Since
October 1994, the Latin American Studies program has sponsored
the "Conference on the Americas" every eighteen months.
The conference series offers a unique opportunity for scholars,
students, and citizens to meet and discuss ideas about Latin Americas
throughout the hemisphere - Latin America, the U.S., and Canada.
It is West Michigan's only Latino-Latin American conference. |
Call
for |
The
8th Conference on the Americas features two keynote speakers:
Dr. David Sánchez Juliao, an expert on popular culture
and media, will come to Grand Rapids from Colombia. Our second
featured speaker, Dr. Emilio A. García-Méndez from
Argentina, will address international law pertaining to youth
and street children. The conference theme, “The Next Generation,”
addresses change and the future for the youth of today. As we
look to the Americas, the next generation will encounter a radically
changed world, and will find themselves at the forefront of interpreting,
guiding, and changing their lived experiences. This conference
addresses the many kinds of changes - past and present –
that create the realities faced by the youth of today and tomorrow.
The next generation is as much about the future as bringing heritage
and history into the present. Change will also be interconnected
between the local and the global, be it political, economic, environmental,
or cultural. The Conference on the Americas brings new insights
and findings together as we open discussions on national, regional
and local development initiatives.
In
addition to featured speakers, the Conference offers sessions,
workshops, exhibits, a film festival, and panels with a range
of participants including academics, teachers, students, artists,
community service providers, and activists. A performance is scheduled
on the Friday night February 4 before the conference. |
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