Arts & Sciences

The Asian Globalization and Latin America Project (AGLA) at FIU has been an innovative trans-regional program that created a permanent Certificate Program, helped faculty development, and enhanced the Chinese and Japanese language programs and study abroad opportunities. The Project was originally funded by a grant from Department of Education (1999-2002). It links two major regional programs: the prestigious Title VI national resource center of Latin American and Caribbean Center (LACC) and Asian Studies.

AGLA focuses on establishing and examining points of intersection between the regions of Asia and Latin America by analyzing issues such as diaspora/migration patterns; religion and cultural/national identity; trade/political economy; systems of education and reform; environmental/labor issues; and internet commerce/technology.

The Project developed six main thematic areas covered by various curriculum and faculty development (which are listed lower on the page).

Selected Courses Created through AGLA Project

• INR 4032 Asia and Latin America in World Affairs
• LBS 4653 Labor Movements in Developing Countries
• LIN 4624 Bilingualism and Language Policy
• LIT 4197 Global Asian Literature
• REL 3026 Folk Religions in Asia and the World
• REL 3028 Sacred Places, Sacred Travels
• REL 3123 Asian Religions in the Americas
• SPW 4133 Eastern Thought and Latin American Literature
• SPW 4470 Asia in 19th Century Hispanic Literature
• SYP 4454 Globalization and Society

AGLA Selected Speakers, Workshops, and Conferences

Themes

• Ethnic Identity,included the function of the Japanese communities in Brazil and Peru and the Chinese diaspora communities in Cuba and Panama, as well as Asian-Latin Americans returning to Asia.
• Comparative Literature and Thought, such as the influence of Asian culture on Latin American literature, philosophy, and film, along with comparisons of "magical realism" in the respective literary traditions, as well as the role of mystical philosophy and cult religions, such as the spread of Japanese cult movements among Japanese and non-Japanese sectors in Latin America.
• "Guided by his pale hand a silkworm is his brush, that formed upon the paper the black chrysalis of a mysterious hieroglyph whence, like flower, sprung a magnificent thought with wings of flying gold: subtle and mysterious flame in the lamp of the ideogram." - Jose Juan Tablada, 1920
• Linguistics and Bilingualism, how languages, styles of language pedagogy, and heritage language retention and bilingualism reflect issues of cultural interaction and social identity.
• Social and Political Issues, includes development, security, governance, labor, drug trafficking, medical ethics, environmental concerns, human rights, and related topics.
• Trade and Economics, such as the effect of a global economy on both regions and, in particular, the impact of the Asian financial crisis on Latin American economic development.
• Area Studies, includes studies of world regions and international issues as conducted in universities and institutes in Asian and Latin American countries, in order to understand how the academic leaders of each area understand the other region.

Selected Speakers

• Jeffrey Lesser Professor, Emory University Author of Negotiating National Identity: Immigrants, Minorities and the Struggle for Ethnicity in Brazil (1999) Editor of Searching for Home Abroad: Japanese-Brazilians and Transnationalism (2003)
• Kathleen Lopez PhD, University of Michigan Specialty research on Chinese in Cuba
• Dale Olsen Professor, Florida State University Author of The Chrysanthemum and the Song: Music, Memory, And Identity In The South American Japanese Diaspora (2004), Music of El Dorado: The Ethnomusicology of Ancient South American Cultures (2002), Musics of Many Cultures (2000)
• Ronan Pereira Former Professor, University of Brasilia Author of Japanese Religions in and Beyond the Japanese Diaspora (2007) and Possession and Cultural Innovation: the Religious Experience of Nakayama Miki and Deguchi Nao (1992)
• Cristina Rocha PhD, University of Western Sydney Author of Zen in Brazil: The Quest for Cosmopolitan Modernity (2006)
• Joshua Roth Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Mount Holyoke College Author of Brokered Homeland: Japanese Brazilian Migrants in Japan (2002)
• Peter Smith Former Professor, University of California, San Diego Author of Democracy in Latin America: Political Change in Comparative Perspective (2005), Talons of the Eagle: Dynamics of U.S.-Latin American Relations (1996), The Challenge of Interdependence: Mexico and the United States (1988) Co-author of Modern Latin America (1984)
• Helena Thevenot Adjunct Faculty, New World School of the Arts, Miami-Dade College Specialty Butoh Dance
• Karen Yamashita Associate Professor, University of California at Santa Cruz Author of Circle K Cycles (2001), Tropic of Orange (1997), Brazil-Maru (1992); and Through the Arc of the Rain Forest (1990)

Selected Workshops, Lectures, and Conferences

1. Rethinking the Role of Area Studies in Relation to Globalization Theory
2. Is Asia Still a Model for Development in Latin America?
3. Annual Panels on Asian Influences on the Hispanic Literary Canon (1998-2002)
4. Asian Ethnicities in Diaspora
5. Global Ethics: Asia & Latin America
6. Transnational Religions
7. The Status of Latin American Studies in Japan
8. China and Latin America Global Trade Relations
9. New Music Miami Festival (contained musical pieces composed by artists from Japan as well as Latin America)
10. Ethnomusicology (presentation on “Japanese and Peruvian Ethnomusicology” and “The Shakuhachi and Japanese Subcultures in South America”)
11. Asian-Latin America Food Production and Distribution
12. Japanese Butoh Dance and Its Popularity in Brazil
13. Literature on Chinese in Panama
14. Title VI Centers and Global Economy
15. Kaminarimon