Programming
Events and Programming
Academic events organized, co-organized, moderated, and presented by Vierelina Fernández with the Colombia Working Group and the Kurdish Studies Association.
Colombia Working Group
Public events hosted through the Colombia Working Group at the Rutgers Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS).
10 Years of the Colombian Peace Deal
An event marking ten years since the Colombian peace agreement, hosted by the Colombia Working Group at CLAS. Date, time and location will be posted here once confirmed.
View full flyer ↗A Powerful Conversation with a Colombian Human Rights Activist
Featuring Néstor Andrés Moreno Ríos, director of Corporación Córdoba Diversa
A conversation about human rights work in the department of Córdoba, Colombia, where Corporación Córdoba Diversa defends and promotes the rights of LGBTIQ+ people and works on peacebuilding and community defense.
- WhenThursday, September 24, 2026 · 5:00 pm
- WhereLucy Stone Hall, Room A256, Livingston Campus, Rutgers University–New Brunswick
View full flyer ↗Social Protest and Institutional Gaslighting: The Case of Colombia
With Dr. Karol Solís Menco, Professor of Political Science, Universidad del Norte, Colombia
Dr. Solís Menco spoke about resistance to state violence and police repression, and about the right to protest, drawing on her experience as a social leader and activist on Colombia’s Caribbean coast. She has led the campaign against high electricity prices and arbitrary highway tolls in Barranquilla.
- WhenWednesday, October 9, 2024 · 4:00–6:00 pm
- WhereAcademic Building West Wing, Room 4052, Rutgers University–New Brunswick, and online
Kurdish Studies Association
Panels and public conversations with the Kurdish Studies Association at Rutgers University.
Decolonizing the Middle East: Kurdish Experiences
Speakers: Prof. Brendan O’Leary, University of Pennsylvania, and Prof. Özlem Göner, College of Staten Island, CUNY
Vierelina Fernández moderated this panel and introduced the discussion. The event was organized by the Kurdish Studies Graduate Student Association and sponsored by the Rutgers Center for Middle Eastern Studies and the Kurdish American Solidarity Association.
Kurdish Women in the Middle East and Beyond
Presented: “Insurgent Feminism: Top-Down and Bottom-Up Variables Behind the Colombian FARC and Kurdish PKK-YPG Guerrillas’ Feminist Identities”
Vierelina Fernández co-organized this panel and presented her research on the feminist identities of Colombian FARC and Kurdish PKK-YPG guerrillas. The panel was organized by the Center for Latin American Studies and the Kurdish Studies Graduate Student Association at Rutgers University.
- WhenTuesday, April 22, 2025 · 3:00–5:00 pm
- WhereAlexander Library, 4th Floor Lecture Hall Teleconference Room, Rutgers University–New Brunswick, and online
- PanelMahsun Oti (moderator), Işıl Karacan, Vierelina Fernández, Fatma Kaya, Aysha Aliyar and Xeyal Qertel
