Spanish Colloquium Grew Out of Two Good Ideas

Dr. Jose Delgado, right, at Spring Colloquium.

“One blinks and suddenly it’s been 17 years,” said Dr. José Delgado, Professor of Spanish, as he helped kick off the second day of the 17th annual Spring Spanish and Latin American Colloquium at Ohio University.

“I need to thank David Burton because he was very instrumental in creating this event….The colloquium idea started as an overbooking,” Delgado said, laughing. “Seventeen years ago David had invited Renaissance scholar José Cebrián and I had invited editor Carlos R. Gómez from the Caribbean for the same week.” Delgado and Burton decided this was an opportune moment to invite both scholars. From there the idea started that a meeting should happen every year.

Since then, the Colloquium has brought young and budding academic stars, as well as more seasoned scholars, to the Ohio University campus to share ideas with students and faculty. Dr. Betsy Partyka and Delgado have been instrumental in continuing the colloquium almost every year. In addition to the regular activity, the university also hosted the Ohio Latin Americanist Conference for three years. This conference, begun under a Title VI at the Ohio State University, grew exponentially while at Ohio University and is now traveling around the state.

The Department of Modern Languages and the Latin American Studies Program in the Center for International Studies have collaborated for many years to bring scholars to Ohio University and create wonderful connections internationally that continue to benefit all involved. Below is a list of the Conferences sponsored by Ohio University.

Department of Modern Languages Conferences 1996-2013

• “Relationships between Author and Editor.” 1st Annual Spanish Spring Literary Festival. Ohio University (May 1996). Co-organizers: Betsy Partyka, José Delgado and David Burton.
• “Contemporary Women Writers of the Cono Sur.” 2nd Annual Spanish Spring Literary Festival. Ohio University (May 1997). Co-organizers: Betsy Partyka and José Delgado.
• “Personal and Literary Perspectives on the Caribbean.” Coloquio Primaveral. 3rd Annual Spanish Spring Literary Festival. Ohio University (May 1998). Co-organizers: Betsy Partyka and José Delgado.
• “Popular Culture and the Politics of Memory through the Telenovela in Latin America.” 1st Annual McKay Costa Symposium. Ohio University (Feb 1999). Co-organizers: Betsy Partyka and Steven Rubenstein in Anthropology.
• “Understanding End of the Century Spanish Women’s Writing.” Coloquio Primaveral. 4th Annual Spanish Spring Literary Festival. Ohio University (Apr 1999). Co-organizers: Betsy Partyka and José Delgado.
• “Mini-colloquium: Women and Latin America: the Paraguayan Experience.” Ohio University, Athens (Oct 1999). Organizer: Betsy Partyka and Marda Rose. Invited Paraguayan writer Renée Ferrer to share her writing experiences and attend classes: classes, brown-bag lunch, tertulia.
• “Domesticating Nature in the Amazon.” 2nd Annual McKay Costa Symposium. Ohio University, Athens (Apr 2000). Co-organizers: Betsy Partyka and Steven Rubenstein in Anthropology.
• “Beyond the Borders: Constructing Chicano Culture.” 5th Annual Spanish Spring Literary Festival. (May 2000). Co-organizers: Betsy Partyka and José Delgado.
• “Sex, Art and the Body Politic in Latin America.” 6th Annual Spanish Spring Literary Colloquium and 3rd McKay Costa Symposium. Ohio University (May 2001). Co- organizers: Betsy Partyka and José Delgado. Ohio University
• “Exile and Latin America.” 7th Annual Spanish Spring Literary Colloquium. Ohio University (May 2002). Co-organizers: Betsy Partyka and José Delgado.
• “Profound and Diverse Paraguay: A Multidisciplinary Conference.” 8th Annual Spanish Spring Literary Colloquium and 5th McKay Costa Symposium. Ohio University (Oct 2002). Co- organizers: Betsy Partyka and José Delgado.
• “Venezuelan Cultural Experiences.” Co- organized 9th Annual Spanish Spring Literary Festival. Ohio University (May 2005). Co-organizers: Betsy Partyka and José Delgado.
• “Puerto Rican / Cuban Expressions. Huellas cubanas y boricuas.” 10th Annual Spanish Spring Literary Festival. Ohio University (May 2006). Co-organizers: Betsy Partyka and José Delgado.
• “Outlooks on Central America at the Turn of the Century.” 11th Annual Spanish Spring Literary Festival. Ohio University (May 2007). Co-organizers: Betsy Partyka and José Delgado.
• 7th Ohio Latin Americanist Conference (12th Annual Spanish Spring Literary Festival). Ohio
• University (Mar 2008). [75 presenters]. Co-organizers: Betsy Partyka, José Delgado and Patrick Barr-Melej in History.
• 8th Ohio Latin Americanist Conference. (13th Annual Spanish Spring Literary Festival). “Links
• and Involvement in our Ever-Changing Continents.” Ohio University (Feb 27-28, 2009). [95 presenters]. Co-organizers: Betsy Partyka, José Delgado and Patrick Barr-Melej in History.
• 9th Ohio Latin Americanist Conference. (14th Annual Spanish Spring Literary Festival). “Modern
• Latin America: The Blurring of Ideological Platforms.” Ohio University (Feb 26-27, 2010). [95 presenters]. Co-organizers: Betsy Partyka, José Delgado and Patrick Barr- Melej in History.
• “201 Years of Latin American Independence 1810-2011.” 15th Annual Spanish Spring Literary
• Festival. Ohio University (Apr 28-29, 2011). Co-organizers: Betsy Partyka and José Delgado.
• “Latin America: Global Perspectives on Contemporary Inter-Cultural Identities.” 16th Annual
• Spanish Spring Colloquium. Ohio University (May 2-5, 2012), Co-organizers: Betsy Partyka and José Delgado.
• “Sculpting the Future: Career Paths After OHIO.” 17th Annual Spanish Spring Literary Festival. Ohio University (Mar 28-29, 2013). Co-organizers: Betsy Partyka and José Delgado.