Latino Issues Conference looks to the future

BOWLING GREEN, O.—The 18th annual Latino Issues Conference at Bowling Green State University will explore the role of Latinos in America’s future. Community leaders, faculty and students will examine aspects including education, the law, research, and theatre and film.

The conference, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Oct. 26 in the Bowen-Thompson Student Union, will feature a keynote address by Vicente Sánchez Ventura, consul of Mexico from Detroit. He will speak at the 12:30 p.m. luncheon in 228 Union. The conference and attendance at the consul’s talk are free; there is a $12 cost for the luncheon.

Discussion sessions on the respective topics will be held in 228 and 202B Union.

Beginning the day, at 9:30 a.m., Fremont Ross High School Principal Jose Hernandez will lead a discussion of “Latino Education: Commitments and Controversies.”

At 10:30 a.m., Judge Keila Cosme (Sixth District Court of Appeals) and attorney Lourdes Santiago of Toledo will conduct a discussion of “Latinos and the Law.” Judge Cosme is the first Latina to serve on any of Ohio’s 12 district courts of appeals. Santiago is a former member of Toledo City Council and former prosecutor with the city’s Law Department.

Following lunch, Marilyn Serrano of BGSU’s Latino Student Union will lead a session on “Latino Research: Issues and Remedies.”

The final session, at 2:30 p.m., will be led by Dr. Thomas Javier Castillo, an assistant professor of theatre and film, on “Engaging Hot-Button Issues through the Arts: The Battle for Chicano Studies in Arizona.”

The conference is sponsored by BGSU’s Office of Multicultural Affairs, Office of Admissions, Office of Student Affairs and Latino Student Union.

To make lunch reservations or for more information, call 419-372-2642.

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(Posted October 14, 2011 )