At the 3rd Annual CTMS lecture, held at the University of Winnipeg on May 17, 2018, Dr. Rebecca Janzen, Assistant Professor at the University of South Carolina, delivered an engaging talk entitled “Unexpected Connections: Mennonites in Mexican Media.” By exploring the portrayal of Mennonites in Mexican archival documents, photographs, and television, she helped to shed light on the complicated ways in which Mennonites have been presented in Mexican culture.

Dr. Rebecca Janzen’s research focuses on Mexican literature and culture, with special attention to religion, gender and disability studies. Her first book, The National Body in Mexican Literature: Collective Challenges to Biopolitical Control (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2015), explored images of disability and illness in 20th century texts. Her second book, Liminal Sovereignty: Mennonites and Mormons in Mexican Popular Culture (SUNY, 2018), focuses on religious minorities.