Calendar of Events
Download Preview of 2008-2009 Season (PDF)
August 24, Sunday - Paella Party, International Cuisine Club Event and Members’ Social to kick off the fall season
August 28, Thursday - Book Club Discussion: The Latino Wave by Jorge Ramos; Columbia History of Latinos in the United States since 1960; Hispanics and the US Political System by Chris Garcia and Gabriel Sanchez.
SEPTEMBER 08
September 4, Thursday, 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM at Savoy, Luncheon
Topic: “Pandemic: Are You Ready?” by Francine Olmstead, MD
September 12, Friday, 4 PM at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, Wells Fargo Auditorium
Topic: “Immigration: A Perfect Storm?” Dr. Michael A. Olivas, William B. Bates Distinguished Chair in Law and Director, Institute of Higher Education, Law and Governance, University of Houston Law Center will analyze new trends and focus on state legislation, activities and concerns related to immigration.
OCTOBER 08
October 11, Saturday, 4:00 PM at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, Wells Fargo Auditorium
Topic: “View from Across the Border: a Mexican Perspective”. Dr. Rafael Fernandez de Castro, Chair, Department of International Studies, Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico (ITAM) and Editor of Foreign Affairs in Spanish will give a Mexican and a Latin American, perception of changes within US Latino communities, as well as in US – Mexican/Latin American relations. He will pay special attention to Mexico’s reaction and adjustment to the new US immigration environment.
October 21, Tuesday, Luncheon
Discussion, 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM at TBA
Topic: “The Presidential Elections and the War in Iraq” by
Dr. Mark Peceny, Chair, Political Science Department, UNM
NOVEMBER 08
November 8, Saturday, 4:00 PM at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, Wells Fargo Auditorium
Topic: “A Portrait of the Latino Immigrant Population in the United States at the Turn of the 21st Century”. Dr. Nadia Y. Flores, Department of Sociology, Texas A & M University will address the demographic shift in the US and evaluate the situation after the year 2000 when the US census revealed that Hispanics had surpassed African Americans as the nation's largest minority group. The Pew Hispanic Center projected that by the year 2050 Latinos will make 29% of the U.S. population. The lecture will provide the answers to the questions of why the Latino immigrant population has increased during the past two decades, what have been the most recent demographic dynamics, and will address the issue of whether the Latino immigrant population currently represents a social and economic threat to the rest of the United States.
November 20 – 11:30 AM – 1:15 PM Luncheon Discussion at La Crepe Michel.
Topic: “SCHOTT on the Rio Grande: from German Glass to Global Power” by Rolf Nitsche, Senior Project Manager, SCHOTT Solar Inc.
JANUARY 09
January 9, Friday, 4:00 PM at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, Wells Fargo Auditorium
Topic: Foreign Loyalties? Hispanics and American National Unity. In his recent book Who Are We? The Challenges to American National Identity, famous Harvard professor Samuel Huntington argued that Hispanics threaten to divide American society today like no other group in U.S. history, and that they and other groups have foreign attachments that run counter to the national interest. David R. Ayón, US Director of the binational "Focus Mexico/Enfoque Mexico" project, Loyola Marymount University will examine such “transnational” ties as well as recent efforts by countries such as Mexico, Canada, Israel, Spain and Venezuela to gain influence among Hispanic Americans.
FEBRUARY 09
February 14, Saturday, 4:00 PM at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, Wells Fargo Auditorium
Topic: Hispanics in Politics. Dr. Valerie Martinez-Ebers, President of the Western Political Science Association and Professor, University of North Texas will examine Hispanic politics in light of its increasing significance and complexity covering the topics of a new generation of Latino politicians, growing political participation, new political assertiveness, Hispanic political identities and attitudes, and political representation for Hispanics at the national, state and local levels. The talk will also address the role of Hispanics in the 2008 Presidential campaign.
MARCH 09
March 13, Friday, 4:00 PM at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, Wells Fargo Auditorium
Auditorium
Topic: “Latino Arts and Culture: Mapping a Social Movement ”. Dr. Maribel Alvarez, Southwest Center, University of Arizona will will talk about antecedents of Latino expressive culture in the US, the Civil Rights Movement and the origins of the Latino artistic project, the non-profit arts field, the multi-cultural project, characteristics that define the terrain of Latino arts in the US: emerging trends, challenges, and opportunities.
APRIL 09
April 11, Saturday, 4:00 PM at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, Wells Fargo Auditorium
Topic: “Growing Latino Businesses”. Rudy M. Bessera, Vice President, Latin Affairs, the Coca-Cola Company will address new trends within Latino businesses, such as their growth, Latinas in business, and immigrant businesses.
MAY 09
May 8, Friday, 4:00 PM at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, Wells Fargo Auditorium
Topic: “New Mexico: Hispanos y Mexicanos; 21st Century Immigration and the Descendants of 17th Century Indo-Hispanos”. Dr. Manuel Garcia y Griego, Director,
Southwest Hispanic Research Institute, UNM will cover the New Mexican case and summarize the views presented in the previous seven lectures and compare national and local (NM) trends. His presentation will focus on the dual significance of the heritage of people of Mexican-origin: it is both an immigrant ethnic group descendant of newcomers to the United States and a native population whose origin is that of a racialized group identified with a territory and annexed in a war of conquest at mid-nineteenth century.