mércia Regina Santana Flannery The University of Pennsylvania [email protected]
My presentation introduces research that I conducted for my book, “Nós versus eles: discurso discriminatório e linguagem agressiva na communicação digital no Brasil”, awaiting publication date. I started the project with the objective of gathering examples of narratives of racial discrimination in different spheres of Brazilian quotidian life. However, as I started my research, I was finding recurring examples of aggressive language and discriminatory discourse covering several facets of Brazilian culture and society. Whether it is an intrinsic property of computer mediated (or digital) communication, or a symptom of profound divisions in our ever so politically polarized societies, the ubiquity of such aggressive and discriminatory language made me broaden my focus to look at other discursive manifestations of prejudice in Brazil. Thus, I collected and analyzed examples of this aggressive and discriminatory language in social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, and in news forums about a series of important events in this country, including the presidential campaign of 2018, episodes of discrimination against TV personalities and in soccer stadiums, episodes of violence against women (including the death of Marielle Franco), prejudice expressed toward indigenous peoples, candomblé and a historical decision by the Brazilian Supreme Court criminalizing homophobia. In every case, whether individuals interacted with others, or expressed their opinions in news forums or blogs, a tendency to open confrontation, using linguistic strategies such as name calling, racial insults, and cultural stereotypes was noted and interpreted against the background of prevailing cultural discourses and prejudices in Brazil. The contribution of my research is situated both within linguistic studies of prejudice in discourse, and digital communication in Brazilian Portuguese. Further, mapping current discourses and ways of referring to “the other” can throw light in new and opposing tendencies in Brazil, unmasking longstanding cultural myths in this country, once considered an example of harmony, given its peaceful and tolerant people.
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Norrisa Haynes MD, MPH Dr. Norrisa Haynes is a senior cardiology fellow at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn). She attended Yale University for her undergraduate studies where she received a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Molecular and Cellular Biology. She went on to complete her medical school and internal medicine training at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. During medical school, she received a Master of Public Health (MPH) from Harvard University. After residency, she worked for Partners in Health (PIH) in Haiti for 2 years at Hôpital Universitaire de Mirebalais (HUM) as a junior attending. During those two years, she also worked as a Harvard Medical School instructor and Brigham hospitalist. After spending 2 years in Haiti, she started cardiology fellowship at UPenn where she is currently a third-year cardiology fellow. She is interested in imaging and is currently obtaining a Master of Science in Health Policy. Dr. Haynes is a member of the ACC/AHA joint guidelines committee and is a member of the ACC FIT Women in Cardiology group (WIC). Dr. Haynes also serves on the board of the Association of Black Cardiologists (ABC). In 2019, Dr. Haynes wrote a piece entitled: “What Cardiologists Can Learn from Global Health” which was featured in the ACC FIT newsletter. Dr. Haynes has noteworthy publications and a clear commitment to addressing the cardiovascular needs of underserved communities domestically as well as abroad.
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THINKING SIMILARLY, OPERATING DIFFERENTLY: THE CUBAN STATE AND SNET'S APPROACH TO TECHNOLOGICAL SOVEREIGNTY
Mariela Morales Suárez, Annenberg School for Communication, CARG, Graduate Student
Abstract
This research examines how the notion of technological sovereignty is deployed in Cuba and how it is mobilized through formal and informal modes. I use the Government’s latest tech and internet law and a community regulated street network as a case study that illustrate such notions. Particularly how, despite their similar conceptualizations of technological sovereignty, these two actors came head to head last year which provoked the disappearance of the community street network, SNET. I speculate about the ramifications of Cuba’s internet law (Decreto Ley 370) and how it might stifle appropriation and creativity of technologies in an already existing environment of technological “precarity.”
Keywords: Technological sovereignty; Cuban Tech infrastructure; Internet Regulation; Community Networks; Internet Governance.
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The Water System in Western Puerto Rico: Determining Vulnerabilities in a Changing Climate Alana Paccione, Department of Earth and Environmental, CAS
Puerto Rico has long suffered issues with electric and water supply consistency. However, these issues were not placed into the forefront of public attention until the disastrous Hurricanes Irma and Maria left the island in the dark for an excruciating period of time. The effects were devastating on communities, buildings, utilities, and the economy. This paper determines key vulnerabilities of the water system in the western region of Puerto Rico through in-depth interviews with important stakeholders in varied industries and a survey to the community. These specific vulnerabilities are then evaluated to compensate for the effects of a changing climate. It is found that the water system in the study area is most vulnerable to: aging infrastructure, political and economic instability, natural disasters, overdependence on electricity, and changes in source water supply. Stronger storms and unpredictable weather patterns due to climate change add additional pressure to these vulnerabilities, and therefore stress the need for a more resilient water system. It is recommended that all major stakeholder organizations develop a climate change mitigation and resiliency plan in order to make significant progress. The research was impacted by limitations in the amount of stakeholders interviewed and survey responses.
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Tihosuco Heritage Preservation and Community Development Project Richard M. Leventhal Penn Anthropology Penn Cultural Heritage Center
Ejido de Tihozuco Comunidad de Tihosuco Alcaldia de Tihosuco Penn Cultural Heritage Center Museo de la Guerra de Castas
The Tihosuco Heritage Preservation and Community Development Project (Quintana Roo, Mexico; 2011- present) is an ongoing collaboration between three local partners and the Penn Cultural Heritage Center of the University of Pennsylvania Museum. The partners are the Museum of the Caste War, the Tihosuco Ejido and the Town Mayor’s office. Together with the Penn CHC, the partners are committed to exploring diverse aspects of local cultural patrimony and evolving Maya identity. The Caste War of Yucatán (also known as the Maya Social War) is generally acknowledged as the longest and most successful indigenous rebellion in Latin American history. Tihosuco’s remarkable early colonial history, its abandonment during the 60-year Caste War and eventual re-settlement in the 1930s creates a natural division in research focus: before and after abandonment. Personnel from the Tihosuco partners, the University of Pennsylvania and Mexican scholars respond to community-defined priorities focused on the ties that bind place and people, the past to the present and the present to the future. Overall Project Tihosuco, a small Maya town located on Quintana Roo’s northern frontier with the state of Yucatán, has a unique history as the place where the Caste War started in 1847. A rebellion and war of resistance that lasted many decades, the Caste War’s imprint defines both the region and the town. For the past 80 years, the people of Tihosuco have been preserving the remnants of this rebellion on their ejido lands. Abandoned towns, haciendas, ranchos, roads and walls are all found throughout the ejido lands surrounding the town. Goals The development of a multi-faceted program that: • Helps bring small-scale economic growth to the town and community based on its rich cultural heritage • Through research and community engagement, creates an interpretive framework for the rebellion story to be understood and presented by Maya people of Tihosuco • Preserves the physical evidence of the colonial and Caste War eras
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LATIN-CENTRIC INDIGENOUS NETWORKS AND THE CALL FOR A PLURIVERSAL INTERNET
Fernanda R. Rosa, Postdoctoral Fellow, Annenberg School for Communication, Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication (CARGC)
Abstract
This research examines the emergence of shared networks in Tseltal and Zapoteco communities in Oaxaca and Chiapas (Mexico), in which local networks, based on signal sharing practices, extend the internet to areas where the services of existing larger internet service providers are unsatisfactory or unavailable. In the case studies analyzed, indigenous people become internet codesigners by infrastructuring for their own local networks and interconnecting to the global internet. The research elucidates the values at stake when local Tseltal and Zapoteco networks become part of the global internet. It argues that a hybrid materializes at the level of network interconnection when comunalidad values supported by unlicensed frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum, towers, radio antennas, houses rooftops, routers, and cables meet the values of the internet service providers and their policies. Shared networks are a result of what these arrangements both enact and constrain, and the evidence of vivid struggles for a pluriversal internet.
Keywords: Digital Inequalities; Infrastructuring; Internet Interconnection; Comunalidad; Pluriversal Design; Ethnography of Infrastructure; Values in Design; Community Networks; Indigenous Networks; Internet Governance.
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Imagining Charlie Chaplin in Revolutionary Cuba Will Schmenner Lecturer, History of Art
In 2007, Ana M. López argued that Cuba’s cinema is “a porous national cinema.” López situates this development around The Special Period, Cuba’s struggle in the early 1990s with the loss of subsidies and support from the Soviet Union. The Special Period had enormous effects upon Cuban cinema. However, the porous nature of Cuban cinema had it roots in earlier motifs and institutional decisions, as López suggests. In this paper, I will focus on the creation of The Cuban Film Institute, ICAIC (Instituto Cubano de Arte e Industria Cinematográficos). The Revolutionary government created ICAIC in one of its earliest official cultural acts, signaling the prioritization of cinema in the new government. Unexpectedly, Charlie Chaplin became the unofficial mascot of ICAIC, appearing on some of its earliest published materials.
Using primary research in ICAIC’s archives, I will argue that Chaplin’s internationalism and complex ideological relationship to the United States was critical to ICAIC’s sense of cubanía (Cuban national identity). ICAIC use of Chaplin’s image follows Benedict Anderson’s notion that anti-colonial anarchism goes hand-in-hand with emerging nationalism, and, indeed, the Cuban case study contains several layers of contradictions and complexities. Chaplin’s own mixed relationship to industrialization and capitalism is reflected and refracted by ICAIC’s adoption of The Tramp as its unofficial symbol. This contradiction is perhaps at its most meaningful and nuanced in its articulation of Cuba’s desire to be more than just the ideological and aesthetic opposite of the United States.
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Reconstructing the Population History of Mexico & The Caribbean Theodore Schurr, Ph.D, Professor, Anthropology
The following publications illustrate the range of work in Mexico, the Caribbean and South America in which I have been engaged for the past decade.
Anthropological Genetics Manuscripts Paulino-Ramirez R, Schurr TG, Aldrich MA, Vega B, Vilar MG, Mencia-Ripley AT, Guerrero-Martínez S, Benitez A Mercedes A, Tapia, L, Domingo R, Roa A, Rodríguez C, Villanueva A. 2020. Genomic diversity in the Dominican Republic: A complex legacy of Taíno, African and European ancestries. Am J Hum Genet (In Preparation)
Mencía Ripley A, Paulino-Ramírez R, Schurr TG, Vilar MG, Guerrero Martínez S, Veras-de Jesús I, Henríquez Cross A. 2020. Genetic diversity and ethnic identity of participants of the Dominican Genographic Project: A qualitative approach to exploring identity and its implications for mental health in understudied communities. Identity (In Preparation). Gómez MR, Vilar MG, Meraz MA, Figueroa-Corona P, Véliz D, Zúniga G, Hernández EA, Gaieski JB, Figueroa- Corona P, Owings AC, Gaieski JB, Schurr TG, The Genographic Consortium. 2020. Y-chromosome diversity in Aztlan descendants and its implications for the history of Central Mexico. iScience (In Review)
Gómez R, Schurr TG, Meraz-Ríos MA. 2019. Diversity of Mexican paternal lineages reflects evidence of 500 years of admixture. In: Muñoz Moreno ML, Crawford MH, editors. Human Migration: Biocultural Perspectives. Oxford: Oxford University Press (In Press).
Benn Torres J, Martucci V, Aldrich MC, Vilar MG, MacKinney T, Tariq M, Gaieski JB, Bharath Hernandez R, Browne ZE, Stevenson M, Walters W, Schurr TG, The Genographic Consortium. 2019. Analysis of biogeographic ancestry reveals complex genetic histories for indigenous communities of St. Vincent and Trinidad. Am J Phys Anthropol 169(3): 482-497 DOI:10.1002/ajpa.23859.
Paulino-Ramirez R, Oakley E, Vega B, Vilar MG, Mencia-Ripley A, Tapia L, Guerrero-Martinez S, Benitez A, Schurr TG. 2019. Diversidad genética en ADN mitocondrial en la República Dominicana: Implicaciones para la historia y demografía de la Española. Clío [Journal of the Domincan Academy of History] 88(197): 193-206.
Schurr TG, Benn Torres J, Vilar MG, Gaieski JB, Melendez C. 2016. An emerging history of indigenous Caribbean and circum-Caribbean populations: Insights from archeological, ethnographic, genetic and historical studies. In: Zuckerman M, Martin DL, editors. New Directions in Biological Anthropology: Papers Honoring the Legacy of George Armelagos. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, pp. 385-402.
Jota MS, Lacerda DR, Sandoval JR, Vieira PPR, Soares DOQ, Santos-Júnior JE, Acosta O, Cuellar C, Revollo S, Paz-y- Miño C, Fujita R, Vallejo GA, Schurr TG, Tarazona-Santos EM, Peña SDJ, Ayub Q, Tyler-Smith C, Santos FR, The Genographic Consortium. 2016. New native South American Y-chromosome lineages. J Hum Genet 61(7): 593-603. DOI: 10.1038/jhg.2016.26
Benn Torres J, Vilar MG, Torres G, Gaieski JB, Bharath Hernandez R, Browne ZE, Stevenson M, Waters W, Schurr TG, The Genographic Consortium. 2015. Genetic diversity in Carib and Garifuna populations of the Lesser Antilles reveals significant indigenous ancestry and insights into Caribbean settlement history. PLoS ONE 10(10): e0139192
Vilar MG, Melendez C, Sanders A, Walia A, Gaieski JB, Owings AC, Schurr TG, The Genographic Consortium. 2014. Genetic diversity in Puerto Rico and its implications for the peopling of the West Indies. Am J Phys Anthropol 155: 352–368.
Schurr TG. 2010. Coastal waves and island hopping: A genetic view of Caribbean prehistory in the context of New World colonization. In: SM Fitzpatrick, A Ross, editors. Island Shores, Distant Pasts: Archaeological and Biological Approaches to the Pre-Columbian Settlement of the Caribbean. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, pp. 177-198.
Medical Genetics Papers
Sanchez-Fernandez, C, Bolatti EM, Culasso ACA, Chouhy D, Kowalewski MM, Stella EJ, Schurr TG, Rinas MA, Liotta DJ, Campos RH, Giri AA, Badano I. 2020. Identification and evolutionary characterization of two novel papillomavirus sequences in New World monkeys (spp. Sapajus and Alouatta) from Argentina. Mol Phylogenet Evol (In Review).
Badano I, Culasso CAC, Totaro ME, Sanabria DJ, Campos RH, Liotta JD, Schurr TG. 2020. Human papillomavirus Type-16 evolution in the Americas. Mol Biol Evol (In Preparation).
Badano I, Sanabria DJ, Totaro ME, Rubinstein S, Liotta DJ, Picconi MA, Campos R, Schurr TG. 2018. mtDNA background, HPV infection and the risk of cervical cancer in a multiethnic population of northeastern Argentina. PLoS ONE 13(1): e0190966. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0190966.
Badano I, Totaro ME, Culasso ACA, Sanabria DJ, Schurr TG, Balette IC, Roisman A, Basiletti J, Picconi MA, Campos RH, Domingo LJ. 2015. Genetic characterization and clinical implications of human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16) variants from northeastern Argentina. Infect Genet Evol 29: 103-105.
Badano I, Schurr TG, Stietz SM, Dulik MC, Mampaey M, Quintero IM, Zinovich JB, Campos RH, Liotta DJ. 2013. TNF promoter SNP variation in Amerindian and white-admixed populations from Misiones, Argentina. Internatl J Immunogenet 40: 216-221.
Badano I, Stietz S, Schurr TG, Picconi A, Fekete D, Quintero I, Cabrera M, Campos R, Liotta J. 2012. Analysis of TNF- promoter SNPs and the risk of cervical cancer in urban populations of Posadas (Misiones, Argentina). J Clin Virol 53: 54-59.
New World Primate Genetics Babb PL, Fernandez-Duque E, Schurr TG. 2015. Monogamous owl monkeys differ in the structure of OXTR from other non-monogamous primates. Mol Phylogenet Evol 91: 160-177
Huck M, Fernandez-Duque E, Babb PL, Schurr TG. 2014. Correlates of genetic monogamy in pair-living mammals: Insights from Azara’s owl monkeys. Proc Roy Soc Lond B 281(1782): 20140195.
Babb P, McIntosh AM, Fernandez-Duque E, Schurr TG. 2013. Prolactin receptor gene diversity in owl monkeys (Aotus spp.) and humans suggests a non-neutral evolutionary history among primates. Internatl J Primatol 35: 129-155.
Babb PL, McIntosh AM, Fernandez-Duque E, Di Fiore T, Schurr TG. 2011. An optimized genetic fingerprinting strategy reveals individual identity and kinship in Azara’s owl monkeys (Aotus azarai azarai). Folia Primatologia 82: 107-117.
Babb PL, Fernandez-Duque E, Baiduc C, Gagneux P, Evan S, Schurr TG. 2011. Mitochondrial DNA diversity in Azara's owl monkey (Aotus azarai) of the Argentinean Chaco. Am J Phys Anthropol 146: 209-224.
Babb PL, Fernandez-Duque E, Schurr TG. 2010. AVPR1A variation in the monogamous owl monkey (Aotus azarai azarai), and its implications for the evolution of platyrrhine social behavior. J Mol Evol 71(4): 279–297.
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Tihosuco Heritage Preservation and Community Development Project Samantha Seyler PhD Candidate, Department of Anthropology Ejido de Tihozuco Comunidad de Tihosuco Alcaldía de Tihosuco Museo de la Guerra de Castas Penn Cultural Heritage Center I. Archaeology
The archaeology sub-program was developed in collaboration with the Tihosuco Ejido (federally-recognized land commune). While the program was originally designed to survey the abandoned, historic town of Tela’, or Lal Kaj, the archaeological sub- program has expanded into large-scale survey of the historic 19th century landscape abandoned during the Caste War. Within the ejido, this historic landscape includes towns, haciendas, and ranches, as well as the extensive road networks that connected these places to one another. II. Oral Histories
Oral histories provide insights into the memories and experiences of community members of Tihosuco. These oral histories reflect community members’ understandings of the Caste War and engage with their history over the past 150 years. III. Archival Research
Archival research has focused on documents located in Mérida and Mexico City that pertain to the Caste War and the years leading up to the rebellion, including censuses, military strategies, and newspapers. Importantly, our team is invested in making these resources more accessible to Tihosuco community members. IV. Museum Development
Our project has worked in collaboration with the Caste War Museum to design new exhibits about the Caste War and current research projects. Exhibits are written in Yucatec Maya, Spanish, and English. V. Colonial House Documentation
The historic preservation sub-program focuses on the colonial era structures that are in Tihosuco. Initiated at the request of the Mayor of Tihosuco and owners of the historic houses, the historic preservation sub-program has documented over 60 historic structures within the town center. In addition to drawing, photographing, and writing condition reports of the structures, researchers have interviewed property owners to learn more about the histories of these historic houses. VI. Maya Language Reclamation
This sub-program was developed in close collaboration with the local Caste War Museum and is focused on the shifting linguistic landscape of the region. Project leaders are working with community members to think of Yucatec Maya as a language of the present, rather than just a language of the past. One such project is a bilingual graphic book series, in Yucatec Maya and Spanish, about the heroes of the Caste War. VII. Tihosuco Church and Convent Documentation
This sub-project is focused on the documentation of the Templo del Niño Jesus. This church was partially destroyed during the Caste War and the open facade, today, stands as an important symbol of the rebellion for many people in the region. VIII. Historic Photos of Tihosuco
This sub-program is focused on the documentation and preservation of historic photos of Tihosuco. These photos provide us with images of people and places of the past as well as insights into how Tihosuco has changed through time. IX. Tourism Development
Our project is collaborating with the people of Tihosuco to develop small-scale, sustainable tourism. Controlled by town members, this small-scale tourism would allow members of Tihosuco to control narratives of their past while similarly benefiting the community economically.
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