From Erasure to Circulation: How a Censured Digital Image Shaped Public Memory in Colombia
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Room 206 Ingraham Hall - 1155 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI 53706.
About the presentation: The rhizomorph is a digital image event that transforms as it moves through digital spaces to provide an alternative conception of a particular event. A defining characteristic of the rhizomorph is its quality of taking new configurations in response to different contexts and circumstances, which speaks to the image’s flexible and adaptable nature. Within a porous digital environment in which governmental attempts to screen counter-memories fail, alternative interpretations of the past circulate rhizomatically. The rhizomorph destabilizes the structures of power deployed over the flows of information by emerging in new forms because of online symbolic accretion.
About the presenter: Nave Visiting Scholar, Luis Miguel López-Londoño, Ph.D., is a professor at the School of Communication and Journalism at Universidad de Manizales, Colombia. He holds a Ph.D. in philosophy with a concentration in rhetoric and public culture from Ohio University, an M.A. in hhilosophy from the University of Caldas, and a B.A. in communication and journalism from Pontifical Javeriana University. His research explores political communication, discourse analysis, rhetorical circulation, digital media, and memory studies, with a particular focus on post-conflict narratives in Colombia. He has published in leading academic journals such as Rhetoric & Public Affairs, Quarterly Journal of Speech, Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, and Palabra Clave and has presented at international conferences including NCA and ICA. In addition to his research, he has extensive teaching experience in public speaking, research methods, communication theory, and political discourse, both at Ohio University and Universidad de Manizales. Besides his academic interests, he devotes much of his time to trail running. He has competed in mountain races in Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, and the United States, and this coming December he will travel to Argentina to compete in the most iconic trail running race in South America.
