Faculty Resources

Conference on Democratic Violence in Latin America

March 12-14, 2025

CDVLA 2025

ܽƵapp the Conference

Panels | Plenary Talks | Professionalization Workshops

This conference focuses on the role of “violence” within Latin American democratic contexts. The participants define “violence” broadly and address a wide array of issues by analyzing some of the following topics: environmentalism, drug trafficking, militarization, collective and public memory, political corruption, borders, popular culture, advocacy, migration, tourism, and many others. 

Violence, the intentional use of force to cause harm and, thus, the phenomenon democratic regimes attempt to eliminate, appears at odds with democracy. Yet, we continue to see violence exist within democratic contexts time and time again. The participants’ analysis of Latin American political culture provides visions into what the future may hold for democratic governance.

Our participants represent universities from across Latin America, the United States, and Canada, showcasing concerns over the development of democracy and violence in the following transnational contexts: Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Haiti, Brazil, El Salvador, Chile, Puerto Rico, Perú, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Ecuador, Jamaica, and Bolivia.

The conference will conclude with professionalization workshops on Friday, March 14 led by each one of the plenary speakers. The workshops are open to all participants: 

  • Writing a Humanities Dissertation
  • Publishing an Academic Article
  • The Academic Job Market
  • Dissertation to Book

Plenary Speakers

Headshot of Nathalie wearing a turtleneck sweater and white framed glasses

Nathalie Batraville, Ph.D.
Concordia ܽƵapp

"Haiti, The United Nations, and the Hegemony Peace as Containment"

Abstract and Speaker Bio

Abstract:

Those familiar with contemporary Haitian politics will know that those fomenting rebellion in Haiti today would not be met by the French military or the U.S. Marines, but rather by the United Nations’ so-called peacekeeping missions. These missions suppress the uprisings of the disenfranchised and work to make wealth redistribution impossible and unthinkable. This talk revisits two historic rebellions against the UN and explores the ideologies and aesthetics that uphold the violent hegemony of peace enacted by this institution. 

Bio:

Nathalie Batraville is an associate ܽƵapp at Concordia ܽƵapp’s Simone de Beauvoir Institute, where she teaches in the areas of Black feminisms, queer theory, and prison abolition. A scholar and artist, her work seeks to generate and illuminate frameworks that challenge both state violence and interpersonal violence. Her scholarship has appeared in scholarly publications such as Small Axe, The Journal of Haitian Studies, The CLR James Journal, TOPIA: Canadian Journal of Cultural Studies, and Tangence. Her first book, Disrupting Agency: Towards a Black Feminist Anarchism, is forthcoming with Duke ܽƵapp Press. In it, she rethinks abolitionist frameworks from a Black feminist anarchist perspective. Through her ceramic art practice, she explores storytelling, plant life, desire, and rebellion.

 

Headshot of Ralph Cintron

Ralph Cintrón, Ph.D.
ܽƵapp of Illinois Chicago

"Democratic Violence and Dependency Theory"

Abstract and Speaker Bio

Abstract:

It is time to revisit dependency theory as one explanation of Latin American violence.  Analyses of Latin America’s role in global capitalism reveal that during the colonial and modern eras, Latin America was relegated to the production of raw materials for European industries, which then became manufactured goods sold in the Latin American market.  Here is the long history of trade imbalances, debt, and the rise of an entrenched elite class largely centered on agricultural production and not manufacturing.  The liberal constitutions of Latin America that emerged during the 19th century and are still presently influential did not alter this economic structure. Today’s paramilitary drug cartels are a curious continuation: They export at industrial scale a “finished product” that remains significantly rooted in the agricultural sector.

Bio:

Ralph Cintrón is ܽƵapp emeritus of English and Latin American and Latino Studies and Senior Researcher at the Great Cities Institute at the ܽƵapp of Illinois at Chicago.  During COVID he was LALS’s interim director. He is a former Rockefeller Foundation Fellow, Fulbright Scholar, honorable mention winner for the Victor Turner Prize in Ethnographic Writing from the American Anthropological Association, and a Fellow of the Rhetoric Society of America. He is the author of Angels’ Town: Chero Ways, Gang Life, and Rhetorics of the Everyday as well as Democracy as Fetish.  He is also the co-editor of Culture, Catastrophe + Rhetoric and Co-Pi of 60 Years of Migration: Puerto Ricans in Chicagoland.  He is currently writing with a philosopher Natures and Their Cosmologies, a text about planetary heating inside modernity’s political economy.  In conjunction with this last project he is working with climate scientists on a $25 million grant funded through the Department of Energy to Argonne National Laboratory and UIC, and a $2 million grant funded by Mellon, Crossing Latinidades, which is working with Latino Studies programs at UC Irvine, UT Arlington, and UIC to map the experiences of local Latino communities under climate change.

 

Headshot of Stacey Sowards with dark straight hair and necklace

Stacey K. Sowards, Ph.D.
The ܽƵapp of Texas at Austin

"Documenting Violence:  Presence and Absence in Memories/Re-membering as Democratic Worldmaking"

Abstract and Speaker Bio

Abstract:

The importance of documenting, remembering, and centering the many violences that occur across our societies is evident in how we relate our histories to our presents and futures. Such documentation serves to remind us of state-sanctioned and other actor-level violence, accidental and purposeful. Through the work of caleño artist and photographer Oscar Muñoz’s 2022 Invisibilia exhibit, I analyze his themes of presence/absence, memory/amnesia, and cohesion/fragmentation in how his photographs, sculptures, and other artworks document aspects of state, paramilitary, and FARC-related violence. Simultaneously recognizing the need to remember such violence and the desire to forget, Muñoz demonstrates the tensions residing within sedimented and fleeting memories that are blur private/public boundaries. As such, documenting violence in this way can illustrate the possibilities for democratic processes through the very act of remembering.

Bio:

Dr. Stacey Sowards teaches courses in communication theory, rhetorical theory, environmental communication, gender and communication, and intercultural communication. She received her Ph.D. from the ܽƵapp of Kansas in 2001.

Her research focuses on environmental, intercultural, and gender and communication in Latin America, Southeast Asia, and the United States. Her dissertation was a study of environmental organizations in Kalimantan, Indonesia, and was funded by a J. William Fulbright grant in 2000-2001. In 2005, she received a Fulbright-Hays grant for further study in Indonesia. She speaks both Spanish and Indonesian.

Her work in communication and rhetoric has been published as book chapters and journal articles. Other research projects focus on cultural and gender representations, and appear in journals such as Argumentation and Advocacy, Communication Studies, Philosophy and Rhetoric, and Communication Theory. Her book, on Dolores Huerta and the United Farm Workers, was published in 2019 with The ܽƵapp of Texas Press.Dr. Stacey K. Sowards served the department chair and a full ܽƵapp in the department of communication and research fellow in the Sam Donaldson Center at the ܽƵapp of Texas at El Paso for many years before joining the Department of Communication Studies at The ܽƵapp of Texas at Austin. 

 

Headshot of Celeste Wagner

Celeste Wagner, Ph.D.
Rutgers ܽƵapp

"State Violence, Gender Justice, and Social Activism: Lessons from Latin America"

Abstract and Speaker Bio

Abstract:

This talk will first examine the current state of violence in Latin American democracies, focusing on state violence and crime. It will analyze both the region’s “anomalies” and the lessons to be learned from societal responses, while drawing connections to the U.S. Second, it will address a specific issue: gender violence in the Americas, focusing on Argentina and the U.S. Specifically, it will explore how activism and communication practices can raise awareness among citizens, drawing on interviews with feminist advocates, members of the public, and surveys conducted with the general population.

Bio:

María Celeste Wagner is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Journalism and Media Studies at Rutgers ܽƵapp’s School of Communication and Information. She holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Communication from the ܽƵapp of Pennsylvania (2022; 2018), and a Licenciatura (B.A.) in Communication from Universidad de San Andrés, Argentina, her home country. Celeste’s research focuses on media reception and influence surrounding social and political issues, particularly gender inequalities in the Americas. Methodologically, her work includes individual and group interviews, surveys, experiments, and comparative analysis. Her dissertation has been honored with four awards from the International Communication Association and the National Communication Association. Her research has been published in the Journal of Communication, Digital Journalism, International Journal of Communication, Media, Culture & Society, Journalism, Latin American Perspectives, among others.

 


Conference Location

Marshall Student Center building with bull statue

The conference will be held on the third floor of the Marshall Student Center on the ܽƵapp Tampa campus.

Building address:
4103 Cedar Circle, Tampa, FL 33620

Directions to the Marshall Student Center 

Parking:

On-campus parking information

Parking permits are required to park on campus. Visitors must park in a timed space or Daily/Visitor lots that are marked D. There are various metered lots available for hourly parking or you can purchase $5 daily scratch-off permits at the Parking Services Building (PSB) or Campus Information Center (CIC). Visit Parking and Transportation Services for more information.

Lots near the Marshall Student Center (MSC) with timed/metered spaces or D daily spaces:

  • Crescent Hill Parking Facility 
  • Lot 5A 
  • Lot 3B

View the Visitor Parking Map

Transportation

Getting to and from the hotels and Marshall Student Center

The Marshall Student Center is located around 1-2 miles away from each hotel.

  • Embassy Suites by Hilton Tampa USF: 20min walk/7 min drive 
  • Home2 Suites by Hilton Tampa USF: 23min walk/7 min drive 
  • La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham USF: 24 min walk/7 min drive

Hotel Shuttle Schedule

The conference is providing a courtesy shuttle ride on Wednesday and Thursday to and from the conference hotels and the Marshall Student Center (MSC). See schedule below for pick-up and drop-off times. The bus will be marked with a "CDVLA" sign.

Please try and make the first hotel pick-up to ensure you arrive at the conference in time for registration and opening events. However, if you miss the first shuttle, it will make a second loop after dropping guests off at the MSC (morning only).

Hotel Shuttle Schedule (Wed. March 12 & Thurs. March 13)
Morning Shuttle Evening Shuttle

7:15am: Pick-up at LaQuinta
7:20am: Pick-up at Home2 Suites
7:30am: Pick-up at Embassy Suites
7:45am: Arrive at MSC

Second Loop:
8:15am: Pick-up at LaQuinta
8:20am: Pick-up at Home2 Suites
8:30am: Pick-up at Embassy Suites
8:45am: Arrive at MSC

5:15pm: Pick-up at the Marshall Student Center Bus Loop (North side of MSC)

5:30pm: Drop off at Embassy Suites
5:40pm: Drop off at Home2 Suites
5:45pm: Drop off at La Quinta

*Out-of-state graduate ܽƵapps staying at conference hotels in need of transportation to the workshops on Friday, please see Liz Kicak.

Dining:

Lunch and Dinner Options

*(MSC) = Inside the Marshall Student Center building

Places to Eat on Campus
Location Hours:

On Top of the Palms (MSC)
Located on the third floor of the MSC 

Mon-Fri 11:30am-2pm
Panera at USF (MSC) Mon- Fri 7:30am-6pm 
Chick-Fil-A (MSC) Mon-Fri 10:30am-8pm 
Bento Sushi (MSC) Mon-Fri 10:30am-8pm 
Blenz Bowls (MSC) Mon-Thurs 9am-7pm; Fri 9am-5pm

(MSC) Food Court:

  • Panda Express
  • Moes
  • Papa Johns
  • Subway
Mon-Thurs 10:30am-7pm; Fri 10:30am-4pm
Kahwa Coffee
Located in campus bookstore next to MSC 
Mon-Thurs 8am-6pm; Fri 8am-5pm 
Off Campus Dining
Location Hours

2815 E Fowler Ave, Tampa, FL 33612 
Mon-Sat; 11am-12am

5114 E Fowler Ave Suite 103, Tampa, FL 33617 
Mon-Thurs 10:30am-11pm & Fri-Sat; 10:30am-11:30pm 


2311 E Fowler Ave, Tampa, FL, 33612 

 Sun-Thurs; 11am-9:pm & Fri-Sat; 11am-11pm 

12639 N 56th St, Temple Terrace, FL 33617 
Tues-Sun; 11am-8pm & Fri-Sat; 11am-10pm 

740 E Fowler Ave, Tampa, FL 33612 
Mon; 11am-10pm & Tues-Sat; 10:30am-10pm 

2774 E Fowler Ave, Tampa, FL 33612 
Mon-Sun; 10:30am-9pm 

2737 E Fowler Ave, Tampa, FL 33612 
Mon-Sat; 11:30 AM-2:30 PM, 5:00 PM-10:00 PM 


2716 E Fowler Ave, Tampa, FL 33612 

Mon-Sat 11:00 AM-9:00 PM 


2778 E Fowler Ave, Tampa, FL 33612 

Mon-Thur 11:00 AM-10:00 PM, Fri 3:00 PM-11:00 PM 

Schedule

Tentative Schedule (PDF)

Wednesday, March 12

8:00am - 9:15am  |  Welcome Reception & Check-in (MSC 3707)

  • Coffee and bagels provided

9:30am - 10:45am  |  Plenary Talk: Nathalie Batraville "Haiti, the United Nations, and the Hegemony of Peace as Containment" (MSC 3707)

11:00am - 12:15pm  |  Paper Sessions

  • Anti-Violence Mobilizations (MSC 3707) 
  • State Violence and Human Rights in Latin America (MSC 3708)

12:30pm - 1:45pm  |  Lunch (on your own)

2:00pm - 3:15pm  |  Paper Sessions

  • Latin American Necropolitics (MSC 3707)
  • Expressions on Violence, Memory, and Place (MSC 3708)

3:30pm - 4:45pm  |  Plenary Talk: Ralph Cintrón “Democratic Violence and Dependency Theory” (MSC 3707)

5:00pm  |  Dinner (on your own)

Thursday, March 13

7:30am Coffee and pastries provided (MSC 3707)

8:00am - 9:15am  |  Paper Sessions

  • Articulations of Violence in Hemispheric Media (MSC 3707)
  • Responses to Gentrification and Narco Violence in Mexico (MSC 3708)

9:30am - 10:45am  |  Plenary Talk: Stacey Sowards “Documenting Violence: Presence and Absence in Memories/Re-membering as Democratic Worldmaking" (MSC 3707)

11:00am - 12:15pm Paper Sessions

  • Environment and Capitalism in the Emergence of Violence (MSC 3707)
  • Embodied Perspectives: Remapping the Ideologies of Cultural Representation in Latin America through Performance (MSC 3708)

12:30pm - 1:45pm  |  Lunch (on your own)

2:00pm - 3:15pm  |  Paper Session

  • Democratic Consolidation and Backsliding (MSC 3707)

3:30pm - 4:45pm  |  Plenary Talk: Celeste Wagner “Reframing Gender Violence: Feminism, Media, and Public Sensemaking in Latin America” (MSC 3707)

5:00pm  |  Dinner (on your own)

Friday, March 14

Humanities Professionalization Workshops (MSC 3709)

Coffee and pastries provided

8:00am - 8:50am  |  Writing a Humanities Dissertation by Ralph Cintrón

9:00am - 9:50am  |  Publishing an Academic Article by Stacey Sowards

10:00am - 10:50am  |  The Academic Job Market by Celeste Wagner

11:00am - 11:50am  |  Dissertation to Book by Nathalie Batraville

Conference Rate Hotels


Embassy Suites by Hilton Tampa USF

3705 Spectrum Blvd. Tampa, FL 33612
813-977-7066

Rate: $199 per night (King Suite)

Discounted rate available until February 9, 2025

Parking at hotel: $12 per day

Embassy Suites Hotel


Home2 Suites by Hilton Tampa USF

11606 N McKinley Dr. Tampa, FL 33612
813-750-8844

Rate: $159 per night (King Bed Studio)

Discounted rate available until February 11, 2025

Home2 Suites Hotel


La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham USF

3701 E Fowler Ave., Tampa, FL 33612
813-910-7500

Rate: $179 per night (Double and King Rooms)

Discounted rate available until February 17, 2025

La Quinta Hotel


Frequently Asked Questions

FAQs coming soon.

Contact

For more information, please email CAS-CDVLA@usf.edu