Renowned Mexican-American scholars, authors from across U.S. to speak at The National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies (NACCS) Tejas Regional Conference at South Texas College
South Texas College plays host to the NACCS Tejas Regional Conference from Thursday, Feb. 28 through Saturday, Mar. 1, 2008 and has recruited prolific and important Mexican-American scholars and authors from across the nation to participate. Participants include professors and authors from New York University, Notre Dame, Rice University, The University of Colorado at Denver, The University of California at Santa Cruz, California State, The University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University and Texas Tech University to name a few. Faculty and students from South Texas College, The University of Texas at Brownsville and The University of Texas-Pan American will also participate.
“Our conference theme is ‘Mi Educación es la Causa: Chicana and Chicano Pedagogy in the 21st Century’ and it will provide a forum through which scholars, activists, K-12 educators and others will collectively explore Chicana/o pedagogy and explore new teaching strategies that address the needs of la raza in the 21st century,” said Victor Gomez, STC history instructor and conference coordinator. “We are so pleased with the response to this event and the willingness of top scholars in this field to come out and, in some cases, back home to the Valley to share their perspectives with our community. This will be an invaluable opportunity for not only local educators and students, but also the community as a whole.”
Conference activities will take place at the STC Pecan Campus in McAllen and at the New McAllen Convention Center. Several information and discussion sessions will take place throughout the three day conference from author lectures to roundtable discussions about education issues, activism, communications, language and cultural issues.
While most conference activities will take place at the STC Pecan Campus, the two keynote speakers will speak at the McAllen Convention Center. Rodolfo F. Acuña, the author of Occupied America: The History of Chicanos, and Martha P. Cotera, the author of Diosa y Hembra: The History and Heritage of Chicanas in the U.S., will discuss their experiences in studying, teaching and writing about the Mexican-American experience. They will share their perspectives on the opportunities for Mexican-Americans in the 21st century and how education has and will continue to be a foundation for the exploration of Mexican-American culture.
Following the keynote addresses, the community is invited to an evening of cultural activities including an author meet and greet with more than 25 Mexican-American scholars signing their books. Participating scholars include: Rodolfo Acuña, Martha Cotera, José Angel Gutiérrez, Guadalupe San Miguel Jr., Norma Cantú, Armando Alonzo, Josephine Méndez-Negrete, among other very important scholars.
The conference’s Cultural Night Celebration will be dedicated to recognizing the important contributions of Mexican-American, Chicana and Latina women to their history and heritage. A performance by The University of Texas-Pan American Folkloric Dance Company will center on women of the Mexican Revolution and Frida Kahlo. María Rodríguez from Ohlone College in California will perform her highly recognized performance titled, “Chicana Her-Story,” which focuses on the forgotten history of women, particularly Native-American women. Concluding the evening’s activities will be a special reading of the poetry of the late Gloria Anzaldúa by members of the Gloria Anzaldúa Legacy Project, who will read poems from the prolific Valley scholar.
A full agenda can be found at www.naccs.org.
The NACCS Tejas Regional Conference hosted by South Texas College is free and open to all members of the Rio Grande Valley community. There is a $20 fee for those wishing to receive a conference portfolio bag, conference name badge, color program, and conference luncheon ticket.
For more information about the event or to register contact Victor Gomez, STC history instructor and conference coordinator, at 872-2070 or vgomez@southtexascollege.edu.