Memory, Trauma, and Human Rights at the Crossroads of Art and Science An International Interdisciplinary Conference October 3-4, 2019

This two-day conference brings together scholars, artists, and researchers from the University of Minnesota, the Twin Cities community, and major research institutions abroad to better understand the impacts of trauma upon individuals and societies. Presentations from a variety of disciplinary perspectives will critically engage issues of coming to terms with and healing from trauma, seeking accountability for past human rights abuses, and mitigating future traumatization. A special, though not exclusive, emphasis will be placed on the post-dictatorship experiences of contemporary Argentina and Spain.

Brian Engdahl

William L. Anderson Chair in PTSD Research, Adjunct and Research Professor in Neuroscience, Psychology, & Cognitive Sciences, UofM; Clinician Investigator, Minneapolis VA Health Care System

“Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Its Roots in History and Biology”

Janet Dubinsky

Professor, Department of Neuroscience, UofM

“The Power of Neuroscience to Change Teacher Attitudes and Practice in Liberia”

Paul Armstrong

Professor of English, Brown University

“Neuroscience and Narrative”

Ileana Rodríguez

Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, The Ohio State University

“Writing Affect: Trembling before Oneself and Others”

Laura Alcoba

Author, Translator, and Professor of Literature, University of Paris-Nanterre

‟‘El cuchillito de mango de asta’ o recordar desde el cuerpo”
(“‘The Little Knife with the Antler Handle’ or Remembering from the Body”)

Ana Forcinito

The Arsham and Charlotte Ohanessian Chair and Professor, Spanish and Portuguese Studies, CLA, UofM

“Plasticity in Written and Audiovisual Narratives: Giving an Account of a Traumatic Past”

Claudia Bacci

Professor of Sociology and Researcher, University of Buenos Aires/National University of La Plata, Argentina

“Legados y memorias en las narrativas testimoniales de la Argentina postdictatorial”
(“Legacies and Memories in the Testimonial Narratives of Postdictatorship Argentina”)

Yasuko Kase

Associate Professor, Program of Languages and Cultures, Faculty of Global and Regional Studies, University of the Ryukyus, Japan

“Trauma, Affect, and Kinship in Chang-Rae Lee’s A Gesture Life”

Anna Miñarro

Clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst, and co-director of the first research project on Psychic Trauma and Intergenerational Transmission in the Spanish State, Spain

“Memory, Trauma and Disappeared Citizens After the Spanish Civil War, Dictatorship, and Transition (Pain from 1936 to 2019)”

Emilio Silva

Spanish journalist, co-founder and President of the “Asociación para la Recuperación de la Memoria Histórica” (Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory”), Spain

“Víctimas del franquismo: de la insignificancia al significado”
(“The Victims of Francoism: From Insignificance to Significance”)

Nora Domínguez

Professor of Literary Theory, Department of Philosophy and Letters, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina

“Separación y co-afectividad en los relatos maternos. Literatura argentina y memoria”
(“Separation and Co-affectivity in Maternal Tales. Argentinian Literature and Memory”)

Abigail Gewirtz

The John and Nancy Lindahl Leadership Professor in the Department of Family Social Science and the Institute of Child Development, and Director of the Institute for Translational Research in Children’s Mental Health, UofM

“The Psychological Impact of Traumatic World Events on Children and Families”

Veronica Svetaz

Aquí para Ti/Here for You: Youth Development Program, Hennepin County Healthcare

“The Border is Everywhere; Tales from a Local MN Provider working with Transnational Families, while Growing One of Her Own”

Francisco Ferrándiz

Researcher in Cultural Anthropology; Director of the Research Group on Politics of Memory, Memories of Violence at the Centro Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid, Spain

“Unsculpting Totalitarianism: Questioning the Legacy of Franco in Fernando Sánchez Castillo’s Art”

Michal Kobialka

The Paul W. Frenzel Professor in Liberal Arts, Department of Theatre Arts and Dance, UofM

“Staging Difficult Pasts: Of Awkward Objects and Collateral Memories”

Francesc Torres

Spanish multimedia artist

“The Systemics of Destruction. Why Do Humans Behave Inhumanly?”

Terry Berkowitz

Professor Emeritus, Baruch College/City University of New York (CUNY); Visual artist, curator and graphic designer

“Art as Testimony: Chant for the Unsettled and the Malaya Lola Project”

Ofelia Ferrán

Associate Professor, Spanish and Portuguese Studies, CLA, UofM

“Francesc Torres: The Performance of Trauma”

Patrick McNamara

Associate Professor, Department of History, UofM

“Traumata and Historical Dissociation: Multiple Forms of Memory Confront the Past”

Alejandro Baer

Associate Professor, Department of Sociology; Stephen C. Feinstein Chair and Director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, UofM

“The Trauma Metaphor. A Sociological Perspective”

Alejandra Oberti

Professor of Sociology and Researcher, University of Buenos Aires/National University of La Plata, Argentina

“La performance testimonial: dolor, reconocimiento y reparación”
(“The Testimonial Performance: Pain, Recognition, and Reparation”)