Annual Congress of the Canadian Association of Hispanists

This year the ACH celebrates in Ottawa its annual conference as part of the Congress 2015 of Humanities and Social Science.

The ACH promotes and supports the study of Spanish language, linguistics, literature, history and Hispanic culture in all its artistic and scientific creations. The Association also publishes the Revista Canadiense de Estudios Hispánicos, created in 1976 by Mario Valdés to help in the dissemination of academic researches.

The special guest speaker is Dr. Arturo Arias, Tomás Rivera Regents Professor in Spanish Language and Literature, Department of Spanish & Portuguese, University of Texas at Austin. Professor Arias has a distinguished career both as a scholar and as an award-winning fiction writer. His area of expertise is the indigenous cultures and literatures of the Americas. To date he has published four books, three edited volumes, and three edited or co-edited journal issues, fifty-five book chapters and forty-nine articles on several fields such as cultural studies, testimonial literature, and literary criticism. His impressive publication record demonstrates the breath of his interests and the range of his intellectual pursuits.

The Canadian Association of Hispanists will be also hosting the screening of four award-winning Spanish and Latin American films on Tuesday, June 2, from 6:30 pm to 9 pm:

1. También la lluvia (Even The Rain), 2010, directed by Icíar Bollían, Spain.
2. Infancia clandestina (Clandestine Childhood), 2011, directed by Benjamín Ávilla, Argentina.
3. 7 Cajas (7 Boxes), 2012, directed by Tana Schémbori and Juan Carlos Maneglia, Paraguay.
4. Pa negre (Black Bread), 2010, directed by Agustí Villaronga, Spain.

Specialists in film studies will be making a brief presentation, and will be conducting a Q&A after the screenings. Films will be presented in Spanish, with English subtitles. Introduction and Q&A session will take place in English. Open to the public.

View the conference program (PDF).