Local Event with Rethinking Schools! Rethinking the Lines Between Us: Multicultural Education and Social Justice

We are so excited for next week’s evening session with Rethinking Schools! Join the LAII for a participatory evening event in which Rethinking Schools editors Wayne Au, Bill Bigelow, and Linda Christensen will demonstrate ways that they engage students in critical, multicultural education for social justice. They will explore the implications of this kind of teaching in the era of the Common Core standards and tests. 

Advertisement

Local Event! The Construction of Racial Politics in Education

We are very excited to announce our last presentation in the Fall 2014 LAII Lecture Series which will focus on education. Dr. Nancy López and Dr. Ricky Lee Allen will offer a joint presentation which collectively considers the construction of racial politics in education. López, an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology, will address this through a presentation titled “Interrogating Inequality? The Politics of Mapping and Interrupting Intersecting Race, Gender and Class Inequalities in U.S. Schools.” Dr. Allen, an Associate Professor in the Department of Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies, will address this through a presentation titled “Whiteness, Race, and the ‘Good’ School.” The presentation will take place on Wednesday, November 19, 2014, from 4:00-6:00 p.m. in the UNM Student Union Building (SUB), Santa Ana B. For reference, see the event flyer.  See below for more detailed information about the event.

Please share with anyone who may be interested! We hope to see you there!!

¡Mira, Look!: Barrilete: a Kite for the Day of the Dead/Un barrilete para el Día de los Muertos

Here in Albuquerque we are gearing up for one of our favorite local traditions, the 22nd Annual South Valley Dia De Los Muertos Marigold Parade and Celebration. The parade is a special celebration in which different groups within the community come together to honor those who have passed away. With this in mind, this week’s featured book is about a local tradition specific to a small village in Guatemala that takes place on Día de Los Muertos.

Local Event!! Día de los Muertos: Sugar Skulls

The UNM Latin American & Iberian Institute (LAII) is pleased to announce our next free professional development workshop!

Join us for our last workshop in the series as we explore the history of Día de los Muertos and review hands-on techniques for creating sugar skulls (alfeñiques) in the classroom.  In the workshop we will discuss ways to meet Common Core reading and writing standards while exploring this meaningful celebration with students, and participants will have the opportunity to decorate their own sugar skulls to take home. Participants will be provided with certificates of professional development and copies of relevant curriculum materials.

Local Event!! Día de los Muertos: Contemporary Adaptations

The UNM Latin American & Iberian Institute (LAII) is pleased to announce our next free professional development workshop!

Join us for our next workshop in the series as we briefly explore the history of Día de los Muertos before delving into a discussion of how contemporary communities (including Albuquerque) have adapted the holiday. This special presentation will be offered by Rusita Ávila, a community organizer and activist who for many years has served as co-director of the annual South Valley Día de los Muertos y Marigold Parade. We will end the workshop by sharing how to meet Common Core reading and writing standards while exploring this meaningful celebration in the classroom. Participants will be provided with certificates of professional development and copies of relevant curriculum materials.

Local Event!! Día de los Muertos: Papel Picado

The UNM Latin American & Iberian Institute (LAII) and the National Hispanic Cultural Center (NHCC) are pleased to announce our next free professional development workshop.

Join us for our fourth workshop of the series.  We will begin with a private tour of the National Hispanic Cultural Center’s stunning exhibit of papel picado artwork; then meet with artists Chris and Mary C. Baca, who will explore the history of papel picado and demonstrate multiple, hands-on techniques for creating it in the classroom; as we conclude, participants will have the opportunity to create their own papel picado to take home.

Local Event!! Día de los Muertos: Cultural and Historical Roots

The UNM Latin American & Iberian Institute (LAII) is pleased to announce our next free professional development workshop!

Join us for our next workshop in the series as we explore the history of Día de los Muertos by hearing a special presentation with local community organizer and activist Rusita Ávila, who for many years has served as co-director of the annual South Valley Día de los Muertos y Marigold Parade. After the lecture, LAII staff will discuss ways to meet Common Core reading and writing standards while exploring this meaningful celebration in the classroom. Participants will be provided with certificates of professional development and copies of relevant curriculum materials.

Local Event!! Día de los Muertos: Altars and Shrines

For all of our local New Mexico Readers:

The UNM Latin American & Iberian Institute (LAII) and the National Hispanic Cultural Center (NHCC) are pleased to announce this free professional development workshop.

Our Next Good Read. . .La Línea

Thank you so much to the wonderful group of teachers who joined us for book group last night! Talking with you all is always one of my favorite parts of the month!

We hope to see you all for our next meeting on October 6th at Bookworks from 5:00-7:00 pm to discuss October’s featured novel (if we’re not at Bookworks, check next door at Flying Star, we often end up there for coffee and snacks).  

We are reading La Línea (Age 10 and Up) by Ann Jaramillo.

Here’s a sneak peek into the book: (from Goodreads)

Miguel’s life is just beginning. Or so he thinks. Fifteen-year-old Miguel leaves his rancho deep in Mexico to migrate to California across la linea, the border, in a debut novel of life-changing, cliff-hanging moments.

But Miguel’s carefully laid plans change suddenly when his younger sister Elena stows away and follows him. Together, Miguel and Elena endure hardships and danger on their journey of desperation and desire, loyalty and betrayal. An epilogue, set ten years after the events of the story, shows that you can’t always count on dreams–even the ones that come true.

Local Event!! Día de los Muertos: The Significance of Death in Mexican Culture

For all of our local New Mexico Readers:

We are very excited to announce our first in a series of six free workshops on teaching about about Día de los Muertos.

In this workshop, “Día de los Muertos: The Significance of Death in Mexican Culture,” we will explore the history of Día de los Muertos; tour the intriguing exhibit on “Skulls and Sickles” on display at the UNM Zimmerman Library (which considers the visual rhetoric of death in Mexican art); hear a special lecture on the topic from Dr. Suzanne Schadl, curator and coordinator of UNM’s Latin American library collections; and discuss ways to meet Common Core reading and writing standards while exploring this meaningful celebration.