Biography

Lorgia García Peña is a Latino/a Studies scholar who specializes in ethnic, race, and national identity formations with main areas of interest in Dominican history, literatures, and cultures, Caribbean diaspora studies, relational borders studies, and performance studies.  She is author of the book Archiving Contradictions: Bodies, Nations and the Production of Dominicanidad and she is at work on a book titled Translating Blackness: Latinos Negotiating Race and Belonging Across the Atlantic. Lorgia is Associate Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures and of History and Literature at Harvard University, and is currently a Martin Luther King Jr. Scholar Visiting Professor at MIT.

Medhin Paolos is a photographer, electronic musician and an activist. Her career path has taken her from an international experience with Fiamma Fumana to her current work within "Rete G2”, National organization for citizenship rights. “Asmarina" is her debut film as a director.