Center for Latin American and Latinx Studies 
7th PLAC Conference
Public and Community Engaged Scholarship in Latin America, the Caribbean, and its Diaspora
October 11, 2024
Perry World House
Call for Abstracts
We invite submissions from the Penn community for the 7th conference of Penn in Latin America and the Caribbean (PLAC). This year’s theme is Public and Community Engaged Scholarship in Latin America, the Caribbean, and its Diaspora. There is growing interest in public and community engaged scholarship within universities, including our own, to promote the co-production of knowledge and more equitable and relevant collaborations that address the priorities of partnering actors and communities. In this inter-school and interdisciplinary conference, we are interested in creating a space to analyze academic practices and the ethical and political impacts of our engaged research. Moreover, in Latin America, academic work may have different nuances, reflections, understandings, and commitments regarding what engaged scholarship is and how it might be practiced. For this PLAC Conference, we are interested in gaining a deeper understanding of how community engaged scholarship is perceived and practiced within the particular histories and situated contexts of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Therefore, we aim to address these complex issues in academic work and examine the possibilities, limits, and challenges of engaged scholarship. The conference seeks to motivate participants to think about questions, such as: What are effective strategies to engage with diverse publics? What ethical lessons can be shared, and which others are context-specific? What range of methodologies emerge in different kinds of collaborative relationships and engaged research projects?
We welcome abstracts from researchers and practitioners from all twelve schools, centers, and programs across campus. Please upload an abstract of 300 words here (https://bit.ly/PLAC7th2024) by Monday, April 30, 2024. Proposed presentations can range from academic papers to multimodal projects and be at different stages of development.
Important Dates:
- Abstract submission deadline: April 30, 2024
- Notification of acceptance: in May 2024
- Electronic Program becomes available online: Summer 2024
If you have any questions, please email clals-upenn@sas.upenn.edu