Last Tuesday, 23th April, the Latin American and Iberian Studies Department took part, once again, in the Quixote non-stop reading held in the Circulo de Bellas Artes in Madrid from April 22nd to April 24th 2013. This event, promoted by the Instituto Cervantes, takes place annually for  the Book Day celebration, and it gathers some of the most representative figures in Spanish politics and culture.

At 3 PM (9 PM, Madrid time) and through Video-conference, UMass Students Hannah Mulken and Josefina Fernandez, and Magdalena Malinowska from Boston University; as well as Victor Requena, intern at the Spanish Resource Center took part in the event, reading several paragraphs of this representative work.

The Non-stop reading of Quixote was broadcast live  and worldwide through radio and video during the approximately 48 hours that the non-stop reading of the complete work lasted.

“XVII Lectura Continuada del Quijote”, 22-24 de Abril de 2013

El pasado 23 de abril el Departamento de Estudios Latinoamericanos e Ibéricos tuvo la fortuna, un año más, de participar en la lectura continuada del quijote celebrada en el Círculo de Bellas Artes de Madrid entre los días 22 y 24 de Abril. Este acto, promovido por el Instituto Cervantes, se realiza anualmente con motivo del día del libro, y reúne a representativas figuras del mundo de la política y la cultura española.

A las 3 PM (9 PM en Madrid) y a través de videoconferencia, las estudiantes de UMass-Boston Hannah Mulkern y Josefina Fernandez, y Magdalena Malinowska de Boston University; así como el becario Víctor Requena del Centro Español de Recursos intervinieron en la lectura leyendo varios fragmentos de la representativa obra en riguroso directo con Madrid.

La lectura continuada del quijote fue retransmitida en directo y a nivel mundial a través de radio y video durante las aproximadamente 48 horas ininterrumpidas que duró la lectura completa de la obra.

Nino Kebadze, Assistant Professor of Latin American and Iberian Studies presented the paper. “Truth Claims of Memory in Javier Marías Los enamoramientos (2011).”  at the 44^th Annual Meeting of the Association for Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies.  Albuquerque, New Mexico.  April 4-7, 2013.

Reyes Coll-Tellechea, Professor of Latin American and Iberian Studies  was the keynote speaker at the  2013 American Association of Foreign Language Teachers  Conference (AFLT) in conjunction with SCOLT (Souther Conference on Language Teaching) . The conference was held at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex  on April 11-13. The theme for the conference was: “World Language Learning: Setting the Global Standard.” Professor Coll-Tellechea’s address was entitled “Life and Literature: Lazarillo and the Spanish Inquisition”; Professor Coll-Tellechea also was a guest speaker at the University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa) Department of Modern Languages and Classics. She spoke to an audience of graduate students and researchers about the political implications of Spanish literary history.

Ann Blum, Associate Professor, Latin American and Iberian Studies, presented a paper,”Home: the Color of Memory,” on a panel entitled “Visions and Defense of Parenting and Childhood in Latin America,” at the 60th Annual Meeting of the Rocky Mountain Council for Latin American Studies, held in Santa Fe NM, April 3-6, 2-13.

María Madureira is the new Director of the Portuguese Resource Center / Instituto Camões on the 6th floor of the Healey Library. She will also be teaching in the Fall. Click here to read an article about her in Portuguese.

The Department of Latin American & Iberian Studies welcomes prospective students and their families.

LAIS Major, Zaida Ismatul and Professor María Aguilar Solano

LAIS Major, Zaida Ismatul, Professor María Aguilar Solano, and Professor Diego Mansilla

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Professor María Luisa Osorio, long time faculty member in the Hispanic Studies Department, died on October 24, 2012, at the age of 88.

María Luisa Osorio was born in Havana and became an ardent supporter of the Cuban Revolution.  She first visited to the United States in the 1940s on a fellowship to study English.  Her original field of research focused on the novels of the Mexican Revolution.  During her years at UMass Boston, however, she worked on contemporary Peninsular Spanish literature, with a special interest in fiction by women.

She was married to Spanish sculptor Miguel Gusils, whom she met in Paris while she was there on a grant from the United Nations and he was living there in exile.  Because he could not return to Spain, they came to the United States in the early 1950s.  Professor Osorio taught at Boston University before coming to UMass Boston in 1967.  She is remembered as a dedicated mentor to young scholars.

At the time of her retirement in 1995 the department created a prize that honors Professor Osorio’s commitment to teaching.  The prize recognizes academic excellence in graduating Spanish majors who have a special commitment to literature by women writers.  Professor Osorio was proud the prize and often circulated the annual prize citations to her friends.

Professor Osorio made her home Cambridge a gathering place for literary “turtulias,” which were attended by most Spanish and Latin American writers who visited the Boston area.

Department Chair Ann Blum spoke with María Luisa shortly before her death. They talked about the department’s new name and major:  María Luisa expressed her pride and satisfaction in these changes and congratulated the department on bringing them to fruition.

The Department of Latin American and Iberian Studies extends condolences to her family and friends.

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