Scholars, writers and directors of organizations dealing with Spanish culture will gather at the College for an international symposium to evaluate the current cultural renaissance in Spain.
The conference, titled "Spain Today: Literature, Culture, Society," will take place today through Saturday and include panel discussions, round table meetings and films that will explore the cultural impact of Spain's recent transition from a dictatorship to a democracy.
Since the fall of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975, Spain has experienced a rebirth in culture and a new position in the international community. This modern Spanish renaissance has sparked a renewed interest in Spanish literature, film and other art forms, Spanish and Portuguese Professor Jose Colmeiro said.
"This conference aims to increase students' awareness of the richness and diversity of contemporary Spanish culture and of Iberian studies in the United States," Colmeiro said.
Three professors in the Spanish and Portuguese department -- Colmeiro, Christina Duplaa and Juana Sabadell-Nieto -- have led the one-and-a-half year effort to organize the symposium.
The scholars and speakers from varied disciplines will come to the College from throughout the United States and Spain. "It was not very difficult to persuade them to come, it will be a very interdisciplinary conference," Sabadell-Nieto said.
"We are trying to broaden the spectrum of what is traditionally understood by Spanish studies," Colmeiro added. He said redefinition of this field must encompass not only language and literature but also history, politics and other disciplines as well.
Colmeiro said this conference is important to the College because Dartmouth has been a leader in curricular development in Spanish studies.
"This [conference] will also put Dartmouth on the international map as a leading center for intellectual debate," Colmeiro said.
The keynote address and most of the panel discussions will be in English, but the round-table discussions will be in Spanish. All of the discussions will be held in the Collis Common Ground and will be moderated by professors from the Spanish and Portuguese department.
Spanish author Rosa Montero will present a keynote address called "Spain: No Man's Land" Saturday at 5 p.m.
In her work, Montero, one of the leading women writers in Spain, explores the many issues confronting women in the new Spanish society, the women's rights movement and the experience of living in Spain during its transition to democracy.
"[Montero] is probably throughout Spain the most well-known woman writer who's alive," Colmeiro said.
Two of Montero's books have been translated into English. She will be signing copies of her English novels at the Dartmouth Bookstore on Friday from 12 to 12:30 p.m.
Montero's speech will be followed by remarks from Director of the Dickey Center for International Understanding Martin Sherwin and Carlos Sanchez de Boado, the Consul General of Spain in Boston, will make the final remarks to formally close the symposium.
Other events include a variety of panel discussions Friday and Saturday featuring prominent national and international scholars. The conference also coincides with the Loew Theater's film series this term on contemporary Spanish cinema called "Screening Spain Today."
The conference is sponsored by Fundacio "la Caixa," the Dickey Center, the Program for Cultural Cooperation Between U.S. Universities and Spain's Ministry of Culture, the Dean of the Faculty Office, the General Consulate of Spain at Boston and the Spanish and Portuguese department.
