The Community Leadership Center at Rutgers–Camden will celebrate its inaugural Hispanic Heritage Day with a panel discussion honoring the scholarly contributions and legacy of Latinos in the United States, and highlighting Latino scholarship at Rutgers University, at 10 a.m. Friday, Nov. 1.
The panel presentation, titled “Latino Americans and How Their Legacy Has Shaped the Nation,” will feature Rutgers scholars Yolanda Martinez–San Miguel, Benjamin Sifuentes-Jauregui, and Nelson Maldonado-Torres, who are engaged in cutting-edge scholarly work in critical areas related to Hispanics in the United States.
The talk, which is free of charge and open to the general public, will be held in the Multi-Purpose Room on the main level of the Campus Center, located on Third Street, between Cooper Street and the Benjamin Franklin Bridge on the Rutgers–Camden campus.
The presentation, held in conjunction with the LEAP Academy University Charter School in Camden, will be immediately followed by lunch and a question-and-answer session with the speakers from noon to 2 p.m.
“These Latino Scholars will explore the contributions and rich history of Latinos who have shaped our nation to be the America we know today,” says Gloria Bonilla-Santiago, Board of Governors Distinguished Service Professor of Urban Studies at Rutgers–Camden. “The story of Latino Americans is the story of our country. Latinos have become the largest minority group in the United States with more than 50 million people. All are invited to join us as we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Day.”
A professor of Latino and Hispanic Caribbean studies, Martinez-San Miguel focuses her research on colonial and post-colonial studies on Caribbean migration and culture. She has authored three books in on the subject and is currently working on her fourth, Coloniality of Diasporas: Rethinking Intra-Colonial Migrations in a Pan-Caribbean Context, which discusses internal Caribbean migrations to examine transcolonial and postcolonial displacement.
Sifuentes-Jáuregui, an associate professor of American studies and comparative literature, teaches an array of courses on literature, film, and performance theory in Latino culture. His research focuses include Latino/a literature, LGBTQ Latino cultural studies, and psychoanalysis. Sifuentes-Jáuregui has just completed a forthcoming book, The Avowal of Difference: Queer Latino American Narratives.
An associate professor of Latino and Hispanic Caribbean studies, Maldonado-Torres examines the connections of diverse genealogies in different genealogies of critical thinking. He is the author of the book Against War, and is currently working on its sequel, Fanonian Meditations, which examines the epistemology of ethnic studies, and the impact of decolonization on ethics, politics, and epistemology.
Registration is required. To register, please contact Rasheda L. Simpson by Thursday, Oct. 24, at 856-225-6916 or rls279@scarletmail.rutgers.edu.
For directions to Rutgers–Camden, visit camden.rutgers.edu/resources/getting-to-campus.