The Present and Future of the Humanities
Location: Ferguson International Center, Bloomington, Indiana
330 N Eagleson Ave, Bloomington, IN 47405
October 12-13, 2026
The Coordination of Humanities at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and the Indiana University IU Global Gateway Network through the Mexico Gateway will meet at Indiana University to engage in scholarly discussions on the present and future of the humanities. The aim is to continue dialogue and collaboration through the presentation of progress and results from ongoing projects and research lines, fostering the development of a shared agenda focused on identifying key challenges facing the humanities in the contemporary social context.
Thematic Areas
- Digital humanities and artificial intelligence
- Memory and identities
- Humanities and the arts
- Digital humanities and linguistics
Conference Schedule
All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). Most locations are in the Ferguson International Center (FIC) unless noted otherwise.
Lunes / Monday, October 12, 2026
| Time / Location | Program |
|---|
8:30–9:00 a.m.
FIC, 4th floor | Coffee Break |
9:00–9:30 a.m.
FIC, Room 409 | Opening Remarks
Moderator: Dr. César Félix-Brasdefer, Faculty Liaison for the Indiana University Mexico Gateway |
9:30–10:20 a.m.
FIC, Room 421/423 | The Present and Future of the Humanities at Indiana University and The National Autonomous University of MexicoModerator: Dr. Vivian Halloran, Associate Dean for Arts and Humanities and Professor of English, College of Arts and Sciences, Indiana University |
10:30–11:20 a.m.
FIC, Room 421/423 | Workshop 1: Arts and Humanities- Dr. Claudio Molina Salinas, Instituto de Investigaciones Estéticas
“Language Technologies and Terminological Lexicography: From Terminotics to the Methodological Expansion of Art History” - Dr. Olimpia Rosenthal, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, Indiana University
“Weeping Trees’ Tales: Singaporean Visual Narratives of the Latex-Bearing Trees that Changed the World”
Moderator: Alberto Carrera Portugal, Academic Coordinator, UNAM |
11:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
FIC to IMU | Walk to Tudor Room, Indiana Memorial Union |
12:00–1:30 p.m.
Tudor Room, Indiana Memorial Union | Lunch at the Tudor Room |
2:00–3:20 p.m.
FIC, Room 421/423 | Workshop 2: Memory and Identity- Dr. Maria E. Hamilton Abegunde, Associate Professor, Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies, Indiana University, and Dr. Carey Champion, Associate Librarian, Director of the Wylie House Museum
“In the Upper Room”: When the Archive is the Ancestor Who Demands to Speak - Dr. John Nieto-Phillips, Department of History, Indiana University
“Dreams of Empire: Hispanidad, Falange, and Hispanic Fascism in América” - Dr. Ricardo Mansilla, Investigador del Centro Peninsular en Humanidades y Ciencias Sociales (CEPHCIS), UNAM
“Scaling Properties of Ancient Maya Settlement. The Use of LIDAR Technology”
Moderator: César Félix-Brasdefer, Faculty Liaison for the IU Mexico Gateway |
3:20–3:30 p.m.
FIC | Coffee Break |
3:30–5:00 p.m.
FIC, Room 421/423 | Workshop 3: Artificial Intelligence & Humanities- Dr. Ximena Gutierrez-Vasques, Luis Josué Lugo, and Juan Pablo Duque Parra, CEIICH-UNAM
“The Future of AI is Interdisciplinary” - Dra. Isabel Galina Russell, Instituto de Investigaciones Bibliográficas, UNAM
“Challenges for the Humanities in Contemporary Socio-Technological Environments” - Dr. David Pruneda Sentíes, Instituto de Investigaciones Bibliográficas, UNAM
“Pulso Digital: Evaluation Frameworks for the Sustainability of Digital Projects in the Humanities” - Prof. Caleb Weintraub, Associate Professor of Art, Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design, Indiana University
“The Unmooring of the Self”
Moderator: TBD |
6:00 p.m.
Location TBD | Comida / Dinner |
Martes / Tuesday, October 13, 2026
| Time / Location | Program |
|---|
8:30–9:00 a.m.
FIC | Coffee Break |
9:00–11:20 a.m.
FIC | Workshop 4: Linguistics, Languages, and the Humanities- Dr. Ricardo Maldonado, Instituto de Investigaciones Filológicas, UNAM, and Dr. Leticia Colín, Instituto de Investigaciones Filológicas, UNAM "Breaking the Observer's Paradox: The AMERESCO Corpus"
- Dr. César Félix-Brasdefer, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, Indiana University
“Teaching Foreign Languages through the Humanities” - Dr. Filomena Sandalo, Campinas University, Brazil
“Digital Annotated Corpora of Brazilian Indigenous Languages in The Tycho Brahe Platform” - Dr. Christopher Sapp, Department of Germanic Studies, Indiana University, and Dr. Rex Sprouse, Second Language Studies, Indiana University
“Introducing the Indiana Parsed Corpus of Historical (High) German: Historical Corpus Linguistics Meets Germanic Philology”
Moderator: César Félix-Brasdefer, Faculty Liaison for the IU Mexico Gateway |
11:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
FIC to Department of Spanish and Portuguese | Walk to the Department of Spanish and Portuguese |
12:00–1:30 p.m.
Department of Spanish and Portuguese | Department Lunch with Faculty |
1:45–2:30 p.m.
Lilly Library | Visit to the Lilly Library
Learn about the history of the Lilly Library |
4:00–5:00 p.m.
Wylie House Museum and Morton C. Bradley, Jr. Education Center | Visit to the Wylie House Museum and its Morton C. Bradley, Jr. Education Center
Learn about the Morton C. Bradley, Jr. Education Center
Hosted by: Professor Carey Champion, IUB Libraries |
6:00 p.m.
Location TBD | Comida / Dinner |
For information about this event, please contact Professor César Félix-Brasdefer, IU Academic Director, Mexico Gateway (cfelixbr@iu.edu)
