The seminar specialized in intellectuality, literature and multiculturalism in the work of Manuel Zapata Olivella, will integrate the virtual training academic offer of the ALARI Institute.

 

Harvard University, through the Institute for Afro-Latin American Research (ALARI), chose the proposal presented by the professor of the Faculty of Law, Political and Social Sciences of the University of Cauca, William Mina Aragón, to guide the specialized virtual seminar: Intellectuality, Literature and Multiculturalism in the work of Manuel Zapata Olivella, a prominent Colombian writer of universal significance who was born in 1920 in Lorica, Córdoba, and died in Bogotá in 2004.

 

"I am pleased and flattered to leave the name of the University of Cauca and the GIAPRIP Actors, Processes and Political Institutions research group before this prestigious university, which from the United States supports Afro-descendant culture in Latin America and the Caribbean, an institution that selected our initiative through the double blind method. The course will integrate the virtual training academic offer of the second cohort of the Certificate in Afro-Latin American Studies, which will take place during the months of September 2020 and March 2021, ”stressed the Ph.D. William Mina Aragon.

 

This course seeks to broaden the field of knowledge offered for university professional training through reflection, recognition, valuation and visibility of the contributions and the African ancestral legacy in America, as an alternative for coexistence, respect, solidarity and racial elimination in society and in the academy; Likewise, Afro-Latin historical and social issues will be focused on the interdisciplinary work of Manuel Zapata Olivella in his centenary 1920-2020.

 

This academic space will also focus on the classic position of this writer and writer in the Latin American novel as a thinker and intellectual, and as a humanist committed to his ethnicity and homeland facing the challenges of a global, unique and intercultural world. Likewise, the seminar that was selected as the winner among a multitude of academic initiatives will have the support of Dr. Cristina Rodríguez Cabral from North Carolina Central University and Dr. Jorge Palacios from Clemson University.

 

"Thank you for offering us the opportunity to work with your team so that together we can advance in the field of Afro-Latin American studies," said Alejandro de la Fuente, director of the Afro-Latin American Research Institute at the Hutchins Center at Harvard University, in the acceptance letter, of the proposal that Professor William Mina sent to this institution.

 

"I think this is an important achievement for our Alma Mater, especially for researchers on Afro-Colombian culture because from the University of Cauca we seek to make the work of great intellectuals in the country internationally visible, in this case Manuel Zapata Olivella."

 

Manuel Zapata Olivella is the author of various works, among them the novel “Changó, El gran putas” (1983) and themes related to identity, diversity, multiculturalism, miscegenation and humanism, intellectual and academic, he studied Medicine at the National University of Bogotá, published several studies on the culture of Afro-Colombians; likewise, he founded and directed the Literature magazine: Letras Nacionales.

 

Finally, from recent research carried out by the teacher William Mina Aragón, in books such as An Intercultural Legacy (2014) and Afro-Diasporic Humanist (2020), it is sought to inscribe his thought as a classic in Latin American literature, a teacher and militant of the Afro-diasporic thought, a Colombianist and Americanist intellectual and citizen, who left a legacy of deep reflections on society, culture and the multicultural identity of humanity.

 

Related Notes

 

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https://www.unicauca.edu.co/versionP/noticias/movilidad-acad%C3%A9mica/u...

 

Unicauca professor socializes reflection on Afros in Colombia's independence process in the US:

https://www.unicauca.edu.co/versionP/noticias/movilidad-acad%C3%A9mica/p...

 

Unicauca teacher William Mina Aragón is nominated for the Afro-Colombian of the Year:

http://unicauca.edu.co/versionP/noticias/universidad/el-docente-de-unica...

 

 

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Faculty of Law, Political and Social Sciences

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