Agnes Fanning
The Journal of Latin American Cultural Studies (JLACS) is pleased to host its 2026 International Conference, A World in Common, at St Catherine’s College, Oxford (23–24 July 2026).
The conference forms part of a biennial series that has previously taken place in the UK, Switzerland, Mexico, and the United States, returning to Oxford for the first time since 2016. It provides a forum for scholars working across disciplines to engage with current debates in Latin American cultural studies, in dialogue with the journal’s broader intellectual aims.
As reflected in the journal’s scope, JLACS is committed to sharing work that examines Latin American culture through theoretical, historical, and interdisciplinary approaches, including research on Caribbean, Latino/a, and trans-regional formations. The conference extends this mission by bringing together scholars whose work engages with diverse cultural forms (literature, film, visual arts, and beyond) as well as broader questions of memory, identity, and cultural production in contexts shaped by modernity, globalisation, and political transformation. The theme A World in Common invites reflection on shared cultural, political, and epistemological frameworks, and the tensions and inequalities that complicate them.
The programme features a range of speakers whose work exemplifies the journal’s interdisciplinary reach. Caroline Egan (Northwestern University) brings expertise in the literatures and cultures of early colonial Latin America, Agnes Fanning (University of Oxford) focuses on twentieth-century cultural production and political writing produced by women, Jessica Fernández de Lara Harada (University of Oxford) works on race and racism in Latin America and Asia, as well as decolonial approaches in history and social thought, and Sergio Raimondi (Universidad Nacional del Sur) is both a poet and academic whose work engages with questions of labour, economy, and language. Leo Temple (University of Cambridge) researches the intellectual and social histories that underwrite the evolution of poetic form in Latin America, and Ana Lucía Martínez (University of Cambridge) contributes perspectives from twentieth- and twenty-first-century poetry and visual arts of the region. Lesley Wylie (University of Leicester) brings a strong focus on the environment, indigenous identity, and cultural geography. María Jacinta Xón Riquiac (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid) works at the intersection of anthropology and indigenous rights.
Together, these contributions reflect the journal’s commitment to fostering new areas of research and debate, particularly in relation to questions of hybridity, transculturation, and the ongoing reconfiguration of cultural studies as a critical and political project. The conference aims not only to showcase current research, but also to create a space for dialogue across disciplinary and geographic boundaries, encouraging participants to reconsider how cultural practices and meanings are shared, contested, and transformed.
A World in Common seeks to bring into focus both the possibilities and the limits of commonality, whether in relation to cultural forms, political imaginaries, or scholarly methodologies. This conference aims to continue the Journal’s tradition of promoting rigorous, innovative, and engaged scholarship within Latin American cultural studies.
For more information on the journal, see its website: https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/cjla20
To register for the conference, please email: jlacs2026@gmail.com
Registration fee:
£10 – full-time tenured academic staff (UK/US/Canada/Europe)
Free – all other participants
The fee can be paid via bank transfer or on arrival.
Accommodation
A number of rooms have been reserved at St Catherine’s College for conference attendees.
For information on rates and booking, please contact:
catz.conferences@stcatz.ox.ac.uk
Bulletin of Advanced Spanish 