Center for the Study of Religion, Culture, and Society hosts On the Edge Symposium

Academic scholars from across the US convened for the sixth symposium hosted by Elon University’s Center for the Study of Religion, Culture, and Society (CSRCS) February 18-20.

This year’s symposium, “Sensorial Cosmologies and Cultural Resistance in Latin America,” explored political strategies, activism, and theoretical interventions for combatting cultural homogenization in Latin America and the Caribbean. Presenters engaged themes such as religion, cosmology and critical theory; gender justice and eco-feminism; and migration from the global south and racial inequality in the USA.

Seventeen scholars from across the US joined Elon University faculty conveners Federico Pous (World Languages and Cultures), Leyla Savloff (Sociology and Anthropology), and Juan Leal Ugalde (World Languages and Cultures) to feature work on counternarratives and cultural resistance offered by Indigenous cosmogony and artistic creation. Presentations included  topics such as “Catholic Feminism and Reproductive Justice in Argentina,” “Resistance in Apu Kolki Hirka,” “Revival in the Sikiru Movement,” and “Trans Migrant Women’s Spatial Practices in Queens.”

“The quality of papers presented, and the intellectual conversation we held at the symposium were very stimulating,” said Federico Pous, associate professor of Spanish. “We are currently preparing a dossier for the very well-known journal Acontracorriente, in which most of the participants at the symposium will publish an article on the topic of sensorious cosmologies. I hope to continue organizing academic encounters like this one in the future.”

This year’s keynote presentation, “Contemporary Audiovisuality as a Site of Cosmological Inscription,” was delivered by Ana M. Ochoa, professor of music and ethnomusicology at Tulane University. Her lecture outlined her collaborative work on audio production among indigenous filmmakers in South America.

“The global politics of migration calls us to think how media, audiovisual and sound technologies are not simply a way to broadcast entertainment, art, or events. They have been part of the fabric of a sensorial cosmological transformation in the make-up of life and how we think of it,” said Ochoa. “This is not only the case when, for example, indigenous peoples film their myths, or participate in transnational art events to affirm their cultures and cosmologies, but also as we trace the historical links between extractivism, the soundscape of life, and audiovisual sensoriums.”

CSRCS Director Brian Pennington emphasized that supporting Elon faculty scholarship is a primary purpose of the symposium.

“Symposium participants, led by Drs. Savloff and Pous, have already developed a detailed roadmap for publishing these papers, and we are excited about the important collection that will result,” said Pennington.

For more information, visit the On the Edge Symposium webpage.