Mary Kaitlin M Murphy

Interests

Research

Latin American cultural studies, American studies, hemispheric studies, cultural studies, performance studies, visual culture, place/space, memory, affect, human rights, transitional justice, politics, theory.

Teaching

Latin American cultural studies, American studies, hemispheric studies, cultural studies, performance studies, visual culture, place/space, memory, affect, human rights, transitional justice, politics, theory.

Courses

Scholarly Contributions

Books

• Murphy, M. K. (2019). Routledge Handbook for Memory Activism. Routledge.
  More info

  I am co-editing a volume that is currently under review with Routledge.
• Murphy, M. K. (2018). Mapping Memory: Visuality, Affect, and Embodied Politics. New York: Fordham University Press.

Chapters

• Murphy, M. K. (2020). Memory Mapping. In Routledge Handbook for Memory Activism.
• Murphy, M. K. (2018). Witnessing the Past: Visuality and Historical Dialogue in Guatemala. In Historical Dialogue and Mass Atrocity Prevention (working title). Cambridge University Press.
• Murphy, M. K. (2015). The Matter of Memory: Remembering and Reenacting the Past in Patricio Guzmán's Chile, Memoria Obstinada. In Theatre/Performance Historiography: Time, Space, Matter(pp 153-173). Palgrave Macmillan.

Journals/Publications

• Murphy, K. (2021). Art as Atrocity Prevention: The Auschwitz Institute, Artivism, and the 2019 Venice Biennale. Genocide Studies and Prevention, 15(1), 68-96. doi:10.5038/1911-9933.15.1.1796
  More info

  Although largely overlooked in genocide and atrocity prevention scholarship, the arts have a critical role to play in mitigating risk factors associated with genocide and atrocity. Grounded in analysis of "Artivism: The Atrocity Prevention Pavilion,” the Auschwitz Institute for the Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities’ 2019 Venice Biennale exhibition and drawing from fieldwork, interviews, and secondary research, this article explores why one of the leading NGOs working to prevent future violent conflict would choose to curate an art exhibit at the Venice Biennale and what might be accomplished through such an exhibit. Ultimately, the Artivism exhibit, in its collection and range, provides a canvasing of multiple and directed creative interventions that allow for deeper understanding of how the arts can be used as a tool for mitigating risk factors associated with the prevention of genocide and atrocity in such a manner that has important ramifications for future prevention efforts.
• Murphy, M. K. (2020). The Role of the Arts in Atrocity Prevention. Genocide and Atrocity Prevention.
• Murphy, M. K. (2021). Fear and Loathing in Monuments: The Politics and Practices of Monumentality and Monumentalization. Memory Studies, 14(6), 1143-1158.
• Murphy, M. K. (2018). “Braiding Borders”: Performance Across the US-Mexico Border and the Body Politics of Belonging and Dissent. The Drama Review.
• Murphy, M. K. (2020). Review of Topographies of Memory, by Anita Bakshi,. Journal of Landscape Architecture..
• Murphy, K. M. (2019). Against Precarious Abstraction: Bearing Witness to Migration through Moysés Zúñiga Santiago’s La Bestia Photographs. Latin American and Latinx Visual Culture, 1(1), 7-22. doi:10.1525/lavc.2019.000003
  More info

  Through analysis of Mexican photojournalist Moyses Zuniga Santiago’s (b. 1979) series La Bestia (The Beast, ca. 2011–16), this article examines the potential for photographs to challenge how certain bodies enter into visual circulation—the moment at which, and how, they are “allowed” to become seen. Zuniga’s photographs challenge visual economies that depict migrants as faceless laborers or criminals, and reframe contemporary immigration as a labor of everyday survival. The author reads the photographs alongside other contemporaneous visual culture texts about immigration and the US-Mexico border, and in the context of a dearth of images that document the actual process of Latinx migration toward the United States. Grounded in this analysis, the article argues that the work of the photojournalist is to document and transmit the magnitude of the atrocity in a manner that foments new ways of witnessing contemporary migration. The fundamental question thus becomes: Is it possible (and if so, how) to visually create conditions for viewers to more effectively bear witness to contemporary migration? Furthermore, how does this impact our understanding of what it means to bear witness? RESUMEN A traves del analisis de la serie “La Bestia” del fotoperiodista mexicano Moyses Zuniga Santiago, este articulo examina el potencial de las fotografias para cuestionar como ciertos cuerpos entran en circulacion visual (cuando y como se permite que se vean) y crean las condiciones para que el publico de testimonio de manera mas efectiva de la migracion contemporanea como esfuerzo por sobrevivir. Al leer las fotografias de Zuniga junto a la cultura visual contemporanea sobre la inmigracion y la frontera entre Estados Unidos y Mexico, y en el contexto de una clara escasez de imagenes que documentan el proceso actual de la migracion de Latinxs hacia Estados Unidos, el autor analiza como las fotografias de Zuniga desafian las economias visuales que representan a los migrantes como trabajadores anonimos o delincuentes y replantean la inmigracion contemporanea como un esfuerzo diario por sobrevivir. Basado en el analisis de la serie “La Bestia” de Zuniga, el autor argumenta que el trabajo del fotoperiodista es documentar y transmitir efectivamente la magnitud de la atrocidad de tal manera que fomente nuevas formas de presenciar la migracion contemporanea. La pregunta fundamental es: ?es posible (y, si es asi, de que manera) crear visualmente las condiciones para que el publico de testimonio de la migracion contemporanea de manera mas efectiva? Ademas, ?como afecta esto nuestra forma de entender lo que significa dar testimonio? RESUMO Atraves de analise da serie “La Bestia” (A Besta, circa 2011-2016) do fotojornalista Moyses Zuniga Santiago (n. 1979), este artigo examina o potencial de fotografias para desafiar como certos corpos entram em circulacao visual – o momento quando, e como, “permite-se” que se tornem vistos. As fotografias de Zuniga desafiam economias visuais que retratam migrantes como trabalhadores sem face ou criminosos e reenquadra a imigracao contemporânea como um trabalho de sobrevivencia cotidiano. O autor le as fotografias de Zuniga em relacao a cultura visual contemporânea sobre imigracao e a fronteira EUA-Mexico, e no contexto de uma escassez de imagens que documentam o real processo da migracao latinx em direcao aos Estados Unidos. Fundamentado nesta analise, o artigo argumenta que o trabalho do fotojornalista e documentar e transmitir a magnitude da atrocidade de tal maneira a fomentar novas maneiras de testemunhar a migracao contemporânea. A questao fundamental, portanto, se torna a seguinte: e possivel (e se sim, como) criar visualmente as condicoes para espectadores testemunharem mais efetivamente a migracao contemporânea? Ademais, como isso impacta nosso entendimento do que significa testemunhar?
• Murphy, M. K. (2018). Against Precarious Abstraction: Bearing Witness to Migration Through Moysés Zúñiga Santiago’s “La Bestia” Photographs. Journal of Latin American and Latinx Visual Culture.
• Murphy, M. K. (2018). Review of Memory, Transitional Justice, and Theater in Postdictatorship Argentina. The Drama Review.
• Murphy, M. K. (2015). Mapping Memory: Affect, Place, and Testimony in El Lugar Más Pequeño (2011). Latin American Cultural Studies.
• Murphy, M. K. (2015). Remembering in Ruins: Touching, Seeing, and Feeling the Past in Nostalgia for the Light. Journal of Spanish and Latin American Cinemas.
• Murphy, M. K. (2015). What The Past Will Be: Curating Memory in Peru's Yuyanapaq: Para Recordar. Human Rights Review, 16(1), 23-38.
• Murphy, M. K. (2011). Review of Where Memory Dwells: Culture and State Violence in Chile, by Macarena Gómez-Barris. E-misférica.
• Murphy, M. K. (2010). Review of The Optic of the State: Visuality and Power in Argentina and Brazil, by Jens Andermann. E-misférica.

Presentations

• Murphy, M. K. (2019, September 30, 2019.). “Creative Interference: Artistic Activism in Times of Crisis.”. Art and Confrontation in the Americas International Symposium. University of Virginia..
• Murphy, M. K. (2019, Summer). Visuality, Affect, Ruins.” ,. Memory Studies Association. Madrid, Spain..
• Murphy, M. K. (2019, Summer). “Resistance and Social Transformation” ,. Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics Encuentro. Mexico City, Mexico..
• Murphy, M. K. (2019, summer). Art as Intervention on the US-Mexico Border.”. Why Remember? Memory in Times of War and Its Aftermath. Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina..
• Murphy, M. K. (2019, summer). “The Role of the Arts in Post-Atrocity Contexts.” ,. International Association of Genocide Scholars. Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
• Murphy, M. K. (2018, May). “Corporeal Transgressions: Performances of Alliance Across the US-Mexico Border.”. Latin American Studies Association. Barcelona, Spain.
• Murphy, M. K. (2017, Fall). Corporeal Transgressions: Performances of Alliance Across the US-Mexico Border. American Studies Association. Chicago, Il: American Studies Association.
• Murphy, M. K. (2017, Fall). Memory Mapping: Visual Culture, Affect, and the Politics of Place in Latin America. Modern Languages Association. Philadelphia, PA: Modern Languages Association.
• Murphy, M. K. (2015, May). The Material of Memory: Latin American Documentary and the Task of Remembering. Latin American Studies Association. San Juan, Puerto Rico.
• Murphy, M. K. (2016, Fall). Embodying the Past. Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation Symposium on Historical Dialogue and Mass Atrocity Prevention. New York: Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation.
• Murphy, M. K. (2016, Fall). Mapping Intersections of Visual Culture and Performance. University of Colorado Boulder invited talk. Boulder, CO: University of Colorado Boulder.
• Murphy, M. K. (2016, July). Affects, Forensics, and Visibility on the US-Mexico Border. Hemispheric Institute Encuentro. Santiago, Chile: Hemispheric Institute.
• Murphy, M. K. (2016, March). The Politics of Seeing: Affect and Invisibility on the US-Mexico Border. American Comparative Literature Association. Cambridge, MA.
• Murphy, M. K. (2016, May). Performing Archives, Performing Ruins. Latin American Studies Association. New York, NY.
• Murphy, M. K. (2016, May). The Politics of Seeing. Latin American Studies Association. New York, NY.
• Murphy, M. K. (2016, November). The ‘Corridor of Death’ and the Politics of Visibility on the US-Mexico Border.. American Studies Association. Boulder, Colorado: American Studies Association.
• Murphy, M. K. (2015, March). In Visible Pasts. American Comparative Literature Association. Seattle, WA.
• Murphy, M. K. (2015, October). Memory, Performance, and the Politics of the Visual. Affect Theory Conference. Lancaster, PA.
• Murphy, M. K. (2015, September). Documenting Memory: Precarious Survival and Affective Hauntings. Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present (ASAP). Greenville, South Carolina.
• Murphy, M. K. (2014, June). Affect/Memory/Visuality. Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics Encuentro. Montreal.
• Murphy, M. K. (2014, March). The Truth Will Set Us Free: Affect and Desire in Contemporary Latin American Documentary Film. American Comparative Literature Association. New York: New York University.
• Murphy, M. K. (2014, May). What The Past Will Be. Latin American Studies Association. Chicago.

Creative Productions

• Murphy, M. M., Murphy, M. M., Huizar Hernandez, A. E., & Huizar Hernandez, A. E. (2018. In Transit/En Tránsito: Arts, Migration, Resistance. University of Arizona Museum of Art. Tucson, AZ: Multiple. http://intransitart.org/
  More info

  In Transit/En tránsito: Arts, Migration, Resistance is an art exhibition (at the UA Museum of Art, Sept 2017-March 2018), symposium, and public lecture that collectively explore artistic practice, resistance, and social transformation in relation to transnational migration and human rights politics. Anchored in the Sonoran Desert borderlands and drawing on practices from different regions of the US, Mexico, and Central America, In Transit/En tránsito will bring together artists, activists, and academics for a series of cross-disciplinary conversations and collaborations.

Other Teaching Materials

• Murphy, M. K. (2012. “Performance and Truth and Reconciliation.” Teaching Module. Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics.