Aids in Culture: Explorations in the Cultural History of Aids in Mexico City)
	The conference sessions between 8 and 12 December, 2009 will take place in the National Human Rights Commission of Mexico located very close to the Zocalo of the city in the Street República de Cuba No. 60, Centro Histórico

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About Aids in Culture

AIDSinCULTURE.org  is an international and interdisciplinary academic organization currently based in Mexico City dedicated to the study of Aids in its cultural context. The project was initiated in 2004 by Dr. Lars Ivar Owesen-Lein Borge, Norwegian anthropologist and historian, and is directed by an interdisciplinary Academic Committee. The objectives of the organization are to consider how the social sciences and humanities can contribute to the fight against HIV/AIDS, to develop an extensive body of scientific literature on cultural responses to HIV/AIDS, and to build an international network of scientists, professionals, students and activists working with these issues. Individuals, Organizations and Institutions can sign up as members in AIDSinCULTURE.org. 

The Annual Aids in Culture Conference 2009 in Mexico City: Explorations in the Cultural History of Aids

AIDS is not simply an illness or a biomedical phenomenon. The organization „AIDSinCulture.org“ founded and co-sponsored by Enkidu Magazine in Mexico City and the International Society for Cultural History and Cultural Studies (CHiCS) in cooperation with CNDH (The National Human Rights Commission in Mexico) seeks to examine cultural responses to AIDS in different cultures and societies across a wide range of perspectives. The conference will explore the processes by which AIDS is constructed as a cultural phenomenon and how different societies in their encounters with AIDS attempt to create meaning in health, illness and disease. The conference aims at bringing together academics working in all relevant disciplines as well as activists, artists and other professionals, and promoting innovative multidisciplinary and multicultural exchange and dialogue.

The conference cycle AIDS in Culture has already developed into an annual tradition and will be organized for the fifth time in 2008 in Mexico City. In 2004 Aids in Culture took place in the National Center for Human Rights (CNDH) in Mexico City and had artistic and aesthetic responses to AIDS/HIV as a special focus. The Artist of the Conference was Rolando de la Rosa -Mexican sculptor and painter-. In 2005 AIDS in Culture II was held in the Archivo Histórico Santamaría in the city of Papantla in the Mexican Federal State of Veracruz. The second edition of the conference cycle had Indigenous knowledge and conceptions of AIDS in Latin America, Africa and New Guinea as its core theme. The Artist of the Conference was Morgan Alexander -American photo-ethnographer-. 

In 2006 AIDS in Culture III returned to Mexico City. The conference was organized in a large number of special thematic sessions covering a diverse series of topics extending from „The History of AIDS Activism“, "Representations of Aids in Literature", "Aids in Education" to "The Politics of Aids and Aids in Politics" and "Perceptions of Aids in Lesbian Sub-Cultures in Mexico". The artist of the conference was Arturo Ramirez Juárez, Mexican painter, who died of AIDS in 1987. 

In 2007 the conference activities took place both in the National Human Rights Comission in Mexico City and in Hotel del Portal in the city of Puebla. The conference had a special focus on Aids and Otherness and Aids in narratives of identities. Many of the papers presented in 2007 addressed issues related to translations between cultures and re-negotiations and re-constructions of cultural identities in one one way or another in relation to AIDS and HIV. In 2007 the conference exhibitions were Vihda y Draguería – Life & Dragness by Antonio Marquet from Mexico and The Experiences of HIV/AIDS for Mothers by Samia Omar, originally from Kenya.

In 2008, the conference has the subtitle: Imaging and Imagining Aids: The nature and role of images, visual representations, imagination and narrative interpretation in making sense of experiences of health, illness and disease. 

UNESCO has proclaimed 2008 as International Year of Languages and lingustic diversity and coexistance will be a common theme of many academic, cultural and artistic activities organised by Enkidu Magazine throughout the year in Mexico City. Also during Aids in Culture V, there will be a stream of panel sessions  addressing the role of local languages in combating AIDS/HIV and other diseases by safeguarding of local and indigenous knowledge and know-how.

We acknowledge receipt and answer to all paper proposals submitted within few days. If you do not receive a reply from us in a week you should assume we did not receive your proposal; it might be lost in cyberspace! We suggest, then, to resend your abstract and resubmit your registration form, and if possible, suggest an alternative e-mail address. In particular delegates using hotmail or yahoo accounts to receive conference related e-mails often experience problems receiving conference information by e-mail. E-mails from the conference organisers are often delivered to your spam folder and not to your inbox, unless you remember to add the following e-mail addresses: info@aidsinculture.org and liowlb@aidsinculture.org to your safe-list. The first address is the general e-mail address of AIDSinCULTURE.org and will be used to send conference newsletters and general information. The second, is the e-mail address of the academic coordinator of the conference and will be used for individual communication with delegates.   

AIDSinCULTURE.org: Mission Statement

The mission of AIDSinCULTURE.org is to support and encourage research in the humanities and social sciences in the fight against HIV and AIDS. Our work have the following objectives:

1) to stimulate and advocate innovative investigations within the humanities and the social sciences about AIDS related issues, and promote perspectives from the humanities and social sciences within the broader Aids research community, as well as encourage dialogue and exchange between researchers, activists, professionals, students, artists, organizations, public institutions, government agencies and the general public. 

2) to make the information generated in the conferences and in our research activities available to a global audience through publication of the conference proceedings, and related articles, as well as through our outreach activities. 

3) to provide a global forum for dialogue and debate, where diverse voices from all over the world can come together, make connections, discuss topics of mutual interest and develop new ideas across linguistic, cultural and academic barriers, and where scientists in the humanities and social sciences working with AIDS related topics can meet and communicate about their work.

4) to develop an extensive body of scientific literature on cultural responses to HIV/AIDS which can be used to develop strategies to fight HIV and AIDS that take the importance of cultural factors into consideration. 

To this end, AIDSinCULTURE.org 

1) organizes annual academic conferences in cooperation with public universities, government agencies and NGO's.

2) Maintains an extensive news service in Castilian as an independent section in Enkidu Magazine, dedicated to "Aids in Culture" from a wide range of perspectives: http://enkidumagazine.com/_d/DO7.htm

3) sponsors a monthly session dedicated to "Aids in Culture" as part of "Los Martes de Enkidu", a weekly community event organized by Enkidu Magazine in Mexico City: http://www.enkidumagazine.com/losmartes.htm 

4) participates in conferences, symposia, community events, activist meetings and other events organized by other institutions and organizations to spread consciousness about the importance of providing a meeting point for activists and academics involved in the fight against AIDS/HIV and encourage more dialogue and exchange between institutions and organizations in this global struggle which affect us all in so many ways. 

AIDSinCULTURE.org is a community project, open to all interested persons. The organization is affiliated with the International Society for Cultural History and Cultural Studies (CHiCS) in Mexico City, however, it is not necessary to be member of CHiCS to join AIDSinCULTURE.Org. Regular Membership Fee for AIDSinCULTURE.Org is 550 Mexican Pesos per year, or 50 USD for individuals. If you would like to enroll in our organization, please, contact Agustin Villalpando, our membership officer at avs@enkidumagazine.com

» Registration form for participants in Aids in Culture V, 2008 (all participant categories)

» Membership form 2008 (all membership categories)