Participatory body mapping of postpartum experiences

Join us for lunch, learning, and conversation at the next installment of the HEROP Speaker Series on Friday, October 25th at 12 PM CDT. Coffee and networking session to follow. For folks outside of the UIUC community, please join us via Zoom!

Catalina Alzate MFA, U of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Friday, Oct. 25th @ Noon, via Zoom
& In-Person at NHB 2049 in Urbana, IL

In this talk, Catalina will share her design-driven inquiry into body mapping as research-action to explore and intervene in postpartum experiences by Latina women living in the US. By engaging with design theory, feminism, theater and body awareness, Catalina explores ways of “entering the body” as a territory that can be mapped, in connection to place: intimate family spaces, hospitals and birthing centers, the space where we migrated from, and larger social spaces that impact our health and wellbeing. Through mapping, postpartum is explored beyond a mental health issue, to be distributed across physical and bodily systems. She will describe the affordances of body maps such as anatomic drawings and acupuncture diagrams, to propose a sensory-driven form of mapping that explores the body as storage of trauma, maps as narratives, and pushes for communal aesthetics in graphic design.

About the Speaker

Catalina Alzate, MFA

Catalina Alzate, MFA, is an Assistant Professor in the Graphic Design program at UIUC – School of Art & Design. Catalina uses feminist and critical theory, the lens of participatory design, and the dynamic structures of service and systems design to conduct and evaluate interventions related to emerging technologies and community well-being, with a special interest in the representation of bodies in healthcare and media, parenthood as a cultural construct, and Justice frameworks. Catalina’s professional experience has been based in Colombia, India and the US, in graphic design agencies, research labs, start-up incubators, supporting the work of funding agencies and research networks, and as a consultant in Design, Gender and Social Justice.

In-Person or Virtual?

The in-person RSVP option is open to the University of Illinois community (students, staff, and faculty). We will have lunch for all attendees who RSVP by Wednesday @10a before the event.

A virtual option via Zoom is available for the public. To register for the Zoom option, please access the following link: go.illinois.edu/HEROP-ZOOM-OCT25.

About the Series

The HEROP Speaker Series connects scholars, experts, and innovative thinkers to discuss different conceptual, methodological, and technological facets of public health to better understand the social determinants of health, and how place may influence outcomes. The Healthy Regions & Policies (HEROP) Lab integrates innovative GIScience, public health, and statistical approaches to explore, understand, and promote healthy places. We’re experts in the spatial & social determinants of health. We’re based out of the Dept of Geography & GIScience at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.