A Week on the Verge of the World: Migration, Art, and Humanities

Monday to Friday | November 13-17, 2023 | Multiple Locations | Please register聽for the workshop

Felipe Baeza's "Untitled (so much darkness, so much brownness)," 2016

Felipe Baeza, "Untitled (so much darkness, so much brownness)," 2016

This series of talks and workshops focused on rethinking, discussing, and finding paths toward empathy in the context of one of the most profound problems of contemporary global society: migration. In particular, the phenomenon of migration from Latin America to the US will be addressed. This week of events is focused on the cultural production from both sides of the US-Mexico border. Two internationally recognized and award-winning Latin American artists and writers will visit 情色空间. Both produce works on migration, using fiction and non-fiction literature and electronic art installations. Their works focus on Central American undocumented immigrants into the US, particularly the experience of migrant children.

This event is sponsored by:聽
Institute for the Liberal Arts
Romance Languages and Literatures Department
Sociology Department
Center for Human Rights and International Justice

Schedule and Registration

Monday, November 13, 2023聽聽|聽Multiple locations| Registration for Workshop Only

5:00-6:00 PM聽

Juan Pablo Villalobos麓 workshop | Gasson 301

6:00-8:00 PM聽

Valeria Luiselli麓s talk | Gasson 100


Tuesday, November 14, 2023 | Gasson 302 | Please register to attend

5:00-6:00 PM聽

Juan Pablo Villalobos麓 workshop


Wednesday, November 15, 2023 | Gasson 100 |聽Registration for Workshop Only

5:00-6:00 PM

Juan Pablo Villalobos麓 workshop

6:00-8:00 PM

Juan Pablo Villalobos麓 talk


Thursday, November 16, 2023聽聽|聽Gasson 303 |聽Please register to attend

5:00-6:00 PM

Juan Pablo Villalobos麓 workshop


Friday, November 17, 2023聽聽|聽Stokes S195 | Open to All

5:00-7:00 PM

Juan Pablo Villalobos麓 workshop showcase

Speakers

Valeria Luiselli

Valeria Luiselli

Mexican author Valeria Luiselli鈥檚 literary work includes聽Faces in the Crowd聽(Coffee House Press, 2013),聽Tell Me How It Ends聽(Coffee House Press, 2017), which have been translated into more than 30 languages. She is the recipient of a 2019 MacArthur Fellowship and the winner of the Dublin Literary Award 2021, Rathbones Folio Prize in the UK, two Los Angeles Times Book Prizes, the Carnegie Medal, and the American Book Award. She has been nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Kirkus Prize, and the Booker Prize. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Granta, and McSweeney鈥檚, among other publications. She has received a Bearing Witness Fellowship from the Art for Justice Fund. Luiselli is a Visiting Professor of Ethnicity, Indigeneity, and Migration in the Department of English at Harvard University.

During her campus visit, Luiselli will discuss her book, initially written in English,聽Lost Children Archive聽(Alfred A. Knopf, 2019), and other creative works that present contemporary migration.


Juan Pablo Villalobos

Juan Pablo Villalobos

The Mexican writer Juan Pablo Villalobos is the author of a dozen books translated into English and a dozen other languages. These titles include聽Down the Rabbit Hole聽(And Other Stories, 2011),聽Quesadillas聽(And Other Stories, 2013), and published only in Portuguese聽No Jalisco Style聽(Realejo/Bateia, 2014),聽The Invasion of the Spirit People聽(And Other Stories, 2020). His fourth novel,聽I Don鈥檛 Expect Anyone to Believe Me, won one of the most prestigious awards in the Spanish Language, the Herralde Literary Prize, in 2016.聽Down the Rabbit Hole聽was nominated for the Guardian First Book Award in the UK and the Kirkus Prize. He writes for several publications, including Granta, Letras Libres, Gatopardo, and the English Pen, and translates Brazilian literature into Spanish. He is a literature and literary creation professor at the Pompeu Fabra University of Barcelona, where 情色空间 has a study abroad program, and the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

Villalobos has agreed to do a week-long residency on campus, delivering a workshop and meetings with students. His talk will discuss his book聽The Other Side. Stories of Central American Teen Refugees Who Dream of Crossing the Border聽(Macmillan, 2019). This book seeks to give a central place to the voice of Central American migrant and refugee children and youth who cross the US-Mexico border. Additionally, he will address other forms of migration that form part of the core of his literary work, such as Latin American migration to Europe and the contemporary relevance of Barcelona as a multicultural city.

Campus Map and Parking

Campus Map and Parking:

Parking is available at the nearby Beacon Street and Commonwealth Avenue Garages.

Boston College is also accessible via public transportation (MBTA B Line - Boston College).

Directions, Maps, and Parking

Visitor Parking Information

Boston College strongly encourages conference participants to receive the COVID-19 vaccination before attending events on campus.


Boston College strongly encourages conference participants to receive the COVID-19 vaccination before attending events on campus.