el CafeciTO

In this episode, Sarah talks to Gabriel Tejada, professional photographer and documentarian from Cajamarca, Perú. He talks about how his experience with photography and cultural management led to his involvement in the documentary Carnaval La Fiesta Entre Carne y Espíritu. Gabriel also reflects on the creative process behind documenting Cajamarca’s carnival and the festivity’s importance for the cultural identity of Cajamarquinos. Lastly, the documentarian shares some encouraging words for students and the difficulties of finding a vocation.

If you are interested in learning more about the history behind Cajamarca’s carnival you can visit the webpage: https://www.museodelcarnaval.org/. To support more of Gabriel’s work you can follow his personal instagram @gabrieltejadas or his collaborative’s project @laoficina.lab. We hope you enjoy the episode!

In this episode, Luísa talks to Vanessa, Daniel and Homere, three undergrad students at the LAS program. They share some interesting thoughts about the program, how their perspectives about Latin America have changed, as well as some fun anecdotes about their experience in the program so far. Finally, our guests also give precious advice to students who are considering joining the Latin American Studies Program. We hope you enjoy the episode!

In this episode, Sarah sits down with Seba Mena, our former Season 6 and 7 host, to talk about his current project: Lina’s Stories. He also tells us about the importance of learning about renowned theatre teacher and performer Lina de Guevara for archiving Latinx live here in Canada. The LAS alumni also reflects on how his career as a performer and his undergraduate degree in Latin American studies equipped him with the interest of finding out more about his culture and family history through this upcoming documentary. We hope you enjoy the episode!

In this episode, Luísa talks to Paula Karger, an assistant professor in the teaching stream of Latin American Studies and Spanish at the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. Our guest talks about her fascinating research on "La Doncella Teodor," exploring how the story traveled across the globe and evolved through cultural exchanges and translations. Additionally, she discusses the newly discovered ruins of Valeriana, and what this exciting discovery means for scholars, archeologists, tourists and citizens as more information comes out. We hope you enjoy the episode!

In this episode, Sarah talks to Samantha Hare and Matias Recharte. Together, with Roxana Escobar, they run Manchita Productions, a management group that seeks to promote Peruvian culture through musical events here in the city. Sami and Matias share insights behind the organization of Peñas Criollas abroad. They also reflect on the importance of these entertainment instances for the creation of intergenerational spaces that support community making among the Peruvian diaspora in Canada. Lastly, Sami and Matias give us a glimpse into Manchita Productions’ future.

Unfortunately, Roxana Escobar was not available for the interview but I invite everyone to listen to our Black History Month episode on Season 06 to learn more about her research on the role of Afro-Peruvian women in the sustenance of Peñas Criollas in Lima, Perú. We hope you enjoy the episode!

In this episode, Sarah and Luísa talk to LAS students Elle Gilbert and Diego Brizuela-Crespo about their learning abroad experiences in Argentina and Puerto Rico, respectively. They share their contrasting experiences and insights, what knowledge and skills they have gained, and unexpected issues and moments they lived while being abroad. Finally, our guests offer precious advice, tips, and resources to LAS students who wish to go abroad, as well as pointing out how the Spanish and Portuguese Department can support them in their journeys.

In this first episode, Sarah introduces el CafeciTO’s new co-host, Luísa Melchert. Luísa is a second-year undergraduate student who is doing a major in Public Policy and two minors in Latin American Studies and Political Science. In this episode, she tells us about her experience at UofT so far, and about her interesting extracurriculars. Finally, our new co-host also tells us about her experience with podcasting and shares a sneak peek of what you can expect from Season 10.

We are so excited for this season, and we hope you are too. Do not forget to follow us on instagram @podcastelcafecito to keep up with our episode releases and our online content. We hope you enjoy the episode!

For season 9’s finale, Sarah talks to Manuela Mora Castillo and Natalia Peña, the co-editors in chief of @el.paradigmasur , University of Toronto’s Undergraduate Journal of Interdisciplinary Latin American Studies. We get to know more about Manuela and Natalia as they tell us about their degrees and their varied extracurriculars. They also reflect on the process behind starting the journal. Finally, the co-editors give us an exciting sneak peek into what is coming in Paradigma’s first edition. We hope you enjoy the episode!

In this episode, Sarah talks to Luisa Duarte Milani, a Brazilian PhD candidate from the Geography and Planning Department. Luisa tells us about how her background in architecture and planning inspired her research on informal housing and environmental risk. She also reflects on the experiences of conducting academic research in her home city, São Paulo, Brazil. Finally, Luisa talks about the importance of engaging with Latin American geographies when studying instances of environmental justice! We hope you enjoy the episode! 🌊

Episode 03 is part of our special segment: Reporting from LASA2024, el CafeciTO's collaboration with graduate student Johann Kirchenbauer.

In this episode, Johann speaks to professor Ryan Long from the University of Maryland. We learn from professor Long's diverse research approaches and interests, and we will get a sneak peek in the ways the University of Maryland interacts with their Latin American community, including the projects and opportunities these initiatives create. We hope you enjoy the episode!