At the end of March, Dr. Margarita del Olmo Pintado, arrived for her already habitual research mission to Austria. Actually, for the fourth time in a row, she was awarded a scholarship to spend 3 months at navreme's, to undertake research in the capacity of a "RESEARCHER IN RESIDENCE" in Vienna. Substantial time is also allocated to the enhancement of ongoing joint projects (on Integration in Spain, or in Latinamerica, i.e. the INTER-Alfa MA programme in intercultural education). She is also editing a book on Interculturality, while in Vienna. Finally, joint publications on integration and racism are also being developed (5 April 2009).
Mariacateriana Labarbera is working within the framework of the Project since January 2009. She is a Juris Doctor and PhD in Human Rights by the University of Palermo. Her doctoral thesis, entitled "Multicentered Feminism: Revisiting the Female Circumcision/Genital Mutilation/Surgery/Cutting Discourse", is focused on the debate on feminism and multiculturalism, analyzing in particular the practice of female genital mutilation. During the years of doctoral research she has been visiting student at the London School of Economics (2005), at the Universidad de Valencia (2006), and the University of California, Berkeley (2007). She stayed as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Anthropology at Berkeley under the supervision of Professor Laura Nader. Moreover, she has been working as Assistant Researcher for Professors Angela Harris and Leti Volpp in the Law School on projects related to Environmental Justice and Critical Geography. She is actually Researcher at Department of Studies in Politics, Law, and Society, University of Palermo, Italy. I am developing a research project entitled "Gender Equality and Cultural Differences in Multiethnic and Democratic Europe" focused on Islamic veil, polygamy, and arranged marriage in the West. In addressing some of the most controversial issues related to gender and cultural differences, this project aims to provide an interdisciplinary theoretical and practical approach that would allow to understand differences as “diversity to be protected”, and provide useful perspectives to re-orient European legislation (25 January 2009).
Daniel Turienzo is temporary working in the frame of the Project during the months of July and September 2008. He has received a grant of the CSIC aimed at introducing last-year undergraduate students to the work of researching. He is a student in Psicology at the Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Spain, and is focusing his work at the CSIC on Racism, and mainly on Anti-racist Education (30 June 2008).
A new member has joined the proyect-tem. Pilar Cucalón Tirado is working at the CSIC from September 1st, 2008 with a tour-year scholarship she earned in a nation wide competition. She will work on school integration policy, focusing on “Linking Classrooms”, where she is going to conduct ethnographic fieldwork. She will also incorporated her recently experience in schools in Mexico DF where she has recently spent a year, funded by the Universidad Complutense of Madrid, also doing fieldwork in a school. (30 August 2008).
For the third time in row, anthropologist Margarita del Olmo will spend six weeks in Vienna, under a grant agreement between the Austrian Academy of Sciences and its Spanish equivalent CSIC (Consejo Superior de Investigación Científica). As in the past two years, Dr del Olmo will be a researcher in residence at navreme, in their new office. Cooperation dates back to 1999, e.g. the INTER project or the ISP of the Salzburg Seminar. In Vienna, jointly with navreme staff Ms del Olmo will try to advance a proposal and project design on producing a Europe-wide Guide on Racism in schools - to transnationalise the book published last year in Spanish and English. ("Racism: what it is and how to talk about it" - navreme publication vol. 8). Moreover, Dr.a del Olmo will continue her research and interviews on integration policy by identifying relevant practice and innovation in the Viennese school system (15 April - 30 May 2008).
The book "Vallekas Puerto de Mar" by Elisabeth
Lorenzi has just been published by Traficantes
de Sueños Press:
http://www.traficantes.net/index.php/trafis/editorial/publicamos_vallekas_puerto_de_mar
We are now living times of great evolution where the small and
different things tend to vanish. This book, however, deals,
with the small things. It cats its eyes on a district of Madrid,
Puente de Vallecas, that has on occasions developed in a exemplary
way. Firstly as the venue of the great evolution process of
neighbourhood demonstrations. Later as a territory with an intense
cultural and political life, sadly contrasted by the consequences
of heroin and social stigma.
The main tread of the story is the recent history of Vallecas
through its most controversial festival: “The Naval Battle”;
a big water war that is celebrated in the middle of July and
conmmemorates the independence of the district and the utopia
as its way of development. They shout: “Vallecas, Puerto
de Mar” mixing three stories: that of urban changes of
the district, that of local social movement and that which has
to do whit terms such as neighbouring, culture and identity
that has a rich anthropological substratum (23 November 2007).
Under a grant agreement between the Austrian Academy of Sciences and its Spanish equivalent CSIC (Consejo Superior de Investigación Científica), anthropologist Margarita del Olmo will spend six weeks in Vienna, as researcher in residence at navreme. Cooperation dates back to 1999, e.g. the INTER project or the ISP of the Salzburg Seminar. Ongoing joint projects include "INTER-ALFA" on intercultural education, the project "integration strategies and prevention of racism in schools", and a teacher guide "Racism: what it is and how to talk about it" (forthcoming as navreme publication vol. 8). Moreover, Dr.a del Olmo will continue her research and interviews on integration policy by identifying relevant practice and innovation in the Viennese school system (15 June - 30 July 2007).
The proposal sent by project members to organise a workshop at the 16th ICAES (International Conference of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences) was accepted by the organising committee. The conference under the title "“Humanity, Development and Cultural Diversity” will take place in Kun-Ming, China, on 15-23 July 2008. Magarita del Olmo and Caridad Hernández will lead the session on "Social Encounters of Cultural Diversity in Urban Areas", which draws heavily on the research under this project (12 June 2007).
Margarita del Olmo has been invited by the Department of Anthropology, University of North Texas where Alicia Re works. First, they will attend the Conference 67th Annual Meeting of the Society for Applied Anthropology to present the joint paper see “Meetings/Conferences). After the Conference Margarita will be hosted by Alicia in the Department of Anthropology, UN Texas, where she will give two talks, one on Intercultural Education and the other on Racism, tutor students and exchange ideas with Alicia Re about their work in the project (21 March 2007).
Caridad Hernández Sánchez, is visiting the following schools in Gloucester, Great Britain: Mitton Manor Primary School; Kingsholm C of E Primary School y Churchdowm Village Infant School, as the person responsible of the Spanish-British Initial Teacher Training Programme. During this visit, Caridad's role will be that of the supervisor of the students enrolled in the teaching Training Programme, but she will have also the opportunity to do some participant observation which she will use as a part of the comparative frame she is building to analyze the results of her current fieldwork in a school in Madrid. Caridad will focus on the organizations of pupils in the classroom, interaction among pupuils and between them and teachers, and diversity: present and recognized (19 March 2007).