ONLINE: Maya Land: Listening to the Bees

press release: Please join UW Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies Program for the LACIS Lunchtime Lecture, Tuesdays at noon. The events are free and open to the public.

About the presenter: Kata Beilin is a researcher, fiction writer and documentary film director. She holds the position of a Professor at the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and the Faculty Director of the Latin American, Iberian, and Caribbean Studies Program. She is affiliated with Holtz Center for Science and Technology Studies, and Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies.

About the presentation: Maya Land: Listening to the Bees tells the story of the conflict that erupted between Mayan beekeepers and the Mexican government in 2011, fomented by the planting of genetically modified soy in the Yucatan peninsula. The film focuses on the role that Mayas’ pre-colonial and ongoing relationship with the bees and the bees themselves had in this conflict and how in the end the struggle has transformed thinking about development in the region.