Fourth Annual La Crosse Area Latina/o Collaborative Workshop on
Teaching, Service and Research 

Building Inclusive Communities:  Improving Immigrant Access to Education, Health, Housing, and Local Government  

 

The Institute for Ethnic and Racial Studies,
The University of Wisconsin, La Crosse
April 26-27, 2013
 

Call for Papers  

Since 2010, instructors, students, and community members from school districts, colleges, and universities in the La Crosse region have held an annual workshop to share best practices in the pedagogy, research, service learning, and international education programs in Latin American and Latina/o Studies.  Past conferences have focused on the bicentenary of Latin American Independence, Human Rights, and Diversity. 

The organizing theme for the Spring 2013 workshop is Building Inclusive Communities:  Improving Immigrant Access to Education, Health, Housing, and Local Government. 2012 witnessed an increase in Latina/o participation in the democratic process, leading political commentators to question the continued value of anti-immigrant rhetoric, and there is a national consensus about the need to reform the immigration process.   The Obama administration has recently instituted a deferred action program that offers better work and educational opportunities to immigrant children.   

Despite these national advances, communities in the Upper Midwest have yet to come to terms with the changing demographics. While only the influx of immigrants can keep small and mid-sized rural towns afloat, immigrants remain isolated, with few efforts made to incorporate them into the community.  Immigrants—both authorized and unauthorized—face numerous and complex barriers that deny them and their families access to educational and social opportunities. Schools and health providers do not always reach out to the growing immigrant and domestic Latina/o populations—and existing outreach efforts do not include non-Hispanic immigrant populations. Immigrant populations are racially profiled, and exploited by employers and landlords.  

Community organizations and faith communities are eager to address these injustices, but lack experience or knowledge of best practices in outreach to immigrant communities. Institutions of higher education need to prepare the professionals of the future who can bridge the growing achievement divide between immigrants and local populations.  By providing programming on these issues, colleges and universities can provide community leadership that allows institutions of higher education to showcase institutional commitments to inclusivity and service learning. 

Our conference will highlight presentations on these developments, and will reflect on transformative opportunities in politics, society, aesthetics, literature and culture. Specific topics we would like to encourage include:  

  • Contemporary issues of equity, inclusivity and diversity in scholarship of Latin America and U.S. Latino populations  
  • Immigration, Exile, Transnationalism and Diasporas  
  • Race and Ethnicity in Citizenship and Community  
  • Immigrant Families 
  • Immigrants in schools 
  • Human trafficking and Human Rights Advocacy 
  • Indigenous and Post-Indigenous immigrant cultures 
  • Adult Literacy and Immigrant Cultural Literacy 
  • Representations of Immigrants and Immigration in literary and mass media 
  • Communities of Faith and the Immigrant 
  • Community Organizing, Social Justice and Stewardship 
  • Service Learning Opportunities with Immigrants 
  • Latina/o participation in local governments, school boards, and social services providers 

 

In addition to facilitating roundtable presentations and conversations about teaching, service learning, and inter-national education through the individual papers, presentations, and panels, we invite formal conference papers and panels on related scholarly research.  

This workshop intends to:  

  • Strengthen ties within the Latin American Studies community in Southwestern Wisconsin, but also within neighboring states such as Iowa and Minnesota.  
  • Share teaching ideas, course content, and learning modules about topics relating to citizenship, civic participation, and community  
  • Allow those with a specific research interest in a particular Latin American topic to present and receive feedback on a working paper or research project.  
  • Share experiences of service learning and international education programs in Latin America, Spain, Portugal, and the U.S.  
  • Foster greater awareness about the growing presence of Latina/o and Immigrant populations in Southwestern Wisconsin, South-eastern Minnesota, and Northeastern Iowa.  

 

The workshop is open to all interested scholars, community service organizations, immigrant advocacy groups, health and social services administrators, and elementary, middle, and secondary educators and administrators in Wisconsin and adjacent states interested in Latin American, Latina/o, and Iberian studies. We welcome scholars and artists from various disciplines such as history, literature, art, social sciences, social work, education, political science, as well as professionals who do work in international studies with an emphasis on Latin America. Proposals on U.S. Latino populations are equally welcome. Selected papers focusing on teaching innovations and methodologies of globalization will be included in a special issue of Analytic Teaching and Philosophical Praxis, an on-line, peer-reviewed, academic journal published out of Viterbo University (La Crosse, WI) dedicated to exploring the deeper philosophical, political, social and ethical implications of education.  

Deadline and format for submissions:   individual paper presentation, panel or roundtable proposals (2-3 presentations per panel, 75 word summary of each presentation, 1-page c.v. for each presenter): March 1, 2013.  We will assign a commentator/chair.  Notification of acceptance will be forwarded on March 22, along with the final conference program.                       Please forward submissions to:   mgrattan@uwlax.edu  

Sponsors  

The University of Wisconsin, La Crosse
Department of Ethnic and Racial Studies
Institute for Latin American and Iberian Studies
College of Liberal Studies
School of Education
 

Viterbo University
Latin American Studies Program
Department of World Languages
 

AMOS, Inc. 

 

 

 

  Hand
 

 

 

Third Annual  

La Crosse Latina/o Collaborative Teaching, Research, and Service Workshop 

Viterbo University, La Crosse, Wisconsin
 

 Friday, April 27, 2012 

6:30 PM. Registration. Nursing Center (NRC 196) 

7:00 - 7:10 PM. Welcome Remarks by Glena Temple, Dean of Letters and Sciences, and intro to keynote speaker by Jesús Jambrina, Coordinator of the Latin American Studies program, VU. 

7:10 PM. Keynote Address. Bradley S. Epps, Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures and  Department Chair, Studies in Women, Gender, and Sexuality, Harvard University. 

8:00-9:00 pm. Welcome Reception. NRC Lobby.
 

Saturday, April 28, 2012 

7:30 AM. Breakfast. NRC Lobby/ NRC 195. 

All sessions are in NRC 196.
 

7:50 AM. Remarks by Barbara Gayle, Academic Vice President, Viterbo University and  Víctor M. Macías-González, co-chair of LALAC and Director Institute for Latina/o and Latin American Studies, UW-La Crosse. Program orientation by  Jesús Jambrina, Latin American Studies Coordinator at Viterbo University, NRC 196.  

8:00 – 10:00 AM. Social Sciences and Health Care in Latin America.  

Moderator: Vicente Guillot, World Languages and Cultures, VU.  

Kathleen Jeffries, Loras College, Traditional Medicine and Diversity issues in Health Care. 

Rose Kreutz, and Sheryl  Jacobson, VU, Cross Cultural Immersion Experience in Belize.  

Angela Rooker, UWL,  Readjustment back home: Migrant Return in Xalapa, Mexico.  

10:00- 10:05 AM. Break 

10:05 – 10:45 AM. Round table: Students’ Role in the Didactic Discourse:  Beyond the Classroom. 

Danielle Elland, Nikole Fanta, and Jocelyn Lutes, VU  students
 

Alison Rosenbaum, VU. A Statistical Analysis of Latino/a Crime Rate and Recidivism in Wisconsin’s Justice System
 

10:50 AM -12:10 PM. Approaches to Teaching Latin American topics 

Moderator: Michael Smuksta, History Department , VU 

Maribel Bird, VU. Teaching through the News: Contextualizing Cultures. 
 

Keith Knutson, Political Science, VU,  Brazil’s International Leadership Role in the 21stCentury. 
 

Jason Howard, VU. Too Close for Comfort: Pedagogical Hurdles in Teaching the Philosophies of Latin America. 

12:10 – 12:30 PM. Lunch. NRC Lobby, and NRC 195.  

12:30 – 2:00 PM. Topics in Latin American Cultural Theory and Politics  
 

Moderator: Brad Epps, Romance Languages Department, Harvard University

Lídice Aleman, Washington University. ¿Qué hizo el hombre de ti? Georgina Herrera entre identidad y discurso official. 

Alfredo Alonso, Luther College, Literary Biography and Authorship in Jorge Luis Borges. 

Armando Chávez-Rivera, University of Houston-Victoria. Banquetes, hambrunas, y palenques en la literatura antiesclavista del siglo XIX en Cuba. 

2:00- 2:10 PM. Break 

2:10- 3:40 PM. Mapping and Assessing Teaching Latin American and Latina/o Issues. 
 

Moderator: Víctor M. Macías-González, UWL 

Adriana McCleer. UW-Milwaukee. Color Blindness and Censorship: The Dismantling of Tucson Unified School District's Mexican American Studies program.   

Kate McCarthy- Gilmore, Loras College. Latinos in the Midwest: Development and Integration through sustainable models.  

Víctor M. Macías-González, UWL. The UW-La Crosse Eagle Mentoring Program:  Lessons from a  2nd year minority student retention program for highly-motivated students.
 

3:40-4:00 PM. Conclusion and Assessment  
 

The Workshop is made possible thanks to the Latin American Studies Program at Viterbo University, the Institute for Latina/o and Latin American Studies at UWL, the UW-Milwaukee Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies, and the Faculty Development Office at Viterbo University.   

Call for Papers 

 

How is diversity experienced in Latin America?  How are diversity and inclusivity experienced in the U.S. Latina/o communities?   How do ethnicity and race intersect class, region, gender, sexuality, and national origin?   
 

This Teaching, Service, and Research Workshop explores the intersection of these themes in the classroom, and how they affect U.S. citizens’ political imagination toward both the Latin American region and the Latina/o community.
 

We look forward to sharing best practices in the classroom, sample syllabi and learning modules, course materials, bibliographies, iPad applications for teaching languages, diversity lessons and goals or any other relevant discussion.
 

Organizers encourage individual papers, panel and roundtable proposal submissions on, but not limited to, the following topics: 

·      Representations of urban life in Literature, Films and the Arts 

·      Fighting AIDS in Latin America 

·      LGBT movement in Latin America and among Latina/o populations 

·      Religious diversity and belief systems 

·      The African Diaspora narratives and national histories 

·      Uses of Internet in Latin America 

·      Representations of Latinas/os in the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Africa  

·      Teaching about and learning from diversity in Latin America 

·      The role of the arts and music in nation building 

·      Study Abroad Courses 

·      Intra Latin American immigration, and immigration policies 

·      Social services policies 

·      Latinos in Europe 

·      Latin American perceptions of the United States 

·      Local response to Undocumented immigrant population. 

 This workshop intends to: 

  • Strengthen ties within the Latin American and Latino Studies community in South Western Wisconsin, but also within neighboring states such as Iowa, Illinois and Minnesota. 
  • Share teaching ideas, course content, and learning modules about topics relating to diversity in Latin America and the Latino/a community  
  • Allow those with a specific research interest in a particular Latin American topic to present and receive feedback on a working paper or research project. 
  • Share experiences of service learning and international education programs in Latin America 
  • Foster greater awareness about the growing presence of Latina/o populations in Southwestern Wisconsin, Southeastern Minnesota, and Northeastern Iowa. 
  • Encourage students research projects presentations  

The workshop is open to all interested CLACS Regional Faculty Associates, secondary and post-secondary educators in Wisconsin and adjacent states interested in Latin American, Latina/o studies. We welcome scholars from various disciplines such as history, literature, art, social sciences, social work, education, political science, as well as professionals who do work in international studies with an emphasis on Latin America. Selected papers focusing on teaching innovations and methodologies will be included in a special issue of Analytic Teaching and Philosophical Praxis, an on-line, peer-reviewed, academic journal published out of Viterbo University (La Crosse, WI) dedicated to exploring the deeper philosophical, political, social and ethical implications of education. 

The deadline for individual paper, presentation, panel or roundtable (3 papers and 1 commentator, 150 word summary of presentation):  March 10, 2012.  Notification of acceptance will be forwarded on March 15, along with the final conference program
 

Workshop Proposal Online Form
 

Registration:  The $30 registration cost for participants will cover conference costs, refreshments, dinner, continental breakfast, and lunch. 
 

Registration cost is waived for Viterbo and UW system faculty and students presenters and attendants, but they still register below for organizational purposes.
 

Register Online Now                       Lodging information 


 

Out of town guests should make reservations in a timely manner at a hotel of their choice and may be able to obtain a special discount rate of $70 available through the conference co-sponsor UW-La Crosse.  Please use the tax-exempt state business rate and use the code ES 40706.  Please download the certificate of tax exemption from this website:  http://www.wisconsin.edu/fadmin/fppp/wis.htm  and select Appendix H 

 

The workshop is co-sponsored by the Latin American Studies program at Viterbo University, UW-La Crosse College of Liberal Studies and Institute for Latina/o and Latin American Studies, and the UW-Milwaukee Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies.
 

Any questions contact Jesús Jambrina at jejambrina@viterbo.edu

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 



Apply Online
 

Visit Us 

Directory 

Web cams 

viterboquickfacts