The sunshine really set the tone for the warmth and brightness which characterised this year’s PILAS and SLAS conferences. As a first-year PhD student (Urban Studies, University of Sheffield), it was my first time attending. In the friendly atmosphere, I received many insightful and encouraging questions when I presented my research proposal at PILAS.
It was a privilege to establish or renew contacts among postgrads like me as well as more senior colleagues from diverse backgrounds but focussing on similar themes and places. As I progress through my PhD, I am increasingly conscious of how vital these interpersonal relationships are.
Sharing our experiences of academic life and our passions for Latin America were among the joys of both multidisciplinary conferences. Alongside sessions of obvious relevance to my own research about queer migrants in Colombia, I attended panels outside my disciplinary focus. These were useful, too, thanks to overarching questions around researching Latin America as a British person and from within an Anglophone institution.
Highlights included receiving constructive feedback on my research; both PILAS keynotes; contributions about Aztec tippex, amateur women’s football, class dynamics among Venezuelan migrants, and Latinx diasporic literature; the roundtable with Migration & Mobilities Bristol; the panel entitled barbarism, monstrosity, and necropolitics; the screening of the 1959 Venezuelan film Araya; and the genius idea of crafting together, learning a Brazilian sewing technique called fuxico with Latinas in Bristol. (For the whimsically inclined, there’s a metaphor here for the threads which drew us together to create a beautifully multifaceted whole!)
I thank both committees - but especially my fellow postgraduates at PILAS - for organising such fantastic events, arranging some inspired activities, and fostering an energising environment. I came away with much food for thought, a wealth of acquaintances, and a very high bar for future conferences!
Christopher Outlaw
School of Geography & Planning, University of Sheffield
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