The Low Countries and Latin America from the 19th Century until Present Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Shared Histories and Sources.

Joren Janssens Announcement
Location
Belgium
Subject Fields
Immigration & Migration History / Studies, Latin American and Caribbean History / Studies, Political History / Studies, Social History / Studies, World History / Studies

As part of growing scholarly and public interest in transnational history, researchers from various (sub)disciplines in contemporary history have become interested in the Low Countries’ contacts and exchanges with Latin America. Latin Americanists increasingly adopt transnational and entangled perspectives to map contemporary relationships and shared histories between Latin America and Europe. The research field is nonetheless confronted with a discrepancy between the growing desire to analyse these historic and contemporary linkages and apparent scarcity of sources to conduct these investigations.

This two-day international workshop aims to address this debilitating obstacle and bridge the gap between scholars and the vast yet frequently unknown collections of sources documenting the multidimensional relationships between the Low Countries and Latin America from the 19th century until today. Archives and depositories of various stock will be provided an opportunity to present both traditional (archival) as unconventional collections to scholars working within a wide range of disciplines. The workshop calls on researchers, young and senior and from a range of disciplines, to bring innovative and original perspectives on current or past relationships between Latin America and the Low Countries to the table. Papers can focus, not exclusively, on topics such as human migration, the construction of transnational knowledges and networks, trade, diplomacy, cultural and botanical exchanges, ideological influences, etc.

With these ambitions in mind, ENCUENTRO2019 hopes to stimulate innovative and multidisciplinary research on transnational relations, shed light on an uncharted albeit available set of sources, and foster exchanges between the Low Countries and Latin America. ENCUENTRO2019 aims to lay the foundation for further initiatives that unite researchers and archival institutions interested in the social, political, cultural and economic exchanges between Europe and Latin America in the 19th and 20th centuries, and the “shared heritage” these entangled histories produced.

The deadline to submit proposals is the 30th of November 2018. Please send proposals of no more than 350 words and a short bio, to joren.janssens@kuleuven.be. Candidates will be informed on their acceptance the 15th of December 2018.

The International workshop will take place in Leuven (Belgium), 8th-9th of April 2019.The language of the workshop will be English. Limited financial assistance will be available for participants requesting support with travel expenses. A publication of selected papers is planned.

Contact Email
joren.janssens@kuleuven.be