Research and Museums - Smithsonian Latino Center - Smithsonian ...

Smithsonian Center for Latino InitiativesThe Interpretationand Representation ofLatino Cultures:Research and MuseumsA National Conference at the Smithsonian Institution“The Interpretation and Representation of Latino Cultures: Research andMuseums” National Conference at the Smithsonian Institution convenes scholars inLatino studies, archivists, and museum professionals. The purpose is to examine thecurrent status of research and educational literature on the interpretation, representation,and documentation of Latino cultures in museums and academic programswithin the United States and Puerto Rico.The conference, held for the first time this year, is based on the annual LatinoGraduate Training Seminar “Interpreting Latino Cultures: Research andMuseums,” which was first offered in 1994. Organized by the Smithsonian Centerfor Latino Initiatives and the Inter-University Program for Latino Research(IUPLR), the seminar boasts 118 alumni. The conference provides an opportunityfor former participants in the seminar and fellows of the Rockefeller Foundation’sHumanities Fellowship in Latino Cultural Research in a National Museum Context(1998-2001) to gather for the first time in a larger forum.Conference sessions reflect the interdisciplinary field of Latino research and a varietyof approaches to the interpretation and representation of material and expressivecultural practices. The conference program and structure were designed by anexpert advisory board consisting of core faculty of the training seminar in collaborationwith Magdalena Mieri from the Center for Latino Initiatives. Funding wasprovided by the Rockefeller Foundation, IUPLR, and University of Notre Dame.Program ThemeNumbering 40 million (including the 3.8 million residents of Puerto Rico),Hispanics and Latinos comprise the largest minority population in the UnitedStates. This country’s U.S. Hispanic heritage is centuries old, predating the arrivalof other immigrants by many years. Indeed, colonies of Spanish and AmericanIndians have been traced back to the early 1500s.Across the nation, however, the diversity of the Latino experience in NorthAmerica—when it is portrayed at all—most often reflects a romantic notion ofimported folk culture. The mix of U.S. Latino contributions from past generations