LEWISBURG - Bucknell University's Office of Multicultural Student Services is hosting a series of lectures in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month. All events in the series are free and open to the public.
Isabel Molina-Guzman, author of "angerous Curves: Latina Bodies in the Media," will give the talk, "Performing Latina Racial Flexibility in the 'Post' Media World," at 6 tonight in the Traditional Reading Room (Room 213) of the Ellen Clarke Bertrand Library.
Molina-Guzman is associate professor of communication and Latina/o studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The author explores why some Latina bodies in film, television, and music can perform across a diversity of ethnic and racial identities. Specifically, she documents how and why some performers such as Zoe Saldana, Jessica Alba and Jennifer Lopez are allowed to play against racial typecasting culture while others such as Sofia Vergara and Salma Hayek are not.
Sylvia Manzano, associate professor of government at Lone Star College, will give the talk, "Latinos in the 2012 Election: Voters, Issues and Parties," at 6 p.m. Friday in the Library's Traditional Reading Room. Manzano will provide a critical look at the important role of Latinos in the 2012 presidential election through the lens of political science.
Augustine Romero, director of student equity with the Tucson Unified School District and co-founder of the Social Justice Project, will give the talk, "Precious Knowledge," at 7 p.m. Sept. 19 in the Forum of the Elaine Langone Center. Romero will examine how political discourse on race, ethnicity and access affects the resources devoted to the education of Latino students in some southwestern U.S. communities.
In a related event, the documentary film "Precious Knowledge" will be shown at 7 p.m. Sept. 18 in Rooke Chemistry Auditorium (Room 116) of the Rooke Science Center.
The film showing is co-sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Student Services and International Student Services.
The film chronicles the success of the Mexican American studies program at Tucson High School and the fight to preserve the program, which has become a national model of educational success, with 100 percent of enrolled students graduating from high school and 85 percent going on to attend college.
