SAVE THE DATE— INDIGITAL IV: Indigenous Media Across the Americas
From February 22 – 24, 2023, in Washington DC, the fourth biennial conference—InDigital IV: The Americas—will bring together Indigenous media makers, media trainers, and disperse specialists in film/media studies, media/visual anthropology, and Indigenous Studies in a unique, and as of now, only sustained academic gathering designed to keep pace with the rapid changes occurring with Indigenous People’s engagement with media in both South and North America. Through intellectual exchange and publication of presentations, the conference significantly advances scholarly knowledge of the field (see for example the conference’s 2018 publication From Filmmaker Warriors to Flash Drive Shamans: Indigenous Production and Engagement with Media in Latin America, Vanderbilt University Press).
The conference covers an array of media technologies and platforms—such as production, distribution, and engagement of Indigenous (and collaborative and non-Indigenous) video/film, radio, and television; the use of cell phones, the Internet, social media, VR/AR, and YouTube; and their utilization in struggles over land, natural resources, intellectual property, political self-determination, cultural and linguistic autonomy, representations of indigeneity, and cultural exchange and survival.
We estimate 50 – 60 presenters from Latin America, Canada, the United States, and elsewhere along with a select group of Indigenous media makers to interact and discuss the realities of media production and engagement in the Americas.
The conference combines scholarly presentations, discussion periods, roundtables, and performance (from film screenings to music). All dialog will be simultaneously translated into English, Portuguese, and Spanish, which allows for truly effective hemispheric exchange. Spaces for additional informal interaction are provided between presentations, performances, and screenings. We will seek two key-note speakers, one each for North and South America.
As with previous InDigital conferences, the website will be updated to serve as a resource for participants and the scholarly community. Following the conference we plan on publishing an edited volume that will contain cutting-edge research and critical analyses.
Finally, the conference will overlap with the first two days of the Smithsonian Institution’s annual Mother Tongue Film Festival, February 23-26, 2023, offering an opportunity for conference participants to view new Indigenous films in venues around the Washington, D.C. area.
Presenting partners for InDigital IV: the Americas include: the Center for Latin American, Caribbean and Latinx Studies of Vanderbilt University, the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, Middle Tennessee State University, the University of Maryland’s Center for Research and Collaboration in the Indigenous Americas, New York University’s Center for Media, Culture and History, and NYU-DC.
For inquiries, please contact:
Amalia Córdova
Richard Pace
