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*PILAS Annual Conference 2018* *“Contested Narratives: Engagement with Latin * *America within and beyond academia”* University of Liverpool 4th and 5th June 2018 *Last chance for paper/panel proposals - **submit your abstracts by this Friday **27th **April!* The PILAS Committee invites postgraduate, early career and junior academic researchers from the arts, humanities, and social sciences to present their work, engage in debate, and share their research on Latin America at our annual conference. The broad theme of this multidisciplinary conference is how engaged scholarship, across a broad range of disciplines, can foster greater dialogue and collaboration between academia and local and international actors on issues relating to Latin America. The theme embraces all those separate strands of academic research that, for many of the disciplines which take Latin America in hand, intertwine and infuse into a shared purpose: to produce meaningful engagement and to stand in solidarity with the subjects of our research; to reflect on this relationship to find the connections between ourselves and others; and to uncover hidden truths behind common understandings. These ambitions address what we as a committee feel must be the determined endeavour of academia: to look beyond its borders in order to enhance the impact of our research for those of whom it speaks. These ambitions are as important now as they have ever been. We are at a moment in which the movement of information carries news of distant events to us in an instant, in which a globalised economy surrounds us with ever more diverse cultural elements, and in which the Latin American diaspora is experiencing rapid growth throughout the world. Yet, paradoxically, we are also living through a moment of deeper insularity and separation, and an apparent rejection in some quarters of selective components of this rising exchange. The conference aims to explore the ways in which academic research can undertake to confront and mediate these contradictions. The Postgraduates in Latin American Studies (PILAS) Committee are delighted to announce the confirmed line-up of keynote speakers for the 2018 Annual Conference. *Professor Patience Schell *(Hispanic Studies, University of Aberdeen) joins* Dr. Jelke Boesten* (Gender and Development, King’s College London) and *Dr. Sian Lazar* (Social Anthropology, University of Cambridge) who will all deliver keynote sessions. Furthermore, our *roundtable discussion,* chaired by *Professor Cathy McIlwaine* (Transnational migration, King’s College London), will also address the concerns of the Latin American migrant community here in the United Kingdom and will involve representatives from the *Latin American Women’s Rights Service* (LAWRS), the *Indoamerican Refugee Migrant Organisation* (IRMO) and *Latin American House (LAH)*. Visit our conference website now:* www.**pilasconference.com* <http://pilasconference.com/> to read full biographies for each of our invited speakers and roundtable discussants. You can also register to attend the conference, find all the information you need on travel and accommodation in Liverpool and view a draft schedule including timings for panels, keynote lectures, roundtable discussion and social events taking place - including a film screening on the Sunday night before the conference (details to be announced). *Instructions for submitting papers / panel proposals:* Proposals are invited for individual papers of 15 minutes duration and for full panels of 3-4 papers. We welcome proposals from all fields for this interdisciplinary event. Possible topics include, but are not limited to: - Race, ethnicity, and religion - Gender and sexuality - Social movements and political activism - Conflict and violence - Nationhood and national identities - Migration, geographical and cultural borders studies - Inter-cultural dialogue and polemics - Literary and cultural criticism - Literature, culture, and translation - Economic policies and economic inequalities - Communication and (digital) media - Climate change and environmental Crisis Single paper submissions: To submit a single paper proposal, please email an abstract (250 words) and title of the proposed paper in English or Spanish to the PILAS Committee at [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> Paper proposals should include: - Name of the author/s and institution/s. - Short academic biography of the author/s. - Title of the proposed paper. - Short abstract (max. 250 words). Full panel submissions: To submit a full panel proposal of 3-4 papers please send the title of the panel, abstracts and titles for each of the papers and contact details for the panel convenor to the PILAS Committee at [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> Panel proposals should include: • Title of the proposed panel. • Short description of the panel’s theme (max. 250 words). • Name of the Chair and/or Discussant, and Institution if applicable. • Name of the authors of the papers, and their institutions if applicable. • Short academic biography of the authors (max. 250 words). General Information In general, each panel is 90 minutes long, contains 3 papers each of 15 minutes, leaving time for discussion. Papers should preferably be presented in English, although presentations in Spanish and Portuguese will be also considered. We will provide more specific information on the structure of the panel sessions, which may differ from this model, nearer to the time. *Accepted papers and panels will be announced w/c 30th April 2018.* In case of any doubt, you can contact us at [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> Best Wishes *Richard, Jo, Marta, Juliette, Luke and Jeremy* *PILAS Committee* *Postgraduates in Latin American Studies * http://pilas.slas.org.uk https://www.pilasconference.com Register for our annual conference on: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/pilas-conference-2018-tickets-43673999107 Follow us on Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/postgraduatesinlatinamericanstudies> and Twitter <https://twitter.com/pilas_postgrads> *PILAS is the postgraduate affiliate of the Society for Latin American Studies (SLAS)* * <http://www.pilasconference.com>*