Breaking Boundaries: The Society for Amazonian and Andean Studies Symposium

We propose to convene in 2024 an international gathering of scholars and practitioners working across different disciplines in the Amazonian and Andean regions. There are emerging environmental and sociopolitical global challenges faced in these regions that need attention. Organized through the Society for Amazonian and Andean Studies (SAAS), the main question to be discussed is how intersectional and interdisciplinary approaches to Amazonian and Andean studies can contribute to addressing emerging environmental and sociopolitical challenges? Four inter-related themes will be explored in different sessions: (1) human responses to climate change and environmental justice, (2) decolonizing research, and further engaging communities in research programs in the region, (3) the future of gender studies in the Amazon and Andes, and (4) future directions for globally-engaged Amazonian and Andean studies. The symposium will take place on UVA campus, and include a virtual component. Scholars and practitioners from different Andean and Amazonian countries will also be invited. Some of the presentations will be translated into the Quechua and Aymara and/or Guarani indigenous languages, and a website and similar media will be organized to disseminate the event.