NEWS RELEASE

News Bureau • Schofield Hall 201 • Eau Claire, WI 54702
phone: (715) 836-4741
fax: (715) 836-2900

Annual Midwest Latin American Studies
Conference Set for April 18-19 

MAILED: April 9, 2002

         EAU CLAIRE — The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire is hosting the 2002 Midwest Conference on Latin American Studies Thursday, April 18, in Davies Center and Friday, April 19, at the Ramada Inn and Conference Center, Eau Claire.
         An annual event since the 1980s, the regional conference provides a forum for specialists and other individuals to share their work and exchange views about Latin America. Dr. Eva Santos-Phillips, assistant professor of foreign languages, and Dr. Obika Gray, professor of political science, acted as co-coordinators of this year's event.
         This year's emphasis will be on the reciprocal ties between Latin America and the United States. Conferees hailing from the Midwest and as far away as Honduras will discuss this association with regard to politics and economic globalization, as well as sexual, gender and religious identities.
         The conference will open Thursday with a lecture and piano recital from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Dulany Inn of Davies Center. The lecture/recital is titled "Piano Music in Brazil from the Late 19th to Mid-20th Century" and features Dr. Alexandre Dossin, assistant professor of music at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette.
         The program will be followed by a reception with Latin American appetizers and a cash bar.
         After a registration and check-in from 8:30 to 9 a.m., Friday's events at the Ramada Inn will begin with concurrent paper presentations from 9 to 11:45 a.m.
         The lunch and keynote address will run from noon to 1:30 p.m. Greg Medina-Rivera, assistant dean of the UW-Madison College of Letters and Sciences, will give a speech titled "The Census 2002 - The Facts, the Figures, the Fyction: The Cultural, Ethnic and Racial Contextual Reality of the Hispanic/Latino Respondents: No More Dancing with the Chihuahua."
         More concurrent paper presentations will be given from 1:30 to 4:15 p.m., and will be followed by closing statements and evaluation.
         The following presentations will be given:

• Jenny Allen and Dr. Eva Santos-Phillips, UW-Eau Claire, "Creating Space for Women to Create: A Closer Look at Mexican Dramatist Sabina Berman's Plays 'El Gordo,' 'La Pájara y el Narco' and 'Muerte Súbita'"

• Lucy Altemus, Farmer to Farmer, "Farmers, Students, Artisans, Activists - Building Connections"

• Dr. Shane Boeder, Marian College (Ind.), "Scheherezade in Latin America: The Itinerant Storyteller as Social Critic: The Case of 'Eva Luna' by Isabel Allende"

• Dr. Daniel Breining, UW-Stevens Point, "La Minoría Gay: Cruzando Fronteras en la Literatura de los Chicanos Homosexuales"

• Dorián J. Dorado, UW-La Crosse, "Feminist Politics in Isabel Allende's 'The House of the Spirits'"

• Dr. Gustavo Fares, Lawrence University, "Pedro Páramo de Juan Rulfo Como Metáfora Antropológica"

• Maria M. Flores, Marquette University Law School, "Public Perception of Immigration Issues: Fact, Fiction and Reality"

• Lorenzo R. Florián, "Latinos in Our Churches: El Nuevo Lázaro"

• José Antonio Funes, Universidad Pedagógica de Honduras, "Froylán Turcios y Augusto C. Sandino: Dos Hermanos que no Pudieron Entenderse"

• Milan Homola, Winona State University (Minn.), "The Borderlands/West in Film"

• Amanda Kampa and MarylynnVoth, Winona State, "Folklore and Myth on the Border"

• Amber Little, UW-Eau Claire, "Buscando la Historia Verdadera: La Era de Trujillo"

• John Loukkanen, Winona State, "Crypto-Jews in the Borderland"

• Julio Noriega-Bernuy, UW-Parkside, "The Migrant Literary 'Indigenismo' in Peru"

• Cristiana Oliveira, UW-Eau Claire, "Modernization and the Status of Women in Brazil"

• Minerva Ramirez, BTIO Educational Products, "Marketing in Latin America"

• Rita Salazar, University of South Dakota, "The Globalization of Latin America"

• Stephen Soderstrom, Winona State, "Sports on the Border"

• Silvia Vasquez Anderson, Winona State, "Latin American Women (Archetypes)"

• Gladys Wisnefski, Oshkosh Public Schools, "Patricia Verdugo Aguirre, Chilean Investigative Journalist"

• Megan Zinser, Winona State, "The Modern Maquiladoras"

• Winona State panel, "Women in the Borderlands" and "The Borderlands"

         Cost is $35 for the general public and professionals for all Thursday and Friday events, lunch and refreshments; $7 for the general public and professionals for Thursday evening only; $7 for full-time students with valid I.D. for Thursday and Friday events and refreshments (lunch not included); and $12 for lunch only.
         Registration deadline is Saturday, April 13. A $5 late fee will be charged to community members and professionals who register after April 13.
         The conference is sponsored by UW-Eau Claire Continuing Education/UW-Extension, UW-Eau Claire departments of foreign languages and history, Center for International Education, American Ethnic Coordinating Office, College of Arts and Sciences and UW-Milwaukee's Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies.
         For more information, contact La Vone Sneen, Continuing Education, at (715) 836-5179 or sneenl@uwec.edu.
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  News Bureau
Judy Berthiaume
UW-Eau Claire News Bureau
Schofield 201
(715) 836-4741
newsbur@uwec.edu

Updated: April 9, 2002