Fall 2025
Aug 29 - Oct 10, 2025
Global Spanish Art Exhibition
Transforming Ruffin Gallery into a vibrant showcase of contemporary Hispanic art, featuring multimedia installations that bridge cultural traditions with modern expressions. The groundbreaking Fuego Eterno: Soberanías Visuales exhibition, thoughtfully curated by Erica Hirugami and Federico Cuatlacuatl, brings together the distinctive voices of 15 artists and 10 writers from Spanish-speaking and Indigenous communities across the Americas and Europe. Their compelling works examine the intricate intersections of geography, cultural identity, and ancestral heritage in our contemporary world.
September 25, 2025
Poetry Reading and Conversation with Andrea Cote Botero
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia
Join us for an evening of poetry and dialogue with acclaimed Colombian poet Andrea Cote Botero, winner of the XXIV Casa de América Prize for American Poetry. The event will feature a reading from her latest collection, Querida Beth, followed by a conversation on poetry, migration, and memory.
About the Poet
Andrea Cote Botero (b. 1981, Barrancabermeja, Colombia) is the author of several poetry collections, including Puerto Calcinado (2003), Cosas Frágiles (2008), La Ruina que Nombro (2015), En las Praderas del Fin del Mundo (2019), and Fervor de Tierra (2024). Her work has been translated into more than a dozen languages and has received numerous international accolades, including the National Poetry Prize from Universidad Externado de Colombia, the Puentes de Struga International Poetry Prize, and the Città di Castrovillari Prize for the Italian edition of Puerto Calcinado. She is also the author of prose works such as A Nude Photographer: A Biography of Tina Modotti and Blanca Varela or Writing from Solitude, and has translated poets including Khalil Gibran, Tracy K. Smith, and Jericho Brown into Spanish. Andrea Cote Botero currently teaches Creative Writing in the Bilingual MFA Program at the University of Texas at El Paso
About Querida Beth
Winner of the 2024 Casa de América Prize, Querida Beth is a poignant and stylistically rich collection that tells the story of a Colombian woman’s journey as a migrant in the United States. The jury praised the book for its “precise and moving poetry, continuous stylistic discoveries, and a fiercely contemporary tone.” Cote Botero describes the work as an effort to restore the memory of a woman whose name and legacy slowly disappeared in migration, using poetry as a means of healing and remembrance.
October 1, 2025
Film Screening: ¡Dolores, guapa!
Hosted by Kelly Moore, Department of Spanish, Italian & Portuguese
Join us for a special screening of ¡Dolores, guapa!, a groundbreaking Spanish documentary directed by Jesús Pascual. Set in Seville, the film explores the city's iconic Holy Week (Semana Santa) through a queer lens, capturing how LGBTQ+ individuals—often affectionately referred to as “mariquitas”—participate in and reshape these deeply rooted religious traditions. Through vibrant visuals and personal testimonies, ¡Dolores, guapa! offers a moving portrait of identity, faith, and resistance within Andalusian culture.
Jesús Pascual (b. June 10, 1997, Alcalá de Guadaíra) is an emerging filmmaker and cultural critic who graduated in Audiovisual Communication from the University of Seville in 2019. His debut short film Mi arma (2019) was awarded at multiple festivals and laid the foundation for his feature-length documentary ¡Dolores, guapa! (2021), which won Best Film in the Panorama Andaluz section at the Seville European Film Festival and Best Documentary at Andalesgai. In 2023, he published the essay Querer como las locas, blending queer theory and Andalusian musical tradition, which earned him the Sonia Rescalvo Zafra Prize. Pascual’s work centers queer voices in regional Spanish culture and reimagines traditional rituals through contemporary narratives. Join us for a post-screening conversation to discuss the making of the film, its themes, and the broader cultural context it engages. For questions, please contact Kelly Moore at [kcmoore@virginia.edu].
October 9, 2025
Art Symposium – Hosted by UVA Arts & Global Spanish
Date: Thursday, October 9, 2025
Location: UVA Special Collections Library Auditorium
Hosts/Partners: UVA Arts, IHGC (Institute of the Humanities and Global Cultures), and the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.
Introduction:
The Art Symposium brings together artists, scholars, and curators from across the Americas to explore themes of indigeneity, decoloniality, and migration. Hosted by UVA Arts in collaboration with the Global Spanish Initiative, this day-long event invites dialogue through panels, remarks, and the Dean’s Hosted conversation. All are welcome to attend; advance RSVP is requested.
Schedule:
- 9:30 AM – Coffee & Refreshments
- 10:00 AM – Introductory Remarks by:
- Sam Amago
- Federico Cuatlacuatl
- Erika Hirugami
Panel A – Reindigenize Aesthetic Theory
- Time: 10:30 – 11:50 AM
- Description: Indigenous scholars from across the Americas convene to discuss indigeneity in diaspora, art-making processes blending ancestral knowledge with contemporary frameworks, and Indigenous futurity.
- Panelists: Edgar Calel, Marilyn Boror Bor, Venuca Vivanco, Federico Cuatlacuatl
Panel B – Curatorial Politics: Beyond Performative Decoloniality
- Time: 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM
- Description: Explores decolonial theory in curatorial and museology practices, emphasizing transformative, place-making methodologies that go beyond performativity.
- Panelists: Lisa Blackmore, Armando Perla, Erika Hirugami, Dalia Garcia
Lunch Break
- 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM – Lunch
Panel C – Enabling Difficult Conversations: Migrating Ancestry
- Time: 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM
- Description: Scholars and artists engage in conversation around migration, immigration, and the weight of ancestry—deconstructing borders and their lasting impact.
- Panelists: Paulina Ochoa, Karen Milbourne, Sam Amago, Porfirio Gutierrez
This symposium is supported by the University of Virginia's College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, the Peter B. and Adeline W. Ruffin Foundation, and the University of Virginia's Institute of the Humanities and Global Cultures (IHGC).
October 9, 2025
Enabling Difficult Conversations: Migrating Ancestry (Dean's Hosted Event)
Date: Thursday, October 9, 2025
Time: 3:00 – 4:00 PM
Location: UVA Special Collections Library
Hosted by: The College of Arts & Sciences
Introduction:
As part of the Dean’s Hosted Event Series, Enabling Difficult Conversations invites candid dialogue on complex issues. This fall’s session, “Migrating Ancestry,” brings together scholars and artists to explore migration’s cultural and political dimensions—and how ancestral knowledge can help us understand borders and their daily reverberations.
Lunch Invitation:
Lunch will be provided before the event; RSVP requested.
Panel Details:
- Moderator: Paulina Ochoa
- Panelists: Sam Amago, Erika Hirugami, Federico Cuatlacuatl, Cody Grant
October 10, 2025
Fuego Eterno: Closing Reception & Party
Date: Friday, October 10, 2025
Time: 5:00 – 9:00 PM
Location: Ruffin Hall Gallery, University of Virginia
Introduction:
Celebrate the closing of Fuego Eterno with an evening of art, music, food, and connection. Come meet the artists, mingle with the community, and enjoy a special set by DJ Hellotones—visiting from New York.
- 5:00 – 9:00 PM – Closing Reception & Party with DJ Hellotones
About DJ Hellotones:
DJ Hellotones, aka El Hijo de PueblaYork, is a Bronx-born DJ celebrated for his genre-defying cumbia mixes. He was featured in the New York Times—a spotlight that underscores his impact and cultural resonance.
Check out his vibrant live performance at MoMA Nights here:
November 12, 2025
Enabling Difficult Conversations: Transborder Nahualismos
Date: November 12, 2025
Time: 5:30PM - 7:00PM
Location: Contemplative Sciences Center
The Enabling Difficult Conversations series is designed to bring artists, scholars, and the public into conversation around urgent and often challenging issues. Hosted by the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, the series creates open, inclusive spaces where diverse perspectives can be heard, examined, and respected.
On November 12, the series continues with a special screening of Transborder Nahualismos and related short films by UVA faculty artist and filmmaker Federico Cuatlacuatl. Commissioned by the College of Arts & Sciences’ Global Spanish, this new work combines transborder—movement across cultural and political boundaries—with nahualismos, drawn from Mesoamerican Indigenous traditions of the nahual, a shapeshifting spiritual counterpart tied to identity and ancestry. Together, the title reflects both the literal experiences of migration and the deeper cultural and spiritual transformations that occur in border spaces.
Cuatlacuatl’s experimental films use Indigenous storytelling, visual sovereignty, and the realities of migration to confront questions of belonging, displacement, and cultural survival. His work invites audiences to reflect on how art can spark dialogue about sovereignty and memory—subjects that are deeply personal yet globally resonant.
Following the screening, a panel of artists and scholars will guide a conversation about how Indigenous and transnational voices use art as resistance, healing, and truth-telling. Rather than offering easy answers, this event uses art as inspiration to “enable” conversations that are often difficult: conversations about colonial legacies, the politics of borders, and what it means to belong in contested cultural and national spaces.
This program is part of Global Week at UVA, a celebration of international perspectives and cross-cultural dialogue across Grounds. Transborder Nahualismos will also be featured at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts as part of the Pocahontas Reframed Film Festival on November 22, 2025, further extending its reach beyond Grounds.
Spring 2026
February 12, 2026 - February 13, 2026
The Taco as Cultural Text: IHGC Event with Global Spanish Scholarship, Storytelling, and Culinary Diplomacy
As part of the For the Humanities lecture series, the Global Spanish Initiative and the Institute of the Humanities and Global Cultures (IHGC) will co-host a two-day program featuring Ignacio M. Sánchez Prado, the Jarvis Thurston and Mona Van Duyn Professor in the Humanities at Washington University in St. Louis. A leading scholar in Latin American cultural theory, Mexican literature, and globalization studies, Sánchez Prado will join the UVA community for a series of events engaging his forthcoming book The Taco (Bloomsbury, 2025)—a public-facing work of scholarship and creative nonfiction that examines the taco as a transcultural object shaped by history, geography, and migration.
This program will take place February 12–13, 2026. On Thursday, February 12, Sánchez Prado will meet with graduate students from Spanish, English, Global Studies, and Latin American Studies programs for a lunchtime seminar on scholarship, publishing, and global humanities. That afternoon, he will deliver a public lecture titled “Knowledge for All: On Cultural Value, Access, and the Humanities,” hosted by the IHGC.
On Friday, February 13, the Global Spanish Initiative will host a book seminar focused on The Taco, featuring a panel conversation moderated by the director of The Culinary Diplomacy Project. This event will bring Sánchez Prado into dialogue with Chef Victor Albisu, founder of Taco Bamba, to explore how food can serve as a site of identity, hybridity, and cultural politics. The conversation will examine culinary appropriation, diaspora, and authenticity through the lens of both scholarship and lived practice. Following the panel, guests will enjoy a curated lunch catered by the Taco Bamba team—extending the conversation into a shared culinary experience.
The program is open to both graduate and undergraduate students, offering them a unique opportunity to engage directly with leading thinkers in the fields of cultural studies, food studies, and Latin American humanities.
This unique collaboration bridges academic inquiry and creative engagement, fostering dialogue between scholars, chefs, students, and community members. It reflects UVA’s commitment to amplifying Spanish-language research, cultivating global partnerships, and creating experiential learning opportunities that connect the humanities with everyday life.
March 9, 2026 - March 13, 2026
Artist Visit: Quan Zhou Wu
Hosted by Kelly Moore, Department of Spanish, Italian & Portuguese
Join us for a special visit from acclaimed graphic novelist and illustrator Quan Zhou Wu, hosted by Kelly Moore from the Department of Spanish, Italian & Portuguese. Born in Algeciras, Spain, to Chinese immigrant parents, Quan Zhou Wu’s work explores the intersections of race, identity, migration, and belonging in modern Spain. Her autobiographical graphic novels—Gazpacho agridulce (2015), Andaluchinas por el mundo (2017), Gente de aquí, gente de allí (2020), and La agridolce vita (2023)—have earned her recognition as one of Spain’s most vital voices in contemporary visual storytelling. Her art and writing offer a powerful and often humorous critique of cultural hybridity and the experience of growing up as a racial minority in southern Spain.
In addition to her books, Quan Zhou Wu has contributed to El País, eldiario.es, and Vogue España, and is the host of the podcast Movidas Varias. She has led creative workshops and participated as a guest speaker and artist-in-residence at institutions including NYU’s King Juan Carlos I Center, Cornell University, Boston College, and Rutgers University. Her visit to UVA offers a rare opportunity to engage with one of the leading voices in Spanish graphic arts and Asian diasporic storytelling. Details on her scheduled events and appearances from March 9–13, 2026, will be announced soon.
This event is hosted by Kelly Moore. For questions, please contact Kelly at [kcmoore@virginia.edu].
Spring 2025
April 9, 2025
Center for Politics Ambassador Series
Distinguished visit by the Mexican Ambassador discussing the US/Mexico relationship, followed by a special Global Spanish Luncheon at the Colonnade Club, providing an exclusive preview of the initiative's vision and programming hosted by Dean Acampora.
April 10, 2025
Global Spanish Research Symposium
Uniting scholars, diplomats, and community members for an academic presentation of research papers, culminating in an inclusive happy hour reception at UVA's historic Rotunda. This conference-style panel will highlight groundbreaking research, creative work, and community building across the global Hispanophone, with short presentations by faculty members from various departments. Attendees will hear from experts such as Professor of Spanish, Sam Amago; Professor of Art, Federico Cuatlacuatl; Associate Professor Department of Art; his work addresses transborder Nahua futurity via social art practice; Tatiana Flores; Associate Professor of Spanish & Poetry; Erika Hirugami, Academic Curator and Doctoral Candidate, UCLA; Epistemologically braiding the Aesthetics of Undocumentedness; Paulina Ochoa, John L. Nau III Professor of the History and Principles of Democracy; Allison Bigelow, Associate Professor of Spanish, Ricardo Padron (Col ’89), and Jenn Bair, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Sociology. Dean Acampora will provide an introduction.
April 11, 2025
Juntos Latin Alumni Event co-sponsored with UVA Lifetime Learning
Fostering meaningful connections for Latin alumni showcasing research being done in this subject area, through film screening academic profiles and networking opportunities celebrating global Spanish excellence at UVA.