The 2014 Lozano Long Conference: Archiving the Central American Revolutions

February 19-21, 2014

Video of the Keynote Panel presentation of Pablo Ceto

Audio recordings from select panels and roundtables

Papers and presentations delivered at the conference

Keynote Panel: Historicizing the Central American Revolutions

Panel: Change or Continuity? Re-Assessing the Meaning of the Sandinista Revolution in Nicaragua

Roundtable: UT Austin Graduate Students

  • Regina Mills, UT Department of English


Micro Oral History Collection

    The Archiving the Central American Revolutions Micro Oral History Collection contains unedited oral history interviews conducted in conjunction with the 2014 Lozano Long Conference, Archiving the Central American Revolutions. Interviews are with conference participants as well as scholars of Central America's revolutionary period who were unable to attend the conference. The conference was organized by LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections.

    Scroll down to the "Box and Folder Inventory" section to read a brief description of each interview and click on the links labelled "Listen" to hear audio recordings of the interviews

About the Conference

The Archiving the Central American Revolutions conference had three main features.

First, we showcased new critical interpretations of the "revolutionary decades" in Central America (1970s through 1990s), drawing together scholars from the United States and Central America with research expertise on this crucial period of contemporary history. Several scholarly panels and featured speakers highlighted a broad range of views on revolution in Nicaragua, Guatemala, and El Salvador. Many of these speakers and panelists were protagonists of the revolutionary struggles from that period, others come from a new generation of scholars whose work is linked to this era.

Second, the conference initiated an ongoing project of acquisition of documentary materials-personal papers, political broadsides, photos, music, etc.-related to the revolutionary era in Central America. We wanted to send an unambiguous message to scholars and activists who may want to contribute: it is crucial to make your materials available so they can form part of the historical record, which in turn will become the point of reference for new interpretations and deeper understandings of this period for decades to come.

Third, the conference served as a venue and forum for people who were actively involved-both in and outside Central America-in the revolutionary processes, including solidarity activists, journalists, clergy, and documentary filmmakers. To this end, in addition to panels and roundtables, the conference featured:

  • The opportunity for participants to audio record micro oral histories about their Central America work
  • In the Benson Collection's main exhibition space, Venceremos!: Posters and Ephemera of the Central American Revolutions, under the direction of Julianne Gilland, LLILAS Benson Associate Director of Scholarly Resources and Special Collections Curator
    Exhibition poster: Venceremos! - Posters and Ephemera of the Central American Revolutions
  • Screening of Fire from the Mountain (1987), followed by Q&A with Director Deborah Shaffer
  • An Archiving Workshop led by Benson Collection archivists Christian Kelleher and T-Kay Sangwand
  • On exhibit in the Benson Collection Reading Room, select items from the Arturo Taracena Flores Collection

Interview with Dr. Virginia Garrard-Burnett on Central American Studies at UT Austin and conference preparations

Conference Sponsors

    LLILAS Benson; Department of History; Department of Religious Studies; Institute for Historical Studies; Bernard and Audre Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice; the Graduate School at The University of Texas at Austin

Conference Organizers

  • Virginia Garrard Burnett, Professor, Department of History
  • Kent Norsworthy, Digital Scholarship Coordinator, LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections

Steering Committee

  • Arturo Arias, Tomás Rivera Professor of Spanish Language and Literature, Department of Spanish & Portuguese
  • Donna De Cesare, Associate Professor, School of Journalism
  • Paloma Díaz, Scholarly Programs Director and Faculty Liaison, LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections
  • Julianne Gilland, Associate Director of Scholarly Resources and Special Collections Curator, LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections
  • Margo Gutierrez, U.S. Latino/a Studies Librarian, LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections
  • Juliet Hooker, Associate Director for Public Programs, LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections; Associate Professor, Departments of Government and African & African Diaspora Studies
  • Christian Kelleher, Archivist, LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections
  • T-Kay Sangwand, Human Rights Archivist and Librarian for Brazilian Studies, LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections
  • Eric Selbin, Professor of Political Science, Southwestern University
  • Mercedes Lynn de Uriarte, Associate Professor Emeritus, School of Journalism