Work Groups

Work groups emerged as our alternative to traditional academic panels, providing a critical space for extended research collaboration and other modes of interdisciplinary exploration of shared areas of inquiry. Work groups may involve scholars, artists, and activists. Some groups may address interests specific to one of these constituencies; others explore dialogue and collaboration across them. Limited to no more than 20 participants, work groups meet several times during the Encuentro. The format is tailored to the specific aims of each group, and may include sharing essays, producing collective work, creating performance, or some combination of these. Please see specific group descriptions for information about each group.

Participation in work groups is by application only. Application to the work groups requires a one-page prospectus regarding the applicants proposed research/project in addition to the general letter of intent and c.v. required by the Encuentro application.

1. Activism Beyond Citizenship and the State
2. Engendering Archives
3. Festive Devils in the Americas
4. Mapping Black American Auralities
5. Performatic Borders: Identity Trafficking and Sweatshops of Memory
6. Performing Visuality
7. Pulling the World Over Their Eyes; performance/installation to bring the audience in
8. Sexualities, Visual Culture and Performance
9. The World and the Stage: Revisiting Paradigms, Envisioning Rights
10. Trans Performance
11. Visual Arts Clinic
12. Walking as Political Performance
13. Performance Practice as Research
14. Social Justice and Race Across the Americas in the 21st Century