Center for U.S.-Mexico Studies' Annual Lecture Series Begins Sept.19

The Center for U.S.–Mexico Studies at The University of Texas at Dallas will resume its annual lecture series about topics of interest to both the United States and Mexico on Sept. 19.  

The series will include talks about Mexican democracy, international education, music as an instrument of translation, Mexico–U.S. migration, writing and fiction, and health challenges facing the U.S.–Mexico relationship.  As in previous years, the talks will take place both at UT Dallas and at institutions of higher education in Mexico.  

All lectures are free and open to the public and will conclude with a question-and-answer session. Additional information is available by calling 972-883-6401, or by visiting http://www.utdallas.edu/research/cusms/ls.htm.

The schedule for the 2007-08 series is as follows:

• Jesus Silva Herzog will discuss “Contemporary Challenges of the Mexican Democracy” at 2 p.m. on Sept. 19 in Room 4.614 of the Jonsson Building.  His talk is co–sponsored by the Consulate General of Mexico in Dallas and the UT Dallas School of Political, Economic and Policy Sciences.  Herzog is former fellow of the Woodrow Wilson Institute for Public Policy and a renowned political commentator and editorialist for the Mexican newspaper Reforma.  He heads the Department of Law at the Technological Autonomous Institute of Mexico, where his current research focuses on the changing role of civil society’s involvement in the Mexican political system.  

• Ana Cervantes will perform Rumor de Páramo (Murmurs from the Wasteland) at 7 p.m. on Nov. 9 in the Conference Center at UT Dallas.  The program is co-sponsored by the American Literary Translators Association, the UT Dallas School of Arts & Humanities and the UT Dallas Center for Translation Studies.  Cervantes maintains an extensive concert schedule, teaches in the U.S. and is currently based in Guanajuato, México.

• Edward Ashbee and Maria Elena Labastida Tovar will give a lecture about the politics, economics and  culture of Mexican–U.S. migration in a talk titled “Both Sides of the Border” in Room 4.614 of the Jonsson Building at 5 p.m. on Feb. 27.  The event is co-sponsored by the School of Political, Economic and Policy Sciences and the School of Arts & Humanities.  Ashbee is an associate professor at the Center for the Study of the Americas in the Copenhagen Business School of Denmark.  His most recent research project focuses on the debate of Mexican–U.S. migration and its political, economic and cultural implications.  Labastida Tovar is a Ph.D. student in the Public Policy and Political Economy Program at UT Dallas.  Her talk, “The Impact of NAFTA on the Mexican-American Border” is also the title of a chapter she authored that will be published later this year in the book The Politics, Economics and Culture of Mexican-US Migration: Both Sides of the Border.

• Dr. Rita Lepe will give a talk about the prevalence of hepatitis in Hispanics in a talk titled “Implications for Future U.S.-Mexico Health Care” in Room 4.614 of the Jonsson Building at 7 p.m. on April 10.  Her talk is co-sponsored by the UT Dallas Pre-Health Program.  Lepe currently works at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, where she monitors liver diseases in the Hispanic population, as well as hepatitis C and transplant hematology.  She has published in specialized journals and frequently lectures about healthcare challenges facing the Hispanic population.

Lectures in Mexico:

• Dr. Brian J. L. Berry, dean of the School of Political, Economic and Policy Sciences and a Lloyd Viel Berkner Regental Professor at UT Dallas, will be the keynote lecturer at the annual conference of the Mexican Association for International Education at the Mayan Museum in Chetumal, Mexico, at   9 a.m. on Nov. 8.  He will discuss globalization, geography and comparative advantages in a lecture titled “New Opportunities for International Education.”  The lecture is co-sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Mexico.  Berry was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1975, is a fellow of the British Academy and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.  In 2005, Berry was the recipient of the Vautrin Lud Prize, the highest award bestowed to a geographer.

• Robert Nelsen, vice provost and a faculty member in the School of Arts & Humanities at UT Dallas, will speak about creative writing in a talk titled “The Art of a Writer” at the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey at 11 a.m. on April 3.  Nelsen has published extensively throughout his 20–year academic career.  Nelsen, a writer since the age of five, is currently at work on a new novel.  His work has appeared in such journals as StoryQuarterly, Other Voices, Chariton Review and Southwest Review.  His most recent novel is Spirits Colliding.

About the Center for U.S.–Mexico Studies

The Center for U.S.–Mexico Studies at UT Dallas was created in 1995 in recognition of the richness of the Mexican–American past, as well as the importance of Mexico to the United States.  Goals of the center are to provide curricula and exchange of faculty and students with Mexican universities, to conduct research and present lectures about issues of interest to both Mexico and the U.S., and to prepare individuals for leadership in the fields of business, politics, science, technology and the arts.  For additional information, please visit www.utdallas.edu/research/cusms.  

About UT Dallas

The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the complex of major multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor, enrolls more than 14,500 students.  The school’s freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront of Texas state universities in terms of average SAT scores.  The University offers a broad assortment of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs.  For additional information about UT Dallas, please visit the University’s website at www.utdallas.edu.