Staff Mobility Visits

Staff mobility visits to the University of Nottingham

 Milena Grass Kleiner (PUC) has played a truly active role in the intellectual life of SPLAS and the International Consortium for the Study of Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Reconciliation during her stay in UoN. Her meetings with several members of the Department and visiting scholars have advanced the pursuit of MEMOSUR’s objectives in a number of ways: she has designed future collaborations with distinct members, initiated contacts for future initiatives and made significant strides in exploring possibilities for the research event ‘The performance of memory’ (WP 4, Task 4.2.A) which will take place in Santiago de Chile. Milena Grass’s presence and initiatives have widened and deepened the discussions on memory, performance arts and post-conflicts. Her unparalleled dynamic presence (in sheer range, enthusiasm and intellectual commitment) has encouraged members to actively engage with her ideas and proposals as well as to design and contribute to future projects relevant to MEMOSUR. The assiduous presence and sharp contributions of Milena Grass will be missed in SPLAS and CLAS events; however, there is little doubt that her initiative and drive will have planted the seeds for a diverse and fruitful collaboration to be had throughout the duration of the project. 

José Manuel Rodrigues Amieva (UNC) has been a welcome addition to the intellectual discussions in the Department. He has been an assiduous participant of the several seminaries and activities, attended several meetings with different members of the SPLAS Department, the CLAS School, visiting scholars. His interventions on issues relating to semiotics, memory and post-conflict studies have generated significant interest and discussion. As a whole, José Manuel’s contribution to the development of the project through his regular meetings (including, and in particular, with Milena Grass, in preparation for their research collaboration and discussing the event ‘The performance of memory’ ), systematic research and attendance of relevant seminars and conferences in UoN and abroad has been nothing short of admirable.

Staff mobility visits to Universidad Nacional de Córdoba

Bernard McGuirk (UN) made two staff mobility [the second vice Jeremy Lawrance who was temporarily unable to travel] from January to mid-March and June-July 2015. He focused on the network of social agencies and tasks relating respectively to: post-conflict reconstruction and reconciliation; working with social and government agencies. As a result of enhanced networking with such as the above Argentine and other contacts, he was able to enter at the highest levels of government and diplomacy into dimensions of the MEMOSUR project which were to be instrumental in the participation of himself and the other members of the four universities in their subsequent respective staff mobility exchanges and research contacts. Throughout his dealings with the numerous agencies, he emphasized that between and amongst both the four universities and the social agencies with which they were to work it was to be essential to recognize, and respect, different contexts and discourses, academic, political, strategic, social, educational, training of postgraduate candidates, etc. Key contacts were established with the Chancellery of the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its ISEN diplomat training programme; Minister Daniel Filmus whose book Presidential Voices from Latin America was launched at the 2015 MEMOSUR project international conference “Trauma and Memory”; Dr Nora Hochbaum Director of the Museo de la Memoria in El Parque de la Memoria, Buenos Aires; UMET Director Nicolas Trotta, re the role of Peronism and trade union participation in social agencies; CLACSO Director Dr Pablo Gentile re the Memory dimensions of Argentine and Latin American activism and syndicalism.