The University of New Mexico hosts the Critical Mystery Studies Symposium Nov. 16-17 at the Bobo Room in Hodgin Hall. An international online symposium will also be held on Nov. 18. The symposium is free and open to the public, both virtual and in person. The opening ceremony starts on Monday, Nov. 16 at 9 a.m. in the Bobo Room.
The Critical Mystery Studies (CMS) symposium brings together scholars from a variety of fields, including Chicana/o Studies, Native American Studies, and Medieval Studies, to critically and creatively examine the mysteries that surround us. CMS is the critical and interdisciplinary study of the fantastic mysteries that resist easy understanding, including aliens, ghosts, monsters, cyborgs, conspiracy theories, urban legends, folklore, secret societies, the occult, mysticism, supernatural events and beings, and the whole range of marvelous human experiences.
CMS examines the role of mystery in the long traditions, histories of resistance, and cultural expressions of BIPOC communities, while also exploring how mysteries are entangled with racism, sexism, coloniality, and other systems of oppression. Studies within CMS explore the nature and meaning of mysteries, the discourses surrounding them in their specific geographical and cultural contexts, their fictional representation in fiction and film, and how mysteries have been reclaimed, reinterpreted, reappropriated, and produced by cultural creators.
Keynote speakers include:
Monday, Nov. 16, 10:15-11:15 a.m. In-person
Derek Lee: “Robert Langdon Exposed!! The Shocking Truth behind Dan Brown's Conspiracy Fiction”
Tuesday, Nov. 17, 10:15-11:15 a.m. In-person
Ana R. Alonso-Minutti: "Becoming Lloronas: Walking and Wailing toward Healing"
Wednesday, Nov. 18, 9:15-10:15 a.m. Online
Maria del Pilar Blanco: “Spiritual Planets: Nation-Building and Other Worlds in Nineteenth-Century Mexico”
Wednesday, Nov. 18, 1-2 p.m. Online
Madalina Meirosu: “Emotional Atmospheres for Sale: The Making of Transylvanian Dread from Dracula to the ‘World's Most Haunted Forest’”
For more information, visit Critical Mystery Studies Symposium.
