Events

Workshop #3 – Los Angeles, California

Program:

Thursday, March 14, 2024
Session I: Discussion of essays drafted for Cultural Anthropology’s Theorizing the Contemporary

Session II: Student Book Prototype Exhibition, from the Future of Facts USC Class (see book making workshop here)

Session III: Discussion of Introduction for Tapuya articles

Friday, March 15, 2024
Session IV: Discussion of future plans

Guided visit at the Huntington Library on Latin American materials, led by Dr. Daniel Lewis, Senior Curator for Science and Technology

Workshop #2 – Los Angeles and Catalina Island, California

Program:

Thursday, April 13, 2023
Session I: Discussion of papers by Alex Nading, Andrea Ballestero, and Rosana Castro Discussion of Publication Plans

Friday, April 14, 2023
Session II: Discussion of papers by Eduardo Romero Dianderas, Emily Maguire, and Ignacio Siles

Session III: Discussion of papers by Eden Medina, Diana Bocarejo, and Pablo Gómez

Saturday, April 15, 2023
Session IV: Discussion of papers by Gabriela Soto Laveaga, Vivette García-Deister, and Kregg Hetherington

Concluding Thoughts and Future Directions for Workshop III in Cartagena, Colombia


The Future of Facts in Latin America Roundtable


Wednesday, April 12, 2023
3:30-5:00pm PST
University of Southern California
Michelson Hall (MCB) 101

Participants:
Andrea Ballestero, Associate Professor of Anthropology, USC
Eden Medina, Associate Professor of Science, Technology & Society, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Gabriela Soto Laveaga, Professor of the History of Science, Harvard Univeristy
Kregg Hetherington, Associate Professor of Sociology and Anthropology, Concordia University
Andrew Lakoff, Professor of Sociology and Anthropology, Director of the Center on Science, Technology, and Public Life, USC

The compounding crises of climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic have dramatically intensified the ongoing redefinition of facts and truth claims. Associated with rising religious fundamentalism and new forms of populism, this reconfiguration has been crucially fueled by the acceleration of information technologies. If during the 20th century facts were predicated upon claims to objectivity and verifiable experience, in the 21st facts are up for grabs as manufactured doubt and distrust of expertise saturate the public sphere. This, we argue, is not temporary but a new global condition. If we are to understand the future of facts, we need to expand studies of disinformation with interdisciplinary approaches that examine what is the nature of facts in a global context. This implies developing new concepts that go beyond dominant truth/falsehood, fact/fiction dichotomies.

This event is co-sponsored by the USC Center on Science, Technology, and Public Life, USC Department of Anthropology, the USC Center for Latinx and Latin American Studies, the Ethnography Studio, and the Social Studies Research Council.


Workshop #1 – Mexico City, Mexico

group photo

Program:

Friday, September 23, 2022
Session I: Introductions + Facts and Science Fiction as a Compass

Session II: Technologies of Truth Panel

Session III: Environment and Facts Panel

Saturday, September 24, 2022
Session IV: Governing Facts and Truths Panel

Guided Tour UNAM Central Campus-UNESCO Heritage Site with Professor Itzel Rodriguez

Session V: Concluding Thoughts and Future Directions for Workshop II in Los Angeles


Roundtable: El futuro de los hechos en América Latina

UNAM Postgrado Filosofia de la Cienca
Thursday, September 22, 2022

Participants:
Andrea Ballestero, USC
Vivette García Deister, UNAM
Kregg Hetherington, Concordia University
Pablo Gómez, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Moderator:
Maximiliano Martínez, UAM-C