Inspired by the Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politic's work developed throughout the Americas, the Hemi Graduate Student Initiative (Hemi GSI) aims to bring together dedicated people who are interested in working at the intersection of scholarship, artistic expression and politics. We work to promote embodied practices as a vehicle for the creation of new meaning and the transmission of cultural values, memory and identity. We are committed to exploring how to dwell in the borderlands of our roles as teachers, students, artists and activists.

CONVERGENCE 2012 @ Duke University

The inaugural Hemi GSI Convergence in 2012 was hosted by Duke University and centered on the theme of “The Geo/Body Politics of Emancipation.” Over 100 people from throughout the Americas converged in Durham for a period of three days to discuss contemporary notions of emancipation, education, occupation and the geopolitics of how these systems are distributed among bodies, knowledge and space.

2012 ARCHIVES

 -- Photos of Convergence 2012 --

 -- Schedule of Events :: Hemi GSI Convergence 2012 --

-- Blog --

CONVERGENCE 2013 @ USC and UCLA

The Convergence 2013 aims to sustain the dialogues begun in 2012 through the theme of “Experimental Collectivities.”The Convergence will continue to be international in scope yet through the structure of working groups, participants will engage in discussion and visit pertinent sites in East Los Angeles and community-based organizations around USC. There are over 50 confirmed guests with affiliations from the U.S., Latin America, and the Pacific Islands. Faculty and graduate students from private, public, community and state universities; advocates and community leaders, and artists will meet during 3 days to discuss the Convergence's subthemes of labor, care and bodies in the digital age.

CONVERGENCE 2014 @ NYU, Columbia, CUNY

The theme will come out of the dialogue produced during the Convergence 2013 and the working group "Bodies-In-Transit: Encuentros y Desencuentros in Cultural Crossroads."