Latina, Latino lecture series celebrates 10th anniversary

Salsa instructor Eliana Manero dances with Jaime David Guzman, sophomore in Business and LAS, on Thursday evening at La Casa Cultural Latina. The dance classes are offered every Thursday and Sunday from 7-9 p.m. Everybody is welcome, she said. I teach Josh Birnbaum

Salsa instructor Eliana Manero dances with Jaime David Guzman, sophomore in Business and LAS, on Thursday evening at La Casa Cultural Latina. The dance classes are offered every Thursday and Sunday from 7-9 p.m. “Everybody is welcome,” she said. “I teach Josh Birnbaum

By Kiran Sood

Beginning Friday, the Latina/Latino Studies Program will be holding their 10th anniversary celebration. The opening ceremony will be held at Beckman Auditorium, 405 N. Mathews Ave., from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. and feature the Rolando Hinojosa-Smith Lecture Series inaugural lecture.

The speaker will be Jason Ferreira, assistant professor of Ethnic Studies from San Francisco State University. He is a University alumnus, getting his bachelor’s degree in the class of ’92. Ferreira’s lecture is entitled “Return to the Source: Latina/o Studies in Times of War.”

Arlene Torres, director of the Latina/Latino Studies Program, said she is looking forward to recognizing the host of individuals that are participating in the event.

“This event is a great opportunity to celebrate how far we have come, and strategize on what we want to accomplish in the next 10 years,” Torres, who is also a professor of Latina/Latino Studies, said.

She said the program began in 1996 with six faculty members, five of whom were junior faculty.

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“We are working toward a larger faculty base,” Torres said. “The number of students who want to major or minor in the fields we offer is increasing.”

Torres said the help of the community is necessary to carry the goals of the program forward.

“All students are encouraged to enroll, as we have courses in a wide variety of subjects,” Torres said.

The respondent will be Lourdes Torres, associate professor and director of Latin American and Latino/a Studies and Modern Languages at DePaul University. Lourdes is a 1988 alumna of the University.

The special guest of the opening ceremony will be Hinojosa-Smith, Ellen Clayton Garwood Professor of English at the University of Texas at Austin. Hinojosa-Smith is a University Alumnus of the class of ’69.

The lecture presentations will be followed by a reception at the Beckman Atrium from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Rosalind Fielder, visiting assistant to the director of the Latina/Latino Studies Program, said the Rolando Hinojosa-Smith Lecture Series inaugural lecture is paid for, in part, by the Student Cultural Programming Fee.

Other co-sponsors include the Asian American Studies Program, the Center for Advanced Study, the Center on Democracy in a Multiracial Society, the Department of History, the Gender and Women’s Studies Program, the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities, the Institute of Government and Public Affairs, La Casa Cultural Latina, the Native American House, the Office of Equal Opportunity and Access, the Office of the Chancellor, and the Office of the President.

Fielder said the program will continue to sponsor events throughout 2006 to celebrate the 10th anniversary.