We are very happy to share that CRLN was chosen as one of three recipients of the esteemed HumanitiesX fellowship at DePaul University. After months of work, on April 1, the CRLN Team launched a course titled ¨Historical Memory Project: Ni Olvido, Ni Perdón¨ based on the HumanitiesX theme of democracy and rights, which is being offered to DePaul students this Spring Quarter, 2024.
What is HumanitiesX you might ask? HumanitiesX is an innovative program that redefines the boundaries of traditional education by fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, community engagement, and experiential learning in the humanities. It offers year-long fellowships to teams comprised of faculty members, community partners, and students from DePaul University’s College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. You can read more at DePaul’s website here.
The CRLN Team is Susana Martínez, Associate Professor in Modern Languages and Peace, Justice, & Conflict Studies, and Lydia Saravia, Professional Lecturer in Writing, Rhetoric, & Discourse, Angelina Álvarez, Undergraduate Student of Peace, Justice, and Conflict Studies, Safiyah Simpkins Undergraduate Student of Political Science, and Jhonathan F. Gomez: co-director of CRLN.
In collaboration with CRLN, students participating in the course will delve into the complex history of Central America, examining the enduring legacies of past struggles and their implications for contemporary social movements. Students will have the opportunity to create public, political art and writing that amplifies marginalized voices and challenges dominant narratives.
Students will consider the connection between historical events, beginning in the 1960s, and current movements and injustices impacting Central America—specifically, in Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. Students will examine the ways in which organized communities in Central America have actively worked with human rights groups in the U.S. Through cultural, historical, and rhetorical frameworks, students will interrogate the Western idea of Democracy within the context of neoliberalism. Further, by directly working with CRLN, talking to local political artists, and visiting sites around the city, students will examine how local activists and artists participate in political movements and preserve historic memory.
The collaboration between DePaul University and CRLN exemplifies the transformative potential of community-engaged scholarship. By bridging academic expertise with grassroots activism, the ¨Historical Memory Project: Ni Olvido, Ni Perdón¨ seeks to foster meaningful dialogue, inspire action, and honor the resilience of communities who have fought for justice. As CRLN embarks on this exciting journey as a HumanitiesX fellow, we invite you to join us in future events as we continue to interrogate democracy, foreign policy, neoliberalism and explore what resistance communities in Central America are doing to advance human rights and promote historical consciousness. Stay tuned for updates on the progress of the Historical Memory Project and opportunities to engage with this vital work.
