The College of Arts and Sciences

2012-13 Ray Smith Symposium: "Moving Borders: The Culture and Politics of Displacement in and from Latin America and the Caribbean"

At the beginning of the second decade of the 21st century, we are still struggling to reach a clear understanding of how cultural, political, and economic displacement challenge individuals and nations. The changes in global conditions brought about by political, military, cultural, and economic crises have caused mass movements of people, which in turn lead to intense debates over identity politics, economic policy, and immigration. In light of these changes, emerging notions of citizenship, homeland, movement, and borders need to be explored, questioned, and then reevaluated. The symposium will explore issues of borders and displacement through multiple disciplinary perspectives and different forms of representation, including films, music, dance, and literature. It will feature keynote addresses and seminars by eight renowned scholars and artists.

“Moving Borders” is organized and presented by faculty members of the Program on Latin America and the Caribbean (PLACA) in the Moynihan Institute for Global Affairs in the Maxwell School, and is enabled by a major bequest from the estate of Ray W. Smith ’21.




Detail from "The Kingdom of This World" by Juan Cruz, artist-in-residence of Near West Side in Syracuse, New York

Positions of Dissent Presented by SU Library The 2012-13 Ray Smith Symposium is also sponsoring “Positions of Dissent,” a yearlong interdisciplinary program exploring issues of dissent and featuring unique archival holdings of the SU Library's Special Collections Research Center.

PLACA PLACA is a vibrant interdisciplinary center, located in the Moynihan Institute for Global Affairs, that promotes scholarship and cultural exchange. Read more

Ray Smith: Liberal Arts Visionary Ray W. Smith '21 (1899-1987) was a proponent of the liberal arts who taught in Central New York schools and served as an administrator for the city of Buffalo. Enabled by a bequest from his estate, The College established an annual series bearing his name in 1989.