Post-War Memory in El Salvador & the Diaspora

Community members, students, and scholars are invited to join us for a full day conference focused on postwar memory in El Salvador and the Salvadoran Canadian diaspora. The conference is FREE, but space is limited to 75 participants. Lunch, coffee, and dinner are included, and we ask that registered participants attend for the full event. This event is sponsored, in part, by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Surviving Memory in Postwar El Salvador, the Salvadoran Canadian Association (ASALCA), and Western University. 

This event is free, but space is limited. To register, please email Amanda Grzyb: agrzyb@uwo.ca

The Surviving Memory in Postwar El Salvador collaborative research initiative is an international partnership of survivors, scholars, artists, lawyers, museums, architects, community organizers, municipal governments, civil society organizations and mental health professionals who are committed to documenting the history of the Salvadoran Civil War (1980-1992) and preventing future violence. Using decolonial and participatory methodologies, our goal is to engage in high-impact, community-driven research projects, oral histories, and accessible knowledge sharing activities that approach historical memory work holistically through the intersections of justice; art, music, and theatre; intergenerational education; documentation and testimonies; mental health and healing; commemoration; environmental reparation; and local economic reconstruction. 

Agenda

9:15 AM: Coffee and registration 

9:25 AM: Welcome 

9:30 — 11:30 AM: Plenary Panel 

Youth, Memory, and Conflict in Postwar El Salvador and the Salvadoran Diaspora

Dr. Henry Parada (Toronto Metropolitan), Dr. Adriana Alas (Western), Juan Carlos Jímenez (Toronto), Dr. María José Méndez (Toronto) 

11:30 AM — 12:30 PM: Lunch 

12:30 — 2:00 PM: 

Option 1 - Film Screening and Discussion 

Music and Memory: Norberto Amaya and the Role of Music During the Civil War

Dr. Emily Ansari (Western) and Joel Martinez (Western) 

OR 

Option 2 - Workshop and Discussion 

The History of Asalca and Memories of the Salvadoran Diaspora in Toronto 

Eusebio García, Dr. Agustin García, Noemi García, Carmen Aquino and Carlos Jímenez 

2:15 — 3:45 PM: 

Option 1 - Roundtable Discussion 

Historical Memory and the Salvadoran Canadian Diaspora

Dr. Mirna Carranza (McMaster), Juan Carlos Jímenez (Toronto), Dr. Morgan Poteet (Mount Allison), Pedro Morán Bonilla (OISE), Veronica Escobar (RCYP), and Giovanni Carranza (York) 

OR  

Option 2 - Panel Presentation 

Surviving Memory in Postwar El Salvador: An International Research Collaboration 

Dr. Amanda Grzyb (Western), Tata Méndez (Western), Giada Ferrucci (Western), Dr. Agustin García (FutureWatch)

4:00 — 5:00 PM: Keynote Address 

After Stories: Transnational Intimacies of Postwar El Salvador 

Irina Silber (CUNY) 

5:00 — 6:30 PM: Dinner 

6:30 — 8:30 PM: Film Screening 

The Chalatenango Massacres (Juan Bello, Triana Media, 2022)