CeMeCA's Events
For its public programming, the Center for Mexico and Central America hosts different events throughout the academic year.
Below is a list of past and upcoming events.
Spring 2024:
Racialized Geographies in México: Violence, Disappearance and Militarization in Indigenous Territories
Tuesday, April 30, 2024
In the presentation, the speaker will reflect on the impact of the “war on drugs” on the bodies and territories of the indigenous peoples of Mexico. Taking as an analytical window the life histories of women victims of sexual violence in militarized and paramilitarized regions, and the experience of relatives of disappeared persons, this presentation will establish connections between occupation through the violation and control of indigenous women’s bodies, the disappearance of racialized youth and the occupation of their territories and dispossession of their natural resources. These processes take place simultaneously and respond to the neocolonial logic of capitalism, within which gender and race inequalities are essential for their reproduction.
RSVP: Email [email protected] confirming attendance.
Monthly Seminar Series on Corruption and Impunity (Session 11)
April, 26, 2024
Session 11: Violence and Crime Risk: Shifting from Individual Targeting to Scenario Assessment and Strategic Player Targeting
This session explores how data analytics can enhance crime risk assessment by understanding organized behavior in criminal environments. Speakers will share insights to offer comprehensive solutions for both punishing criminal networks and rehabilitating individuals while also realigning economic incentives.
Click here to register.
Nahuatl Today [Postponed]
April 23, 2024: Traduciendo el Códice Florentino Digital: un recurso al alcance de todos.
April 24, 2024: Tlaltepactli Archive & Research Lab Presentation at the Center for Science and Society
April 25, 2024: Introductory Nahuatl Language and Culture Workshop
Eduardo de la Cruz is director of the Instituto de Docencia e Investigación Etnológica de Zacatecas, a nonprofit organization for the teaching and research of Nahuatl language and culture. He holds a master’s in humanistic research from Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas, where he wrote his thesis in Nahuatl. He has taught Nahuatl at Brown, Stanford, UCLA, Yale, among others. He is currently doctoral candidate at the University of Warsaw.
Tendiendo Puentes: Conversando nuestras diferencias en América Latina
April 23, 2024
Mexican Presidential Election: Social, Economic and Regional Implications.
Conversation between Renata Turrent (MPP Economist), Coordinator of liaison in Dr. Claudia Sheinbaum's presidential campaign & Idelfonso Guajardo, Former Secretary of Economy of Mexico and international liaison in Xóchitl Gálvez's presidential campaign
Click here to register.
*Spanish-English translation will be provided*
Central Bank Digital Currency in Focus: A Talk on Legal Frameworks and International Perspectives
April 18, 2024
The rapid evolution of digital payment systems and the increasing prevalence of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have spurred interest in exploring digital forms of fiat currency issued by central banks. Because of this, Central Bank Digital Currency represents a paradigm shift in monetary policy and financial infrastructure, with implications ranging from economic inclusion to national sovereignty.
This event aims to foster a deeper understanding of the opportunities and challenges inherent in CDC adoption, the international framework surrounding these challenges, a comparative analysis of CBDC initiatives and approaches across different countries and Central Banks as well as an exploration of potential future scenarios for CBDC adoption and their implications for the global financial system.
Click here to register.
Central America on the Move: Migration, Asylum & Transnational Adoption
April 18, 2024
Join historian Rachel Nolan and journalist Jonathan Blitzer to discuss their new books on Central America's close and fraught relations with the U.S., past and present. Two forms of different but related migrations have linked the regions: asylum-seeking and international adoption. Connecting the historical realities of political violence in Central America to our present immigration impasses helps us see this mass movement of people in a new way.
The books will be available for purchase during the event.
Serie de seminarios mensuales en corrupción e impunidad (Sesión 10)
Sesión 10: Cuando el sistema judicial es insuficiente: estrategias penales versus redes criminales
Marzo 28, 2024
¿Es posible combatir redes criminales complejas en ambientes altamente criminales y corruptos utilizando estrategias penales? Acompáñanos a una provocadora conversación en donde presentamos la complejidad de estas redes que han revelado los análisis de datos, y discutimos el alcance de las estrategias penales y judiciales para desmantelarlas, debilitarlas o controlarlas.
Haga clic aquí para registrarse.
Tracking the Deportation State: Public Records Requests, Data Analysis, and Research on Immigration Enforcement
March 20, 2024
Join us for a conversation with Dr. Austin Kocher, immigration researcher and assistant professor at the Transactional Research Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), a research institute at Syracuse University that uses Freedom of Information Act requests to study the U.S. immigration enforcement apparatus. During the event, Dr. Kocher will unpack TRAC’s various methodologies, key research findings, and ongoing impact on public policy and popular discourse. TRAC’s data provides one-of-a-kind insight into who gets asylum, how many immigrants are detained, and where immigrants facing deportation live—all at a scale that enables multi-disciplinary mix-methods research.
Click here to register.
Mujeres que inspiran: Conversando sobre el feminismo con Olimpia Coral
Marzo 18, 2024
Únete a la conversación "Mujeres que inspiran: Conversando sobre el Feminismo" con Olimpia Coral Melo Cruz, activista mexicana reconocida como una de las 100 personas más influyentes del mundo en 2021 por la revista Time, y Sol Prieto, investigadora en CONICET y Argentine Studies Visiting Fellow de ILAS en la Universidad de Columbia. Olimpia es hoy una destacada activista y defensora de espacios digitales libres de violencia para mujeres y niñas. Es la impulsora de la Ley Olimpia, y fundadora del Frente Nacional para la Sororidad, colectivo que tiene como misión proporcionar apoyo y acompañamiento a víctimas de la violencia digital.
Haz clic aquí para registrarte y asegurar tu lugar.
Conversation: "Human Rights Violations in Nicaragua: There is no light at the end of the tunnel"
March 7, 2023
The main objective of the Conversation "Human Rights Violations in Nicaragua: There is no light at the end of the tunnel" is to present the Second Report of the Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua, which exhaustively addresses the current situation of human rights in Nicaragua, the Central American country. The issue is of utmost relevance given the persistent political and social crisis that has generated serious violations of fundamental rights in Nicaragua. Through this event, we seek to amplify the voices of the situation and promote concrete actions to stop violations and move towards the effective protection of human rights in the country.
Introduction to Trauma-Informed Interviewing Skills and Techniques
February 23, 2024
In this workshop, participants will learn how to use trauma-informed interviewing techniques, as well as how trauma impacts memory; the differences between individual, collective, and generational trauma; and how to prepare to engage or manage traumatic stories during an interview while holding space and care for the person who shares their experiences. The workshop will also provide information about self-care for the interviewer including an overview about how to identify vicarious trauma and after-interview care and support for the interviewee.
Click here to register.
Fall 2023:
Guatemala: Democracy in the Crosshairs
December 11, 2023
Guatemala today is suffering a growing crisis of the rule of law: the criminalization of anti-corruption efforts, the suppression of protest, and the persecution of human rights defenders. These dynamics are unfolding against a backdrop of uncertainty regarding whether President-Elect Bernardo Arevalo will be allowed to assume office in January. This panel brings together former diplomats, academics, human rights defenders, and exiles to examine these dynamics and to ask how Guatemalans and the international community can respond to this crisis.
Click here to register.
The event will be in English and Spanish.
Monthly Seminar Series on Corruption and Impunity (Session 9)
December 6, 2023
Session 9: Uncovering Beneficiary Ownership with Data Science: Maximizing Insights with Limited Data
Ensuring transparency in beneficiary ownership is paramount in the ongoing battle against corruption, the prevention of illegal financial activities, and the mitigation of tax evasion. Join us in a discourse focused on the prospective utilization of data science as a forensic instrument for the detection and exposure of illicit practices involving corporations and organized criminal networks.
Click here to register.
City of Migrants: Students Involvement in Local Immigration Advocacy and Activism
December 4, 2023
This panel brings together undergraduate and graduate students involved in Iocal immigration issues, ranging from legal assistance to tutoring. Join us to discuss the role students can play in addressing the challenges of migrant newcomers in the city, the relationship between academic and extracurricular work on these issues, and what advice those who have gotten involved have for others who would like to do so.
Book Presentation: Walking Together: Central Americans and Transit Migration Through Mexico
November 30, 2023
Join Sociologist Alejandra Díaz de León describe the trajectories of different types of social networks that migrants form, showing, surprisingly, that pre-established social networks might not be the best social arrangement in transit.
Click here to register.
Click here to access the book.
Memoria y política en la coyuntura electoral actual (Guatemala, Venezuela y Argentina)
November 27, 2023
En esta conversación, un panel interdisciplinario intentará vincular la crisis de la democracia con el debate acerca de la memoria y su uso desde el poder.
*This event will be in Spanish
Monthly Seminar Series on Corruption and Impunity (Session 8)
November 17, 2023
Session 8: Good Tools, Bad Actors: The Misuses of Anti-Corruption Data Analysis
Anti-corruption analytics and information data solutions have proven highly effective tools for addressing issues like procurement, conflicts of interest, red flags, fraud detection, and police intelligence. But these tools can also be exploited by criminals or authoritarian governments for malicious ends, such as reinforcing corrupt rent systems and conducting political witch hunts. This session delves into the complexities surrounding analytical and information data tools that are potent tools to fight crime and corruption, but which also harbor the potential for misuse.
Click here to register.
Monthly Seminar Series on Corruption and Impunity (Session 7)
October 27, 2023
Session 7: Utilizing Data and Network Analysis to Counter Narcotic Criminal Groups and Address Narcotic Violence.
This panel explores the uses of data science tools in the fight against narco-trafficking networks. Such tools have been used to dismantle narcotic networks and curtail violence and have also been mobilized in response to the human rights violations these groups perpetrate, specifically forced disappearances. The panelists draw specifically on the experience of Mexico to explore these issues. This event will be virtual and will be delivered in Spanish,
Click here to register.
Art in Exile: The Work of Nicaraguan Painter León Van Kyu
October 21, 2023
In the last eighteen months, more than one hundred thousand migrant newcomers have arrived in New York City. One of them is painter León Van Kyu. Forced to flee his native Nicaragua as a result of political repression, he arrived in New York City in August 2022 with his wife and children. Through his painting, he explores the experience of exile and the search for a new home. In a moment when these newcomers are being blamed for the “destruction” of New York City, this exhibit suggests a different narrative: how our new neighbors enrich culture and community.