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Chile & Argentina: Economic Reform, Regional Integration, and Democratization
Kathleen O’Gorman
Professor of English
Illinois Wesleyan University
I realize this may sound extreme, but it’s a sentiment several people in the seminar in Chile and Argentina expressed: it was truly life changing. I find myself describing it in that way to colleagues and friends, and several others from the seminar shared that same perspective when we e-mailed one another in the weeks after our return to the U.S. As I try to account for what was so compelling, I have to say that the opportunity to meet with so many principal players in the dramas of both countries as they’ve made the transition from dictatorship to democracy was amazing and profoundly moving: from Juan Guzmán, Pedro Matta, and José Zalaquett in Chile, to the Madres and Abuelas of the Plaza de Mayo in Argentina. Even our translator in Argentina, human rights activist Patrick Rice, has a personal history that is as shocking as it is profoundly moving, and I say this as a person who has spent time in other countries in South America and who brought to the seminar at least some knowledge of the atrocities suffered by the people of Chile and Argentina during these horrifying times in their recent past. When I tell colleagues that we visited Villa Grimaldi and ESMA, they are stunned, and when I describe to them some of the efforts being made by community activists in places like barrio Los Piletones, they are impressed by the innovative strategies and the tenacity with which the lawyers and volunteers working with local groups have been able to improve living conditions. That we had access to such important persons and places is a privilege I am still processing and will probably continue to do so for a long time to come.
In the meantime, however, I am doing all I can to advance awareness of international studies and travel among my colleagues and students at Illinois Wesleyan, with a particular focus on CIEE programs.
- My trip was featured in IWU’s International Office newsletter for August/September.
- On September 17, the director of our International Office, Stacey Shimizu, and I made an hour-long presentation about CIEE programs and about my trip to encourage other faculty members to participate in them. Approximately 20 of our colleagues attended. (We were the first of the series, so attendance was a bit thin. We knew that would be the trade-off, but we wanted to make the presentation as early in the semester as possible so that those interested would still have ample time in which to apply for faculty development funds to support such a trip.)
- On November 16, I will make a formal presentation to the entire faculty and interested students in our “Faculty Colloquium” Series on the work completed and on the work still in progress that is associated with my project. I should note that faculty members compete for one of the four spots in this annual series, so it was an honor to have been selected, and it was a measure of Illinois Wesleyan’s commitment to foregrounding international faculty development opportunities. I’ll be talking about Isabel Allende’s short story, “The Road North,” situating my analysis of it in terms of my traditional scholarship and in terms of the personal circumstances that led me to the project (and to Chile and Argentina with CIEE!). I’ll be encouraging others to risk going beyond their usual comfort zones intellectually and personally to take on such endeavors. I am currently in discussions with the Director of our School of Theatre Arts to see if I can also include in my presentation a 10 – 15 minute staging of a portion of the play I am writing as a result of the seminar. That I can even type the words, “the play I am writing” is—not incidentally—extraordinary! I’ve never done such a thing before, and it’s been a consuming passion since my return. Not only was the seminar itself a powerful force in compelling me to try this; one of the other seminar participants was especially encouraging. I don’t know if I’d have had the nerve without that gentle nudge from a fellow traveler!
- I have been in touch with Margaret Novy and Emily Hipchen, who are organizing a conference at the University of Pittsburgh in mid-October concerning adoption studies. While I am unable to attend the conference this year, I’ll be submitting my article to them for consideration for publication in the special annual they will be editing. I also plan to submit my play when it’s completed for possible production as a part of the conference next year. It draws particular attention to the Madres of the Plaza de Mayo.
- Next semester in the English 170 course, “The Short Story,” which I teach at least once a year, I will include “The Road North,” and I will be able to bring to my students a much fuller appreciation for the historical context in which it occurs.
- I have spoken with our president’s special assistant and with colleagues in our Latin America Area Studies Program to lay the groundwork to invite José Zalaquett to Illinois Wesleyan for a lecture on his work as part of Chile’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
In short, I have been re-energized intellectually and personally as a direct result of the CIEE Seminar—an experience I could not have had without the support of the Ping Foundation. I will continue to make every effort to advance the cause of study abroad among our students and to encourage faculty development among colleagues.
Thank you again for your support of my work.
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