Race and Space in the Making of the Latin American City during the Twentieth Century

📆 Thursday, October 16, 2025
🕒 3:00pm-4:00pm
📍 American Geographical Society Library (AGSL) – UWM Libraries, 3rd Floor East Wing
🏫 University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee

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Guest Speaker: Dr. Orlando Deavila Pertuz

Dr. Orlando Deavila Pertuz is a Tinker Visiting Professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and an Assistant Professor at the International Institute of Caribbean Studies at the Universidad de Cartagena in Colombia. He holds a PhD in History from the University of Connecticut. His works explore the intersection between race and space in the transformation of Cartagena into an international tourist destination in the twentieth century.

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Event Description

The literature on urban Latin America has often reified and naturalized political decisions regarding the production of urban space as racially neutral. While it acknowledges the westernization of Latin American cities since the early twentieth century—particularly through the adoption of architectural and urban planning models drawn from Europe—it has largely overlooked how racial ideologies have shaped urban policies. This presentation explores recent developments in the study of the racial foundations of urban planning in Latin America and examines the case of Cartagena, Colombia, during its transformation into an international tourist destination in the twentieth century.

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Free & Open to the Public

No registration required
For questions or accessibility accommodations, please contact: clacs@uwm.edu

Join us to learn about the many topics you can study through the interdisciplinary LACUSL major at UWM.

And save the date for our other Fall 2025 LACUSL Speaker Series talks!