Seeking to foster greater understanding between the United States and Mexico, The Center for U.S.-Mexico Studies at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) this month will resume its popular lecture series about issues of interest to both countries.

For the 2002-03 series, U.S.-Mexico scholars, including Gabriela Gudiño Gual, Mario Melgar, José Pagán, David R. Beall, Victoria Rodriguez and Ana Maria Salazar, will share their expertise on such topics as Mexican indigenous values, Mexican foreign policy, U.S.-Mexico border development, drug abuse, women in Mexican politics and U.S.-Mexico bi-national security.

The lectures, which are free and open to the public, will be held on the UTD campus and conclude with a question-and-answer session. The 2002-03 schedule is as follows:

Gabriela Gudiño Gual — Sept. 24 at 4 p.m., Student Union 2.514 (Regency Room #2) — Indigenous Values in Mexico: The Case of Tzotzil Maya in Chiapas. Gual currently serves as a tourist delegate in San Cristobal de Las Casas. She earned a B.A. in English as a second language from Universidad Autonoma de Chiapas, Campus III. She previously served as an English-Spanish tourist guide specializing in the ethnography of the Mayan indigenous groups of the Highlands of Chiapas.
Mario Melgar — Oct. 22, time and location to be determined — Mexico-U.S. Immigration, Central Issue on the Agenda. A native of Mexico, Melgar holds a Ph.D. in law from National Autonomous University of Mexico’s (UNAM) School of Law. He currently serves as director of the UNAM campus in San Antonio, Texas, and also is a tenured professor there. Melgar has published six books and written numerous articles for technical journals about public administration, education and law.
José Pagán — Nov. 11, time, location TBD — U.S.-Mexico Border Development: Bi-National Challenges and Perspectives. Pagán is a director of research and associate professor of economics in the U.T. Pan American College of Business Administration. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of New Mexico and was a 1999 Border Fulbright Scholar at the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León. Pagán has written extensively about issues of importance to the U.S.-Mexico border region, including immigration, employment, earnings, gender issues, taxation and public finance.
David R. Beall — Feb. 18, 2003, time, location TBD — Inter-American Drug Abuse Control: The Case of U.S.-Mexico. Beall is the executive secretary of the Inter American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) of the Organization of American States. Under his leadership, CICAD approved a plan of action for the implementation of an anti-drug strategy that included the control of the international movement of firearms, their parts and components and ammunition introduction.
Victoria Rodriguez — March 4, 2003, time, location TBD — Women in Contemporary Mexican Politics. Rodriguez is vice provost of the University of Texas at Austin, where she also serves as a professor in the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. She received her Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Berkeley, and has written two books about women in Mexican politics, including Women’s Participation in Mexican Political Life (1998) and Women in Contemporary Mexican Politics (2002).
Ana Maria Salazar — April 22, 2003, time, location TBD — National Security: The Challenge for Democracy. Salazar is vice president of SynthesisDigital.com.mx, a Web site dedicated to interviewing Mexican policymakers and politicians. She also writes a weekly column about politics and foreign affairs for major Mexican newspapers and teaches national security policy at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de Mexico in Mexico City. Salazar previously served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for drug enforcement policy and support at the Pentagon, where she supported the Department of Defense’s counter drug programs in the United States and other countries. Salazar received her J.D. from Harvard Law School and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

For additional information about the lecture series, please contact Gabriela Carrera at gaby@student.utdallas.edu or (972) 883 6401, or visit the center’s Web site at http://www.utdallas.edu/research/cusma/.

About the Center for U.S.-Mexico Studies

The Center for U.S.-Mexico Studies was created in 1995 in response to UTD’s recognition of the richness of the Mexican-American past, as well as the importance of Mexico to the United States. The center strives to enhance the academic relationship between UTD and Mexico via international education, research and public service programs. Goals of the center are to provide curricula and exchange of faculty and students with Mexican universities, to conduct research and present lectures on issues of interest to both Mexico and the U.S. and to prepare individuals for leadership on critical business, political, scientific, technological and cultural issues of concern to both countries.