Tonics & Toxins: Plants and Power in Latin America
The 2026 symposium of the Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies Program at the University of Kentucky examines the relationship between plants, people, and power in Latin America. The symposium begins with a keynote lecture by Dr. Avery Dickins de Girón (Vanderbilt University) on Thursday, Oct. 8 at 1 p.m. in the William T. Young Library Alumni Gallery and continues on Friday, Oct. 9, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with a roundtable discussion, book talk, and closing keynote by historian of food and science Dr. Rachel Laudan. The symposium program concludes Friday evening with an ethnobotanical walking tour at The Arboretum from 4 to 6 p.m.
Special directions: Talks will take place both in the Young Library Auditorium and the Alumni Gallery.
Thursday, October 8, Young Library Alumni Gallery
1-3 p.m. Opening Keynote | Avery Dickins de Girón, Vanderbilt University
Friday, October 9, Young Library & The Arboretum
9:30-10 a.m. Alumni Gallery | Breakfast
10-11:30 a.m. Auditorium | Roundtable | Healing and Harming David Gonthier (Entomology), Patricia Marie Cordero Irizarry (Horticulture), April Lamb (Horticulture), Cat Lamb (Sociology) Moderator: Renee Bonzani (Anthropology)
11:30-1 p.m. Alumni Gallery | Lunch and discussion of Sacred Plants of the Americas (Princeton, 2026) with Jill Pflugheber (Microbiology)
1-3 p.m. Auditorium | Closing Keynote | Rachel Laudan, Independent Scholar
4-6 p.m. The Arboretum | Ethnobotanical Walking Tour with Megan Buland Reception at The Arboretum Visitor Center to follow.
