October 4, 2016
St. John's University will be hosting “Memory and imagination of Latin America and the Caribbean through the Oral and Written Paths,” a three-day-International Conference on Literature, from Wednesday, October 12 to Friday 14, 2016. The first of a kind at St. John’s University, it will bring to our Queens Campus 200 personalities from all over the world who will speak in English, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish.
The purpose of the conference is to demonstrate the increasing importance of languages in a global society, which reflects the diversity and similarities in cultures. In the words of Dr. Marie-Lise Gazarian, Director of the Graduate Program in Spanish and organizer of the Conference at St. John’s , “The International Conference on Literature is a dialogue between professionals from various cultures and diverse fields, including the arts and sciences, that opens doors to countless new possibilities.” Gazarian is also the Vice-President for the Northeast of Sigma Delta Pi, the National Hispanic Honor Society, and Moderator of Epsilon Kappa, St. John’s Chapter, a co-organizer of the conference.
The Conference pays special tribute to Gabriela Mistral, the Chilean poet, educator, and diplomat, in honor of the 70th Anniversary of her Nobel Prize for Literature, and to the two giants of Literature, Cervantes and Shakespeare, in the 400th anniversary of their deaths (1616-2016).
On October 12, the inauguration day of the conference, the event will take place in D’Angelo Center, Room 416 B, from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm; on October 13, in D’Angelo Center, Room 416 C, and in Council Hall; on October 14, D’ Angelo Center, Room 128, as well as in the Global Language and Culture Center (GLCC), Room 104. The conference will culminate in a Gala Dinner to be held in Marillac Terrace. Those interested in partaking of the dinner, should contact: Myrna Fuentes at [email protected].
For media inquiries, please contact the Office of Media Relations by calling (718) 990-6847, or by e-mail to [email protected].