Latin American & Iberian Studies Program

Book Talk: The Letters of Fernando Túpac Amaru
2025-05-02 14:00 - 16:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Girvetz 2320
Please join us for a book presentation to mark the publication of Las cartas de Fernando Túpac Amaru y otros documentos (1782-1798) [The letters of Fernando Túpac Amaru and other documents], co-edited by a collective of scholars, artists, and educators including our own Cecilia Méndez and Viola Varotto, and recently published in Lima.
Cecilia Méndez and Viola Varotto will be in conversation with Jairo Melo, digital humanities research facilitator at the UCSB Library, who is a specialist of the political and judicial institutions of the Spanish monarchy in the 18th century. The event will be in English.

LAIS Breakfast in May
2025-05-14 10:00 - 12:00
Our monthly community breakfast will be on Wednesday, May 14, at 10am. Come out to Girvetz 2320 to enjoy free bagels and coffee, while hearing our LAIS graduate students share some of their research!

Film Screening and Discussion: The Market and the Monkey's Paw: The Bitcoin Experiment in El Salvador
2025-05-23 14:00 - 16:00 | Girvetz 2320
Please join us on May 23rd, from 2 to 4 pm, in Girvetz 2320, for a screening a discussion of The Market and the Monkey’s Paw: The Bitcoin Experiment in El Salvador, a documentary by Global Studies undergraduate Leo Safir, produced in collaboration with CLAIR Affiliate Prof. Nicole Cerpa Vielma (Global Studies). They will be in conversation with Prof. Giovanni Batz (Chicana/o Studies).

Latin American Studies v. the Psychedelic Renaissance
2025-05-28 09:45 - 10:45 | PSYCH 1924
The last two decades have seen a resurgence of research with psychedelic substances for medical purposes that has concurred with a proliferation of neo-shamanic or mystical practices, retreats and communities that have the consumption of psychoactive plants and preparations at the center of their rituals. This “psychedelic renaissance,” largely popularized by Michael Pollan’s best-selling book How to Change Your Mind (now a Netflix documentary) has a significant economic and cultural impact on indigenous societies, cultural practices, and fragile environments in Latin America that needs a critical engagement from the Humanities and Social Sciences.
Alberto Ribas-Casasayas is Associate Professor of Spanish and Latin American Studies and Chair of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at Santa Clara University. He is the author of Luces y sombras del renacimiento psicodélico (Lights and Shadows in the Psychedelic Renaissance) and co-editor (with Amanda Petersen) of Espectros: Ghost Hauntings and the Talking Dead in Transhispanic Narratives, and (with Ana Luengo) of Otras iluminaciones: Narrativa, cultura y psicodélicos (Other Illuminations: Narrative, Culture, and Psychedelics), which was released just this month with Almenara Press.

2025 End-of-Year Celebration and Awards Ceremony for LAIS and CLAIR
2025-05-30 12:00 - 14:00 | Girvetz 2320

Discovering Columbus (and his Many Lives)
2025-11-04 13:00 - 14:30 | McCune Conference Room HSSB 6020
“I thought there were too many books on Columbus until I read Matthew Restall’s,” judged one reviewer of The Nine Lives of Christopher Columbus— “which has made me realize that formerly there were at least nine too few.” Said the New York Times: “Entertaining and unpredictable.” For answers to the questions you’ve always had—and some you didn’t know you had—join us in hearing Professor Restall present some of the things he discovered (or Columbused) in his mind-changing, myth-busting new book.
This event is organized by the Department of History and sponsored by CLAIR; the Latin American and Iberian Studies Program; the Departments of Art History, Religious Studies, and Global Studies; and the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center

LAIS Community Breakfast in November
2025-11-05 09:00 - 11:00
Our monthly community breakfast will take place on Wednesday, November 5, at 9:00 a.m. Come out to Girvetz 2320 to enjoy free bagels and coffee!

Discovering Colonial Latin American History
2025-11-05 10:30 - 12:00 | Girvetz 2320
Matthew Restall is a historian whose scholarship focuses on six areas of specialization: the Spanish Conquest era in the Americas; Aztec and Maya history; the history of colonial Mesoamerica, primarily Yucatan but including Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize; the African diaspora in the Americas; the history of Christopher Columbus; and the history of popular music. Join LAIS graduate students and graduate affiliates for a discussion of his work, including his latest book, The Nine Lives of Christopher Columbus.
*Contact jcobo@ucsb.edu for pre-circulated reading.
This event is organized by the Latin American and Iberian Studies Program and co-sponsored by the Center for Latin American and Iberian Research, Latin American and Iberian Studies; the Departments of Art History, Religious Studies, and Global Studies; and the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center.

LAIS Community Breakfast in December
2025-12-03 09:00 - 11:00 | Girvetz 2320
Our monthly community breakfast will take place on Wednesday, December 3, at 9:00 a.m. Come out to Girvetz 2320 to enjoy free bagels and coffee!
