PULLMAN– The Mexican perspective on U.S. immigration, the shared history of Afromexicans and African-Americans, and inequality in education will be among the topics at the International Globalization, Diversity, and Education Conference in Spokane.
Films and lectures open to the public will be part of the conference, to take place March 1-3 at the Red Lion Hotel at the Park. Organizers promise “a discussion of diversity grounded in relationships between peoples, and the economic and cultural landscapes in which they interact.”
The conference is sponsored by Washington State University’s College of Education, Extension office, and Office of the Vice President for Equity and Diversity; with support from Eastern Washington and Gonzaga universities. A detailed agenda and registration information are available online at www.emmps.wsu.edu/globalization.
Events that are free and open to the public include:
– “Chronicle of the Unloved: A Mexican Filmmaker’s View of Mexico/US Migrations at the End of the 20th century,” 5:30 p.m. March 1. A lecture by filmmaker and author Rodolfo Palma-Rojo of the Institute of Anthropology and History of Mexico, featuring his 20-minute documentary, Pacula: A Transnational Indigenous Community.
– “The Spirit and the Spire: The Sacred Heart Mission Industrial Boarding School, 1878-1985,” at 8 p.m. March 1. A film by Michael Hayes and Georgia Johnson.
– “Crossing Borders: Afromexicans, African-Americans, and Shared Histories of Race and Nation,” at 11:30 a.m. March 2. A lecture by Ben Vinson III, director of Africana Studies, Johns Hopkins University.
– “U.S. Latina/os, Cultural Citizenship and Critical Democracy: From Civil to Human Rights,” at 5 p.m. March 2. A lecture by Angela Valenzuela, director, Texas Center for Educational Policy, University of Texas at Austin.
– “Granito de Arena,” at 7:30 p.m. March 2. An award-winning documentary by Jill Freidberg exploring the lives of socially active Indigenous teachers in Mexico.
– “Critique Across Differences: Positionality, Methodology and Epistemology,” at 11:30 a.m. March 3, by Patricia Lather, Professor, Ohio State University.
– “Markets, Standards, God, and Inequality in Education,” at 5 p.m. March 3. A lecture by Michael Apple, John Bascom Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Wisconsin.
