Las Vueltas Research Team: Online Collaborative Planning and Training – Winter 2023

The Las Vueltas Research Team, as part of the Surviving Memory in Postwar El Salvador initiative, brings together a diverse group of community leaders, artists, and scholars. The team includes community organizers Heidi Calderón, Nelson Rodríguez, Marvin Alas, and Juan Carlos; Salvadoran-Canadian artist Jessica Larios; Nicaraguan-Canadian research assistant Sabrina Del Bello Guatemala; and assistant professor of Anthropology Beatriz Juárez-Rodríguez (Carleton University). Together, they combine local knowledge, artistic vision, and academic expertise to document and strengthen the community’s historical memory.

During the winter of 2023, the Las Vueltas research team met online several times throughout January, February, and March to establish the community research committee, define its goals, and co-develop the themes for the community history book. These early sessions also laid the foundation for a shared research agenda grounded in participatory methods.

On March 1, 2023, we held a capacity-building workshop titled “Reconstruyendo juntxs nuestra memoria histórica: Taller de investigación participativa.” During this workshop, participants approved the four central themes of the book, received training on interview techniques and data systematization, and collaboratively crafted the interview questions that would guide the next phase of fieldwork.

The Surviving Memory in Postwar El Salvador research initiative is supported in part by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Western University, Carleton University, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, and the Ontario Research Fund.