Por
Xánath Caraza
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| Dr. Theresa Torres |
Kansas
City Chican@s are celebrating el otoño with a bang. Firstly, this year’s Community Outreach Award
granted by Guadalupe Centers, Inc. went to Dr. Theresa Torres, who has a long trajectory
in Kansas City. Next, NACCS will have its
Midwest Focus Conference at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) and Sílabas de viento/Syllables of Wind has
its debut in Kansas City as well.
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| Dr. Theresa Torres |
Associate
Professor Theresa Torres, Ph.D., of UMKC, has recently received the Dr. Thomas
E. Purcell Award for her outstanding contributions to the Guadalupe Centers,Inc. at the Blanco y Negro Annual Awards Gala in Kansas City, MO.
The
award is given in recognition of the man {or woman} who impacted the growth of
the Westside community in the early 1900s.
Purcell was concerned about the plight of the growing Mexican immigrant
community and dedicated much of his life to improving the quality of life of
Kansas City’s new arrivals.
Torres has served on the Guadalupe Center Board for ten years including three years as the Board secretary and Program Committee Chair. She currently serves on the Guadalupe Educational System (Charter School) Board and is chair of the Curriculum Committee. The fund raised each year at the gala benefit the Guadalupe Center and to honor outstanding individuals who have contributed to the growth and development of the center and the Latino Community of Kansas City, MO.
She has been a professor at the University of Missouri for nine years and
has taught a variety of courses since she is an interdisciplinarian, which
means she has diverse research and scholarship from a number of fields: Race
and Ethnicity, Latina Latino Studies, Women and Gender Studies, Anthropology,
Sociology, and Religious Studies. Currently she is teaching two
classes on Latina/o Studies with a focus on immigration. She also
engages students in community service learning projects and internships. She places students in projects that serve
the inner city by having them working with non-profit agencies or participate
in research projects studying the community.
She serves on several boards for non-profit groups and previously worked
with non-profit agencies, particularly the Guadalupe Center Inc. and Guadalupe
Education System School Board that serve the Latina/o community of Kansas City. As a scholar, she has direct contact on a
regular basis with the urban populations of Latina/os in the Midwest.
Muchas felicidades Theresa!
In Other News
NACCS Midwest Focus: Latin@s in the
Midwest: Past, Present, and Future in Kansas City
Keynote Presenters:
Dr.
Alberto Pulido: "Everything Comes From the
Streets" Documentary on Lowrider Culture
Dr. Rogelio
Saenz: "Demographics: Latinos
in the Midwest"
Dr.
Rusty Barceló: "Navigating Our Midwest Latina/o
Journey in Higher Education: Challenges and Opportunities for the
Future"
Latina/Latino Studies Program at UMKC
The
mission of Latina/Latino Studies (LLS), a program based in the College of Arts and Sciences, is to function as a
vehicle for interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary teaching, research and
outreach focusing on Latinas/os-Chicanas/os in the U.S. The LLS program will
provide an awareness and understanding of the wide diversity of Latino
communities, cultures and backgrounds. The development and expansion of our
curricula will serve to empower our students with the concepts and skills to
better understand a rapidly growing Latina/o population. The LLS program will
engage students, scholars and the greater Kansas City community in
collaborative projects, programs and service learning efforts. These efforts
will foster new curricula and advance research and outreach scholarship to
create new knowledge to better understand the cultural, economic, and
historical experiences and contributions of U.S. Latinas/os-Chicanas/os and
their diasporic origins.
With
a full house on September 12, 2014 at The Writers Place Juanita Salazar Lamb and I had a poetry and narrative
presentation. What a delightful evening
and gracias a nuestra Arkansan Chicana for being part or the Riverfront Reading Series. Here are a couple of photos of the
event.
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| Juanita Salazar Lamb at The Writers Place in Kansas City, MO |
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| Xanath Caraza at The Writers Place in Kansas City, MO |
Finally,
on September 15 Sílabas de
viento/Syllables of Wind (Mammoth Publications, 2014) was
released. Thank you to Park University’s Ethnic Vocies Poetry Series, Woodneath Library and New Letters on the Air, hosted by Angela Elam, for hosting this event. Great evening
and audience. Lastly, my upcoming appearances in September
will be starting today at Carver Dual Language Elementary School, where I will
share some poesía y cuento as part of their month long celebration of Hispanic
Heritage Month. Next, I will
participate in the reading at the Raven Bookstore on September 25 as part of the Big Tent Reading Series. Then on September 30 at the
University of Kansas I will have another poetry reading as part of Hispanic Heritage Month. The Raven Bookstore and KU events will be in Lawrence, KS. Viva la
poesía!
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| Xanath Caraza and Angela Elam, Ethinic Voices Poetry Series and New Letters on the Air |
2 comments:
Congrats Theresa Torres for the Award recognizing your good work.
Felicidades Dra Torres! So many lovely academic and creative recognitions and events going on in Kansas City, Missouri!
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