UNG faculty from the Department of Spanish  present at the 21st Annual Conference on the Americas 2018.

Dr. Elizabeth Combier, Chair of Spanish, talks about “Comparison of the Mexican Legal System with the U.S.” on Feb. 10, 2018. Many Hispanic immigrants to the United States have difficulty once they enter the legal system via law enforcement issues due to a variety of reasons. Besides lacking competencies for cultural knowledge and linguistic issues, understanding the legal processes is a huge challenge. This paper will examine some of the basic differences and similarities between the Mexican legal system and that of the United States’ system.

Dr. Kristi Hislope presents her paper on “Beliefs about Birthmarks in the Americas” on Friday Feb. 9th, 2018. In this paper, Kristi presents some common beliefs in different cultures in the Americas about why birthmarks appear on babies and what they mean. Many of these beliefs, or superstitions, exist today because in the past they were a way to explain the unknown.

Mr. Nicolas Hu presents his work  “Diminishing Diplomatic Presence of Taiwan in Central and South America” on Feb. 10th, 2018. When Panama broke off its long-term diplomatic relations with Taiwan in June 2017 and with other countries on the precipice of switching alliance to the PRC, the diplomatic position of Taiwan entered into a critical stage. How can Taiwan survive the “checkbook diplomacy” rivalry versus China and what does the future hold for Taiwan in Central and South America?

Dr. Álvaro Torres-Calderón presents “Hibridez de las tensiones culturales y coloniales en la poesía Quechua” on Friday 9th, 2018. Este ensayo intenta examinar las diversas polaridades coexistentes en Sudamérica después de la Conquista. Asimismo presenta explicaciones objetivas y fácticas del impacto de la colonización incluyendo el conflicto y conciliación de identidades en algunos poemas y/o cantos de Guamán Poma de Ayala, el Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, Juan Jualparrimachi, José María Arguedas, César Guardia Mayorga, Porfirio Meneses y otros autores anónimos.

Finally, Dr. Donna Dannes (Economics) presents her paper on “The Impact of the Diaspora on the Caribbean Economies.” The Caribbean diaspora has been playing an increasing role in enabling the economic development of the region. Remittances from the diaspora to some Caribbean countries amount to 25 percent of their GDP. This paper identifies and analyzes the varied dimensions of existing diaspora economic engagement with 15 CARICOM countries; pinpoints the incentives for and resistances to such engagement; and, assesses the impact of the diaspora on the development of CARICOM economies.

The conference program can be found at the link: https://www.augusta.edu/pamplin/hist-anth-phil/americas-council/documents/2018-americas-council-program.pdf

Congrats to our Spanish folks, and congrats to the Spanish Dept for their participation in the 21st Annual Conference on the Americas.

 

From left to right: Dr. Donna Danns (Economics), Dr. Alvaro  Torres-Calderón (Spanish), Mr. Yishin (Nicolas) Hu (Spanish),  Dr. Elizabeth Combier (Spanish), and Dr. Kristi Hislope (Spanish).