In Brief: March 3

Latina author highlights Latino Issues Conference

The 2016 Latino Issues Conference at the University will feature award-winning author Jennine Capó Crucet.

The conference, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. March 24 in the Bowen-Thompson Student Union, will also include research and creative presentations by students and faculty.

During her keynote address, Crucet will read from her newly published book, “Make Your Home Among Strangers,” (2015, St. Martin’s Press). Her novel, which is on the short list for the Center for Fiction’s First Novel Prize, captures the experience of a first-generation college student moving between her largely Cuban American home in Miami and her new life at a predominantly white liberal arts college. Crucet also wrote a collection of short stories, “How to Leave Hialeah” (2009, University of Iowa), for which she won the Iowa Short Fiction Prize, the John Gardener Book Award and the Devil’s Kitchen Reading Award. She is also an O. Henry Prize recipient and a Bread Loaf Fellow. Currently, she is an assistant professor of English and Ethnic Studies at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

Registration for the keynote luncheon is required by March 8. BGSU students can register for free; the cost for others is $15. All other events are free and open to the public. Visit the conference website for more information and to register.

Conference organizers include BGSU’s School of Cultural and Critical Studies, ICS Latin
American and Latino/a Studies Cluster, Latino Student Union and the Latino Issues Conference/Encuentro Latinoamericano Steering Committee. Co-sponsors include the Office of the Provost, College of Arts & Sciences, Department of Ethnic Studies, Ethnic Cultural Arts Program, Office of Admissions, Department of Romance and Classical Studies, Department of English, Arts Village and the Center for Undergraduate Research.

‘Beyond the Border’ is focus of State of the Region Conference

The 14th annual State of the Region Conference on March 21 will look “Beyond the Border” to provide perspectives on a number of important issues facing business and the economy.

Hosted by BGSU’s Center for Regional Development, the 2016 conference will feature keynote speaker Dr. Mark Schweitzer, senior vice president for external outreach and regional analytics at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

The event begins at 8 a.m. with networking, followed by the program from 9 a.m. till noon. It will take place at the Hilton Garden Inn at Levis Commons in Perrysburg.

Admission is free, but registration is requested. Register online.

New this year will be a “reaction panel” of regional economic development leaders who will discuss Schweitzer’s address and offer their perspectives.

The second part of the program will focus on foreign direct investment (FDI). Paul Zito, foreign investment specialist with the Regional Growth Partnership, will first provide an overview of current foreign investment in the region and its impact, and then moderate a panel discussion among representatives of foreign-owned companies. Hancock County representatives will also provide a county-level perspective on FDI.

As the keynote speaker, Schweitzer is uniquely poised to address the state of the region but also provide a broader context. He is responsible for overseeing the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland’s public outreach activities and its analysis of regional economic conditions. He advises and informs the bank’s president and board of directors on regional economic developments and economic policy issues. Schweitzer’s own research has focused on the macroeconomic impact of labor market developments and the identification of factors contributing to regional economic growth.

He joined the bank in 1992 as an economist. From 2000-02, he took leave to serve as a senior economist at the Bank of England. After returning to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, he was promoted to assistant vice president and director of the Regional Economic Issues Program in 2004. He left Cleveland in 2007 to serve as vice president and branch executive of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s Denver Branch. In 2008, he returned to the Cleveland Reserve Bank to serve as its research director. He assumed his current position in January 2015.

An economics graduate of the University of Chicago, Schweitzer holds both a master's degree and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California at Los Angeles.