Esferas 13: espacios, instituciones, gente celebrates the 25th Anniversary of the King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center (KJCC, or the center) here at New York University. A partner institution to the Department of Spanish and Portuguese and the Creative Writing in Spanish Program, as well as the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS) among other programs, the KJCC’s original mission was to promote interdisciplinary research and dialogue about Spain and the Spanish-speaking world and to share this process of knowledge making with communities within and beyond the university. The Esferas editorial committee enters this celebration with a full belief that a cultural center must be a constantly evolving organism made of its spaces, its leadership, its events and its archives. Its people. We enter knowingly into a complex dialogue that includes questions such as: What lies behind a name? What lives within a space? What are the tensions with which the center works? How do we contribute responsibly and ethically to its history and its changes? We take this moment strategically as an opportunity to understand, reflect on and question KJCC’s history and evolution, to listen to the voices of scholars, artists and leaders in conversation with our undergraduate community of scholars and to lay claim to the center’s potential for future development. To buy this issue click here.
