Colombia en Diálogo 2025 

Desdoblarse. Historias de vida y trabajo. Perspectivas de género traspasando fronteras. 

En 2025 Colombia en Diálogo en Glasgow tiene el honor de participar del Festival de Ciencias Sociales.

Este evento nacional explora cómo las Ciencias Sociales influyen en contextos locales,  en los comportamientos humanos y cómo contribuyen a las luchas en la acción climática. 

El tema central del encuentro es el esquivo balance entre la vida personal y la vida laboral como migrantes en el Reino Unido. Por esto lo  llamamos un Desdoblarse, como esa metáfora de lo que ocurre en los sueños, donde más de un cuerpo atiende a la vida.  Este desbalance impacta especialmente las trayectorias de vida de las mujeres, de las maternidades y de las personas a cargo del cuidado de seres queridos. 

Se trata de un evento participativo atravesado por el arte y la conversación. Un círculo de la palabra con invitadas e invitados especiales que comparten sus historias de vida mientras el público interactúa con objetos propuestos por artistas y facilitadores. 

Invitadas e invitados

• Aleyda McDonald – Ingeniera Catastral especialista en Sistemas de Información Geográfica, Funcionaria de la alcaldía de West Lancashire 
• Samuel Pinilla – Estudiante de Ciencia de la Computación y Psicología Universidad de Glasgow
• Andrés Ramírez Duque – Investigador en Ciencias de la Computación, Universidad de Glasgow

Artistas

• Jhon Quijano - Artista
• Ana Aguirre – Artista Visual y Socióloga Visual

Las y los esperamos el 24 de Octubre en el Estudio 2 del Centro de Investigación Avanzada de la Universidad de Glasgow. Registrate AQUÍ

Agenda

• 3.30 pm - 5.30 pm Circulo de la palabra y muestra artística 
• 5.30 pm - 6.30 pm Pasabocas y Networking

Colombia en Diálogo (desde 2022) es una propuesta de la mesa de educación del programa Colombia Nos Une, desarrollado por el Consulado General de Colombia en Londres.

Colombia in Dialogue 2025

Unfolding Life and Work Stories. Gender Perspectives Crossing Borders.

Colombia in Dialogue in Glasgow 2025 Joins the Festival of Social Sciences

Colombia in Dialogue in Glasgow is honoured to participate in the Festival of Social Sciences 2025, a national event that highlights the role of the social sciences in shaping local realities, influencing human behaviour, and advancing collective action on the climate crisis.

This year’s theme explores the complex balance between personal and professional life among migrants in the United Kingdom. The concept draws on the metaphor of dreams—where more than one self tends to life simultaneously—capturing the multiple identities and responsibilities that we as migrants navigate.

The discussion will particularly focus on how this imbalance impacts women’s life trajectories, motherhood, and caregiving roles.

Unfolding Life and Work Stories is conceived as a participatory and art-driven event, combining dialogue and creative interaction. Special guests will share their personal experiences in a circle of conversation, while the audience engages with artistic objects designed by collaborating artists and facilitators.

Featured Participants

• Aleyda McDonald – Engineer and Officer, Liverpool City Council
• Samuel Pinilla – Civil Engineering Student, University of Glasgow
• Andrés Ramírez Duque – Computer Science Researcher, University of Glasgow

Artists

• John Quijano - Artist
• Ana Aguirre – Visual Artist and Visual Sociologist

The event will take place on October 24 at the Studio 2 of the Advanced Research Centre, University of Glasgow REGISTER HERE TO THE EVENT

Agenda

• 3.30 pm - 5.30 pm Dialogue y artistic intervention 
• 5.30 pm - 6.30 pm Nibbles y Networking

Colombia in Dialogue (from 2022) is an initiative of the Education Committee of the Colombia Nos Une program, developed by the Consulate General of Colombia in London.

• Latin American cinemas as text (textual film analysis);
• Latin American cinema as collaboration (changing methodologies; interviews; film archives; programming);
• Latin American cinema as practice (co-production of film projects)

FRAMES OF COLOMBIA

Political Memory and Archive Film

Screening and conversation 

Glasgow 

Thursday 31 of October (17.30)

University of Glasgow, Advanced Research Centre (ARC), 11 Chapel Lane, Glasgow, G11 6EW. Suit 237C

Free entry 

CinemaAttic and Glasgow Latin American Research Network (GLARN) present a special screening and panel conversation featuring two archive films, both produced in the last two years, which offer powerful interpretations of the Colombian conflict. Using a rich blend of archival footage and testimonies, these films trace the conflict’s roots back to the assassination of political leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán in 1948. Join us to witness how Colombia’s history is reconstructed and reinterpreted through film archives, shedding new light on the nation’s decades-long struggle for truth and social justice.

The panel will include GLARN members Dr Allan Gillies (lecturer at the University of Glasgow) and Irene Piedrahita Arcila (PhD candidate at the University of Glasgow), with moderation by David Sierra Márquez (Cinemaattic).

Films: 

Jesús 

Dir: Felipe Colmenares 

Colombia | 2024 | 27 min.

(Contains graphic depictions of violence)

Avalancha 

Dir: Daniel Cortés

Colombia | 2023 | 25 min.

(Contains graphic depictions of violence)

An event organized by:

-CinemaAttic 

-Glasgow Latin American Research Network (GLARN)

Colombia nos Une (Colombia Unites Us) and the Glasgow Latin American Research Network(GLARN) are proud to present Colombia in Dialogue. Join us for a conversation and audio-visual performance about biodiversity, environmental justice and peace in Colombia at the Advanced Research Centre (Studio B), University of Glasgow, on Tuesday 8 October at 3pm.

Our panel brings Colombian speakers from civil society and academia to exchange ideas and perspectives related to the protection of biodiversity, leveraging environmental justice with local communities, and peacebuilding in Colombia. The panel will be followed by a drinks reception. Come along and meet our panellists:

• Beatriz Soto Mora. Nurse, feminist, and cultural health advocate. Beatriz is a Colombian researcher and an active member of the Latin American Network for Collective Health, the Open Lecture of Health and Peace, the Cultural Health Care Network, and the Equity and Violence research groups at the National University of Colombia. She has extensive experience generating technical-scientific evidence for social public policy building, collaborating with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), United Nations agencies, Colombian universities, and the Colombian Ministry of Health.

• Irene Piedrahita.  Anthropologist with a master’s degree in political science from the University of Antioquia in Medellín, Colombia. Irene is currently enrolled as a PhD student in Politics & IR at the University of Glasgow and is a lecturer at the Institute of Political Studies at the University of Antioquia. She has worked as a researcher on the armed conflict at the Colombian Truth Commission, examining narratives of victims and perpetrators. She is interested in reflective and participatory methodologies oriented to memory work, narratives, and oral history.

• Rodrigo Rogelis. Researcher at the Sociolegal Center for Territorial Defence – SIEMBRA. This NGO works closely with Afro-Colombian and Indigenous communities in Chocó – a region that has been severely impacted by conflict and illicit economies. SIEMBRA is a key ally of these communities in their efforts to pressure the Colombian government to implement Ruling T-622 of the Colombian Constitutional Court. T-622 recognised the legal personhood of Chocó’s Atrato River, which has been devastated by illegal gold mining.

• Tatiana Piedrahita. Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Fellow in the School of Social and Political Science at the University of Edinburgh. Tatiana’s research is situated at the intersection of feminist studies, socio-legal studies, and Latin American studies. She works on issues related to feminist peacebuilding, reproductive justice, and reproductive violence in contexts of war and political transitions.

We will also enjoy a live audio-visual synthesis performance that creates an organic, powerful, and ever-evolving dialogue that explores themes of nature, climate change, and pressing global issues and includes research outcomes from community-based research projects in Colombia.

• Ana Aguirre is a London-based social practice artist and activist. She explores themes of social justice and sustainable development, focusing on Colombia and the UK. Her work often examines movement, the interplay between urban and natural landscapes, and the complex relationships between the Global North and South. She is particularly interested in collaborating with others to explore local histories and create artistic responses using archival materials.

• Gregorio Merchán has forged an impressive and diverse music career. As a composer, he has released around ten albums across various projects, including his solo work. As a performer, he has played drums for renowned bands in Colombia, Latin America, and the UK, including Aterciopelados (Latin Grammy winner for Claroscura – Best Alternative Rock Album 2018), Shakira, Pedrina, Santiago Cruz, Lucas Arnau, 1280 Almas, Cumbe, Jawari Band, and Montañera, among others. Currently, Gregorio is expanding his musical journey as a community musician, engaging with people of different ages and backgrounds through social projects.

Please register to attend here: Colombia in Dialogue – Biodiversity, Environmental Justice and Peace Tickets, Tue 8 Oct 2024 at 15:00 | Eventbrite

This event is coordinated by the Education Team from the Colombia Nos Une programme in London, integrated by Ana Aguirre, Hernán Cuellar, Luz Duque, Vanessa Galeano Duque, Miguel Hincapié Triviño, Juan Rendón and Diana; and the University of Glasgow College of Social Sciences' IAA project, Democratising Data: Community-led Socio-Environmental Monitoring in Chocó, Colombia (Allan Gillies, Diego Pajarito Grajales, Mo Hume and João Porto de Albuquerque).

On Sunday 20 Sep, we will be participating in Glasgow Doors Open Day at the ARC. We will be Room 237C of the ARC from 10:00-13:30, where we will be exploring Glasgow-Latin American Encounters. Come join us!

We will then have a performance from the Mexti Dance Group at 13:45, followed by a short forum on Latin American communities in Glasgow and Scotland more widely.

26 September 2024 marks the tenth anniversary of the forceful disappearance of 43 students from the locality of Ayotzinapa, in the state of Guerrero, Mexico. 

To commemorate the anniversary, the Glasgow Latin American Research Network (GLARN) is proud to present an exhibition by Glasgow-based artist Jan Nimmo, starting tomorrow afternoon in the ARC (25 September): ¿Dónde Están? (Where Are They?). Portraits of the 43 missing students will be displayed in the ARC from 15:00 on 25 September until 4 October. You can find more information on Jan's work, including detailed descriptions of her community projects here.

The opening of the exhibition will be accompanied by screenings of the short film ¿Dónde Están? (Where Are They?) and the documentary by Coizta Grecko, Mirar Morir, in room 237BC of the ARC at 17:30. The screenings will be followed by a Q&A with Jan Nimmo.

Attendees and visitors to the exhibition will be given the opportunity to record a message expressing their solidarity for the families and communities affected by the forceful disappearances of their loved ones. 

Special thanks to Antonio Ivan Sanchez Hervas for their work on this event.

The Glasgow Latin American Research Network (GLARN) is proud to present a screening of Cuban Bees: The Organic Revolution at the ARC on 19 September from 6pm. The short film will be followed by Q&A with the director, Dani Acosta.

The screening is part of ARCinema, and forms part of a double-bill with Honeyland. Register to attend here: CinemARC: Cuban Bees and Honeyland Tickets, Thu, Sep 19, 2024 at 6:00 PM | Eventbrite.

Our thanks to GLARN members, Emilia Arpini, Antonio Ivan Sanchez Hervas and Irene Piedrahita Arcila for organising the event.

Film Screening & Conversation with director Dr Gwen Burnyeat

The UoG SocPol Film Club would like to formally invite you to a screening of CHOCOLATE OF PEACE - Cacao Defying Violence on the 16th of May, from 18:00.  We will be hosting the screening in the Kelvinhall Lecture Hall Theatre (1445 Argyle Street, Room G59) and will be joined by one of the film's directors Dr Gwen Burnyeat who is currently based in Edinburgh as a Lecturer in Social Anthropology. We will be posting reminders for the event in a week's time. 

About the film: Chocolate of Peace depicts the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó’s experiences of resistance, via a journey through their processes of organic chocolate production. From the seed to the product, the cacao is the narrative thread that takes us through the Community’s stories of violence and resilience, and their fight to remain neutral in the face of the Colombian armed conflict.

This film offers a panorama of hope, proof that despite great difficulties it is possible to sow peace through human and economic relationships. It invites us to rethink our relationship with food, to value the efforts of those who produce it, and to build bridges between the victims of the armed conflict and other sectors of global civil society.

There will be a workshop with art curator and founder of Conflict Textiles, Roberta Bacic, on the 20th of May from 2-4pm at the School of Psychology and Neuroscience, room 605, Level 6, 62 Hillhead Street. 

Roberta will facilitate a hands-on workshop and discussion about the history of arpilleras, textile language and the work of Conflict Textiles.

The seminar includes:

• navigating the digital collection Conflict Textiles
• presentation of two arpilleras from the collection
• create a textile figurine.

Please come along and feel free to invite other colleagues and students. No need to register, just come along. 

There will be wine reception at 5pm at the ARC and the opportunity to see the Arpilleras exhibition. 

We hope to see you there!

Canción norteña: Los cumaná de coquimbo

A documentary film by Eileen Karmy & Martin Farias

Monday 29th January, 5.15

Andrew Stewart Cinema, University of Glasgow (Gilmorehill Campus)

The screening is free, but registration is required: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/screening-of-northern-song-in-glasgow-tickets-41709691811

Rivers with rights? Social and environmental conflict in Colombia

Colombia has experienced one of the most protected civil conflicts in the world, lasting over fifty years and  resulting in a high death toll, widespread displacement, and deep social scars. On 27 September 2016, the Colombian Government signed an historic peace agreement with Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - People’s Army (FARC-EP), the main guerrilla group.  While the cessation of FARC-EP violence has brought with it great hope for peace, the complexity of the Colombian conflict and the persistence of a variety of legal and illegal armed groups also presents very real challenges. Instead of dissipating with the peace agreement the ‘humanitarian crisis has got worse’ for the citizens of the Chocó department (UMAIC, 2017), the poorest and most ethnically diverse region of the country. As one of the most biodiverse regions in the world, Chocó has attracted legal and illegal speculators who engage in extraction of natural resources. One of the most devastating of these has been gold mining which has caused widespread environmental destruction and displacement, particularly of riverine communities.  As a result of community activism,  the Colombian Constitutional Court passed a unique sentence  in 2017 which acknowledges ‘the inherent interdependency between the environment and communities ‘  of Chocó. Sentence T-622 specifically recognises the Atrato River as a bearer of rights alongside the recognition that communities’ identities and livelihoods cannot be separated from it.  This ruling has generated a new paradigm of rights in Colombia. Founded in the idea of a sustainable socio-environment, these have been expressed as ‘bio-cultural’ rights.  These rights are cornerstones for building sustainable and peaceful communities in the Atrato Basin and wider Chocó bio-region, but also ensure that the river too is a bearer of rights.

This public lecture features contributions from community leader Bernardino Mosquera Palacios, the Diocese of Choco Sterlin Londono Palacios, and Mauricio Cabrera Leal of WWF Colombia who will give an overview of the current situation in Chocó and the challenges and opportunities presented by the nascent peace process.

The event forms part of the Choco River Stories Glasgow workshop, which is bringing together activists and academics from Colombia with scholars and NGO representatives based in the UK in a two-day event (8-9th February 2018) at the University of Glasgow.

Please register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/rivers-with-rights-social-and-environmental-conflict-in-colombia-tickets-42669360205 (for catering purposes). 

In association with ABColombia, SCIAF, and WWF Colombia.

N.B. Event in Spanish with translation

Choco Lecture poster

Seminar & Reception: Regional cooperation for ecological sustainability: protecting migratory species in East Africa and South America

Wednesday, April 11^th, 2018, 16-17.30h

Gilbert Scott Room 355

Description: Addressing transboundary environmental concerns poses particular challenges. While ecosystems do not function according to the political and legal boundaries drawn up by humans, those national borders, different legislations and at times varying political priorities and rivalries have a significant impact on how, and how effectively, transboundary environmental concerns are governed. This interdisciplinary seminar provides a platform for discussing the opportunities and challenges in regional environmental governance by focussing on the protection of migratory species, a group of organisms that elicits a unique set of international policies due to their wide ranging movements that occur across political boundaries. The seminar will examine migratory species from two angles. Dr Thomas Morrison (Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences) will present the ecological factors shaping the migration of animals and present some of the findings from his work on wildebeest and elephant migration in East Africa. Dr Karen Siegel (School of Social and Political Sciences, College of Social Sciences) will then discuss the broader political context of the protection of migratory species and outline how networks of researchers, NGOs and government officials have promoted the conservation of migratory species in South America. This case study is part of her book Regional Environmental Cooperation in South America: Processes, Drivers and Constraints (Palgrave Macmillan, International Political Economy Series, 2017). To mark the publication of the book and to provide an opportunity for informal discussion and networking, the seminar will be followed by a wine reception.

To register: Please e-mail Mary.Ryan@glasgow.ac.uk to register for this event

A screening of the powerful documentary "Watch Them Die" (Temoris Grecko) with a short discussion, to stand in solidarity with the 43 Mexican students that were forcefully disappeared 43 months ago - and to show their families, friends and other Mexican activists fighting for the truth of the case to be revealed that they are not forgotten.

Patriarchal State Violence: Nicaraguan Feminists/LGBT Activists Speak

Wednesday 28th November 2018, 5pm to 7pm

Glasgow University, Room 234, St Andrew’s Building,

20 Eldon St, Glasgow G3 6NH

Patriarchal State Violence Poster      

Wednesday 13^th February 2019 at 1pm in Hetherington 317

An AHGBI research seminar at the University of Glasgow, hosted by Dr Eamon McCarthy:

La mirada documental en la literatura latinoamericana contemporánea (Sergio Chejfec, Mario Levrero, Valeria Luiselli y Alejandro Zambra).

NOTE – the talk will be in Spanish

Luz Horne is a Professor of Literature at the Humanities Department at Universidad de San Andrés in Buenos Aires. She received her PhD in Spanish and Portuguese from Yale University (2005) and her “Licenciatura” in Philosophy from the University of Buenos Aires (1999). Before joining San Andrés (2010), she was an Assistant Professor at Cornell University (2006-2010) and a Visiting Assistant Professor at Northwestern University (2005-06). Her main area of research is 20^th and 21^st century Brazilian and Spanish American literature and culture, with a special interest in the fields of film, visual culture, cultural studies and critical theory. She has published several articles in prestigious peer-reviewed academic journals and her book, Literaturas reales: Transformaciones del realismo en la literatura latinoamericana contemporánea, was published in 2012 by Beatriz Viterbo Editora (Argentina).

Title:  Social Movements' Claims for Political Incorporation in Latin America

Presenter: Federico M. Rossi

Date and location: Thursday 21^st February at 3.30pm, Boyd Orr Building, Room 507 (LTC)

Abstract:

How has the sociopolitical arena expanded to include the interests of the poor and excluded strata of society in Latin America? In this talk, based on his acclaimed book The Poor’s Struggle for Political Incorporation, Federico Rossi argues that it was through contentious political dynamics that marginalized members of society claimed to be recognized. Protests, marches, pickets, strikes, and–sometimes–more violent methods have been part of the relational process of building and rebuilding institutions that modified the relationship of the ‘popular sectors’ with the state. These contentious dynamics pushed political elites to define a new “social question,” innovating in both social and repressive policies to deal with the claims of the poor for being (re)incorporated in the sociopolitical arena. The popular movement’s repertoire of strategies for social change has been associated with different types of movements in each historical period of Latin America. The labor and/or peasant movements, the main organizers of the popular sectors in their claim for well-being through reform or revolution, were in the liberal period (1870s–1930s) that preceded the first incorporation (1930s–1950s). In the second incorporation (2000s–2010s), a different type of movement emerged in response to the neoliberal period (1970s–2000s) as the central popular actor in the quest for stopping the exclusionary consequences of authoritarianism and neoliberalism while claiming for the re-incorporation of the popular sectors as citizens and wage earners. Putting poor people’s movements into the long-term perspective of societal transformations produced by neoliberalism, this book talk will present these dynamics of reincorporation into society as citizens and workers in Latin America.

Bio:

Federico M. Rossi, Visiting Professor at the Centre on Social Movement Studies (COSMOS) of the Scuola Normale Superiore (Italy), is a Research-Professor of Argentina’s National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) at the School of Politics and Government of the National University of San Martín (UNSAM), Buenos Aires.

Rossi is the author of The Poor’s Struggle for Political Incorporation: The Piquetero Movement in Argentina (Cambridge University Press – Contentious Politics Series, 2017), and La participación de las juventudes hoy (Prometeo, 2009). He is the editor of The Oxford Handbook of Latin American Social Movements (Oxford University Press, forthcoming), and the coeditor (with Marisa von Bülow) of Social Movement Dynamics: New Perspectives on Theory and Research from Latin America (Routledge – Mobilization Series, 2015), and (with Eduardo Silva) of Reshaping the Political Arena in Latin America: From Resisting Neoliberalism to the Second Incorporation (University of Pittsburgh Press – Latin American Series, 2018).

Rossi holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the Universidad de Buenos Aires and a Doctoral degree in Political and Social Sciences from the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. He has been Visiting Professor at Singapore Management University and the American University of Cairo, Global Visiting Scholar at New York University, Visiting Researcher at the Universidade de Brasília, and Postdoctoral Fellow at Tulane University and the European University Institute. He has just been awarded the prestigious Humboldt Fellowship for Experienced Researchers for 2020-2021.

Wednesday 5th February 2020 - Translating Jorge Consiglio by Charco Press

This translation workshop will focus on the translation of Jorge Consiglio's work by Charco Press - https://charcopress.com/

Eamon McCarthy will lead a discussion in Spanish and English with Jorge Consiglio and Carolina Orloff.

Please contact Eamon.McCarthy@glagsow.ac.uk for further details.