(des)articulaciones 2017

Chris Batterman is a junior double majoring in Music and Psychology. He was awarded a Fall 2017 Conference Grant which he used to attend (des)articulaciones 2017.

Last month, I had the opportunity to attend and present at the University of Pittsburgh’s conference, (des)articulaciones: (De)conceptualizations: Beyond Identity, Coloniality and the Subaltern. Sponsored by the university’s Department of Hispanic Languages and Literatures, (des)articulaciones is an international graduate student conference that allows students to present their research and get feedback from colleagues and professors in the field. This year, the conference theme revolved around the idea of the subaltern, communities or identities that have been marginalized or hierarchically positioned at lower statuses. Oftentimes, this subalternity is a result of power structures introduced by colonialism or imperialist policy (i.e., America’s involvement pretty much anywhere). This year’s theme was especially timely because it comes only a few months before the retirement of John Beverly, professor and director of the department. Beverly, also one of the conference’s founders, is one of the leading scholars in subaltern studies and was one of the first to apply subaltern thought and decolonial philosophy to the study of Latin America. The conference thus invited scholars from all fields (Hispanic Studies, Comp. Lit, Music, Philosophy, etc.) to present projects that grappled with this idea of subalternity and explored its presence in Latin America.

My presentation dealt with a line of research that I have been pursuing for the last 6-7 months. My research looks at Chicano (Mexican-American) music, specifically during the Chicano Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, and explores how the music was essential in defining and building a new Chicano identity, one that reconfigured chicanidad not only as an ethnic identity, but also as a radical and assertive political/ideological stance. To do this, I discussed the way the music of the movement embodied the intellectual ideals of chicanismo, an ideology that called for a collective understanding between all Mexican-Americans. While I assumed that I would be assigned to a panel of ethnomusicology presentations, I was actually assigned to a panel with three literary scholars. To my surprise, the panel I presented on did not focus on music, but rather on the broader theme of identity formation and how works of cultural production could reflect and shape emerging subaltern identities. The other ethnomusicologists were also split up—one presented on a panel that focused on representations of indigeneity in popular culture and the other on a panel focused on subversive resistance to government censorship. This made me realize the interdisciplinary nature of Hispanic and subaltern studies and I was able to see how scholars from all different disciplines were able to come together and thoroughly discuss the same themes and issues.

For me, the most worthwhile part of this conference was the feedback I got on my project from colleagues and from leading scholars. I was initially very nervous about the Q&A session that would follow my presentation—I was under the impression that people would try and contend my arguments. However, the Q&A session very quickly became a fun and stimulating conversation between myself, the other panelists, and members of the audience. We were able to discuss some of the similarities between all of the projects, as well as expand on aspects of our own. Many of the audience there offered very insightful suggestions for my continued research, recommending certain philosophers or literary theories that they think I might consider applying in the future. After the session had ended, I had a chance to talk individually with several audience members. Most notably, I spoke with poet and professor Aurea María Sotomayor-Miletti about some of her work and how the ethnographic study of musical identity is very similar to her study of poetry.

Attending this conference also gave me a chance to network and meet people from schools from all over the US and from abroad. Speaking to graduate students, I was able to learn about different schools and programs and several of them put me in touch with colleagues they know who do work in ethnomusicology. The students I talked to also gave me valuable advice for applying to graduate programs and choosing advisors. Though I am not at that stage yet, the advice they gave me will surely become useful in the next year as I begin the application and selection process. Seeing the passion each of these students have for their projects and the fascination they all have for their fields was inspiring and has me looking forward to my years in graduate school. I saw the same passion in the professors I spoke with, which really only served to further confirm my own passion for my research and my interest in graduate school/an academic career. I also had a chance to hear Nelson Maldonado-Torres, one of the keynote speakers, present on his current book projects. One of today’s leading voices in post-colonial theory, Maldonado-Torres is someone I’ve cited countless times in my own work. As such, I was sort of star-struck when I had the opportunity to meet him and talk to him about some of my current research projects.

The conference was an exhausting but rewarding experience. I had a chance to not only refine my own approach to research, but got to hear about work being in various fields. It was especially rewarding to see the interdisciplinary nature of all of our projects and to get to discuss my own interests in music with scholars from completely different disciplines. While I was nervous going in, the intellectually stimulating environment further ignited my passion for my research. I left the conference not only with a deeper and more holistic understanding of my own research and how it fits into broader themes in Latin American Studies, but I also left better prepared for future conferences and presentations of my work.

Visit the Undergraduate Research Programs website to learn more about applying for Conference Grants.