Thursday, March 8, 2007

SPRING CONFERENCE '07 - Williams College


VISTA de Williams College

Williamstown, Mass


March 6, 2007


Fellow Students,

You are cordially invited to join us at Williams College the weekend of April 6th – 8th 2007 for the East Coast Chicano Student Forum (ECCSF) spring conference. VISTA is deeply committed to rejoining the greater Latina/o student community on the East Coast and strengthening the ties with institutions of equal caliber. We believe it is time for Williams College to once again regain its leadership role in hosting ECCSF.

The theme for our Spring conference is “Trafficking Bodies: Agitation through media art and performance.” Invited lecturers, artists, and activists include: award winning director of “Señorita Extraviada,” Lourdes Portillo, world renowned artist/activist Favianna Rodriguez, avant-garde performance artist Nao Bustamante, and critically acclaimed filmmaker Sergio de la Torre.

Our aim with this conference is to depart from traditional representations of urban turmoil, border industrialization, performance of labor, and disjuncture within feminist discourses. Media art and performance operates with the symbolic currency of trafficked bodies in order to critically engage witnesses/consumers in discussions about the aforementioned concerns. With lectures about art interventions, we hope to catalyze dialogue about the ways in which today’s visual culture (re)produces images of bodies that can provoke indignation, arouse concern, and/or move viewers to action. How do we balance artistic endeavors with debates over the ethics and politics of image making?

We hope that you will join us in our exploration of such critical issues. We look forward to hosting you this Spring! Attached you will find registration information, directions to our campus, and our schedule of events.

Sincerely,

The ECCSF Planning Committee, VISTA de Williams College

Registration Information

Registration Information

The deadline for registration is March 31, 2007. The cost of attendance will be $20 per delegate. Once you have a final list of students coming from your school, RSVP via email to Juanita.A.Monsalve@williams.edu with the following information for each delegate:

Name, Class Year, Gender, Phone Number, Email

Your main ECCSF contact person will receive an invoice via email. The sooner we get your delegate list, the faster we can process an invoice for fundraising at your respective school. All schools will be expected to pay for the number of students that RSVPed upon arrival.

Also, check out our Facebook event-“ECCSF at Williams -Spring 2007”

Registration will begin at 8:00 PM on Friday, April 6, 2007. Plan to arrive around that time as we will be screening “Señorita Extraviada” at 10:00 PM; Lourdes Portillo, the director of the documentary, will give a lecture the following day.

Getting to the Paresky Center, Williams College

Directions to Williams



Getting to the Paresky Center, Williams College

39 Chapin Hall Drive, Williamstown, MA 01267

Williams College is located in the center of Williamstown, along Route 2 (Main Street), next to

the junction of Routes 2 and 7 in the northwest corner of Massachusetts. We are about one

hour's drive from the Massachusetts Turnpike and Interstates 91, 90, and 87. Driving time from

Boston or New York City is about three hours; from Albany, NY, about one hour; and a good

two hours from Bradley International Airport outside of Hartford, CT. The Paresky Center is

located behind the President’s House (D4 in the campus map). Free parking is available for

visitors.

From New York City and points south

I-87 north to I-84 east

I-84 east to the Taconic Parkway north

Taconic Parkway north to Route 295 east

Route 295 east to Route 22 north

Route 22 north to Route 43 east

Route 43 east to Route 7 north

Route 7 north to Route 2 east

From Boston and points east

Route 2 west all the way to Williamstown

--or -

Mass Pike (I-90) west to Lee (exit 2)

Route 20 west to Route 7 north

Route 7 north to Route 2 east

From New Haven, CT and points south

Follow signs to I-91 north

Exit on Mass Pike (I-90) west to Lee (exit 2)

Route 20 west to Route 7 north

Route 7 north to Route 2 east

Tentative Schedule of Events

Trafficking Bodies: Agitation through media art and performance

Tentative Schedule of Events

Friday, April 6, 2007

8:00 PM Registration, Paresky Center

10:00 PM Screening: “Señorita Extraviada,” Lower Level, Paresky Center

Saturday, April 7, 2007

8:00 AM Continental Breakfast, Lower Level, Paresky Center

9:00 AM Welcome, Prof Ondine Chavoya, Art History

Intro by Pablita Santos ’07 and Luz Gomez ‘08

9:15 AM Sergio de la Torre, Filmmaker/Artist

9:30 AM Screening: “Maquilapolis”

10:45 AM Sergio de la Torre, Q&A Session

11:20 AM Favianna Rodriguez, Artist/Activist

12:45 PM Lunch, Lower Level, Paresky Center

Este Aztlan Meeting, 2nd Floor Conference Room, Paresky

ECCSF Representatives Meeting, Hardy House

2:30 PM Nao Bustamante, Performance Artist/Professor

3:50 PM Lourdes Portillo, Filmmaker/Artist

7:00 PM Dinner, Dodd Living Room

Keynote Address:

Berta Jottar, PhD, Theater & Latina/o Studies

10:00 PM Party, Dodd Living Room

Sunday, April 8, 2007

8:30 AM Continental Breakfast, Hardy House