el CafeciTO

For Season 13’s premiere, Sarah has the pleasure to talk to Noelia Coñuenao, a Mapuche actress from present-day Chile. Noelia tells el CafeciTO about her professional trajectory and the importance of honouring her Indigeneity and femininity throughout her artistic work. The actress also shares the process behind her interpretation of Pancha Garcia in Prime Video’s House of Spirits (2026). Lastly,...

For our season finale, Romario sits down with Ernesto Alencastre, the owner of Causa Culture in Kensington Market. They both talk about jewelry, time, the market and more. This episode takes us to a small shop in the market that's been around for 16 years, a personal favourite of our host and unpacks what it's like to run a shop in one of Toronto's most unique neighbourhoods. We hope you enjoy thi...

Episode 5 is a special one: it’s the first in our podcast’s history to be entirely in Portuguese! In it, Luísa sits down with Raul Galvão, a graduating UofT student studying History, Portuguese, and Political Science. Our guest delved into what the Portuguese Program is really like, unpacked some common misconceptions about studying the Portuguese language, and highlighted what, in his experience,...

For Episode 4, El CafeciTO welcomes back Luísa Melchert as our second student collaborator. She has the pleasure of talking with Prof. Rocha Osornio, an Associate Professor of Spanish (Teaching Stream), in the Department of Italian, Spanish, Portuguese & Latin American Studies (ISPLAS). They chatted a bit about learning Spanish, the importance of learning a language outside of the classroom and so...

For Episode 3, El CafeciTO welcomes one of our new student collaborators, Romario Sarmiento. He sits down with Samantha Beltran-Velasco, a representative from UofT’S OLAS (Organization of Latin American Students). Together, they discuss cultural connections, focussing on music and student events that keeps them grounded during school times. Lastly, Samantha talks about all things UofT and OLAS, in...

For this episode, Sarah talks to Roberto Cayuqueo, a Mapuche playwright and actor from Santiago Warria (City), Chile. Roberto tells el CafeciTO about his theater company, Collectivo Epew, which works interdisciplinarily with children and the urban Mapuche diaspora, bringing Indigenous cosmologies and dramaturgy into Chilean theater. The actor also tells us about the collective’s use of site-specif...

For Season 12’s premiere, Sarah has the pleasure to talk to Ivet Salazar, a visual artist and performer from Lima, Perú. Ivet tells el CafeciTO how her personal experiences with maternity have shaped her artistic work, which combines textiles and ceramics with performances that bring the private into public spaces. The artist also tells us about how her work seeks to think through subordinated cor...

For Season 11’s summer finale, Sarah has the pleasure to sit down with Peruvian writer Romina Paredes, author of Famulus (2020) and Monstruos (2022). Romina reflects on how her early career as a professional swimmer led to certain corporalities that shaped her endearing literary voice. Moreover, the writer talks about how Lima, a city that she deems as violent, is the perfect scenario to narrate s...

In Episode 3, we throw it back to our beloved mini series Reporting from LASA 2024, from Season 9. We welcome back Johann Kirchenbauer, a graduate student from the Spanish and Portuguese department, who sits down with fellow PhD candidate, Waleska Solorzano, to talk about her experience in LASA 2024. Specifically, they discuss her ongoing research on what she terms as the “Venespora,” which she us...

Episode 2 celebrates Pride Month by recognizing the work of LGBTQ+ members of our LAS community. This time Sarah chats with Kaina Mendoza Price, a recent LAS alumna whose ethnographic research sheds light to the experiences of trans Afro-Cubans who engage in Lukumí and Kongo religious networks in Havana. Kaina tells us about how her experiences as a trans-woman and her close relationship with her...

For Season 11’s season premiere, Sarah sits down with Gabriela Piña, an assistant professor in the Universidad Mayor. Gabi reflects on her doctoral research in which she conducted ethnographic fieldwork with a pehuenche community in Southern Chile. The anthropologist also tells us about how her research led to her current engagement with collaborative methodologies with children and the youth. In...

In this episode, Sarah and Luísa reunite to reflect on this past season. We share our thoughts, feelings, and favorite moments — from standout episodes and special guests to fun behind-the-scenes stories. We also open up about what it's been like working together and how much has changed since we first kicked off the season. We hope you enjoy this episode!

In this episode, Sarah sits down with Peruvian archeologist, Dr. Solsiré Cusicanqui Marsano from University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). Solsiré reminisces on her initial interest in archeology and her current engagement with more community-based methodologies that seek to democratize the field through the consideration of local and Indigenous perspectives. She also shares with us her more re...

In this episode, Luísa had the pleasure to sit down and chat with returning guests, Helen Batchoun and Juanita Arango! This time around, they share about Vivir Sin Miedo, a collective based on the University of Toronto, which aims to create spaces where all women and girls feel supported and understood. Our guests share about how the collective actively creates spaces where women are allowed to ex...

In this episode, Sarah talks to Ximena Morillas Altamirano, an up-and-coming writer and educator from Cajamarca, Perú. She shares with us her personal journey with creative writing–from writing poems to her middle school crush, creating fanfiction on wattpad, to publishing her first poetry book Viaje Hacia El Mar. Xime also tells us about her current project Menú Literatrio, a creative workshop th...

In this episode, Luísa sits down with Dr. Andrea Allen, an assistant professor at the Anthropology Department and Centre Diaspora and Transnational Studies at UofT. She talks about her research on Afro-Brazilian Lesbian relationships, with a particular focus on how those women both perform and deny Brazilian citizenship. Our guest also talks about Candomblé, its importance as one of the most popul...

In this episode, Sarah talks to Gabriel Tejada, professional photographer and documentarian from Cajamarca, Perú. He talks about how his experience with photography and cultural management led to his involvement in the documentary Carnaval La Fiesta Entre Carne y Espíritu. Gabriel also reflects on the creative process behind documenting Cajamarca’s carnival and the festivity’s importance for the c...

In this episode, Luísa talks to Vanessa, Daniel and Homere, three undergrad students at the LAS program. They share some interesting thoughts about the program, how their perspectives about Latin America have changed, as well as some fun anecdotes about their experience in the program so far. Finally, our guests also give precious advice to students who are considering joining the Latin American S...

In this episode, Sarah sits down with Seba Mena, our former Season 6 and 7 host, to talk about his current project: Lina’s Stories. He also tells us about the importance of learning about renowned theatre teacher and performer Lina de Guevara for archiving Latinx live here in Canada. The LAS alumni also reflects on how his career as a performer and his undergraduate degree in Latin American studie...

In this episode, Luísa talks to Paula Karger, an assistant professor in the teaching stream of Latin American Studies and Spanish at the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. Our guest talks about her fascinating research on "La Doncella Teodor," exploring how the story traveled across the globe and evolved through cultural exchanges and translations. Additionally, she discusses the newly discover...

In this episode, Sarah talks to Samantha Hare and Matias Recharte. Together, with Roxana Escobar, they run Manchita Productions, a management group that seeks to promote Peruvian culture through musical events here in the city. Sami and Matias share insights behind the organization of Peñas Criollas abroad. They also reflect on the importance of these entertainment instances for the creation of in...

In this episode, Sarah and Luísa talk to LAS students Elle Gilbert and Diego Brizuela-Crespo about their learning abroad experiences in Argentina and Puerto Rico, respectively. They share their contrasting experiences and insights, what knowledge and skills they have gained, and unexpected issues and moments they lived while being abroad. Finally, our guests offer precious advice, tips, and resour...

In this first episode, Sarah introduces el CafeciTO’s new co-host, Luísa Melchert. Luísa is a second-year undergraduate student who is doing a major in Public Policy and two minors in Latin American Studies and Political Science. In this episode, she tells us about her experience at UofT so far, and about her interesting extracurriculars. Finally, our new co-host also tells us about her experience...

For season 9’s finale, Sarah talks to Manuela Mora Castillo and Natalia Peña, the co-editors in chief of @el.paradigmasur , University of Toronto’s Undergraduate Journal of Interdisciplinary Latin American Studies. We get to know more about Manuela and Natalia as they tell us about their degrees and their varied extracurriculars. They also reflect on the process behind starting the journal. Finall...

In this episode, Sarah talks to Luisa Duarte Milani, a Brazilian PhD candidate from the Geography and Planning Department. Luisa tells us about how her background in architecture and planning inspired her research on informal housing and environmental risk. She also reflects on the experiences of conducting academic research in her home city, São Paulo, Brazil. Finally, Luisa talks about the impor...