News & Events
Recent Events
The Institute for Ethnic Studies hosted Dr. Victor Macías González on August 26 and 27 for two talks. Dr. Macías González, a Professor of History at University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse, spoke about his work with the Eagle Mentoring Program, which he directs, as well as his research on homosexuality in Mexican-American Chicago and Los Angeles during the 1920s-1950s.
On September 16 the Institute hosted the latest in our research roundtable series. Faculty member Dawne Curry and English graduate students Jason Hertz, and Lydia Presley spoke at length about their research.
The Institute co-sponsored a roundtable discussion on September 16 with artists Emory Douglas, Billy X Jennings, Suzun Lucia Lamaina, & Justin Kemmerling on the role of visual communications in social justice movements. Patrick Jones moderated the event.
On September 29 Institute for Ethnic Studies faculty members Kwakiutl L. Dreher and Greg Rutledge, along with affiliates Kwame Dawes (English) and Michael Combs (Political Science) spoke about the Black Lives Matter Movement in an event sponsored by African American and African Studies. Jeannette Jones moderated the forum. Over 200 people were in attendance.
Upcoming Events
All our events are free and open to the public.
On October 14, the Institute for Ethnic Studies will present the colloquium, “How Did You Become a Professor? Four Nebraska Faculty Members Tell Their Stories.” Presenting will be IES faculty members Jennine Capó Crucet, Dawne Curry, Greg Rutledge, and Sergio Wals. The event will be held in the Unity Room, Gaughan Center from 3:30-5:00 p.m.
On October 26, Jane Rhodes, a historian of mass media, Professor of African-American Studies, and Chair of the Department of African American Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago, will deliver a talk “Visualizing Black Power: The Cultural Politics of a Social Movement.” This event, co-sponsored by the Institute for Ethnic Studies, the Department of History, and the Sheldon Museum, will be held at 5:30 p.m. at the Sheldon Museum of Art.
On October 28, Alice Kang will deliver a talk “Muslim Women’s Activism and Legislative Reform in Niger,” at the City Campus Union, Colonial Room from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. This event is the second talk in the Women’s and Gender Studies Fall Colloquium, “Teaching and Social Justice,” and is sponsored by the Women’s & Gender Studies Program and co-sponsored by the Institute for Ethnic Studies.
On October 29, Zakiyyah Iman Jackson, Assistant Professor of English, George Mason University, will deliver a talk "The Blackness of Space Between Matter and Meaning." from 5:30 to 7:00 pm at the Sheldon Museum of Art. This event, co-sponsored by the Institute for Ethnic Studies, is part of the Humanities on the Edge Speaker Series.
On November 18, the Institute will present another research roundtable featuring faculty members Cynthia Willis-Esqueda, Sergio Wals, James Garza, and History Ph.D. student & Ethnic Studies graduate specializer Malgroubi Harrouna.
Recent Faculty Accomplishments & Awards
Recent Faculty Accomplishments and Awards
The Institute for Ethnic Studies is proud to welcome our newest faculty member, Jennine Capó Crucet (ENGL/ETHN). Professor Crucet's newest book, the novel Make Your Home Among Strangers, was just published in August. This fall, she'll be presenting as a Featured Author at the Texas Book Festival, the Decatur Book Festival, the Pygmalion Lit Festival, and the Miami Book Fair International. She recently published a piece in the New York Times about her experiences as a first-generation college student.
Joy Castro (ENGL/ETHN) taught creative writing workshops at the Kachemak Bay Writers' Conference in Homer, Alaska in June and at the A Room of Her Own writing retreat in Abiquiu, New Mexico in August. Her new collection of short fiction How Winter Began (U of Nebraska), named by Publishers Weekly a Big Indie Book of Fall 2015, will be published on October 1.
James A. Garza (HIST/ETHN) will be leading a public discussion of the first episode of the documentary series "Latino Americans: 500 Years of History.” This event will take place on October 13 at the Midwest Theater in Scottsbluff, NE at 7:00 p.m.
Lory Janelle Dance (SOC/ETHN) (aka Tomni) was a guest lecturer at the Graduate School of Education at Gothenburg University in Sweden on May 28, 2015. The title of her lecture was "Difference and Deviance and Threat, Oh My!: Social Death and Media Discourses about Marginalized Youths in Sweden and the U.S." On June 11, 2015, Dance was a key panelist at a Town Hall Meeting "Improving Police and Law Enforcement Relations with the Community," which took place in Buffalo, New York at the 27th Annual Meeting of the National Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts. Dance is currently working with other Ethnic Studies colleagues on establishing a new diversity certificate program for Nebraska undergraduates called the "Be The Change" initiative.
Alice Kang (POLS/ETHN) recently published her book, Bargaining for Women's Rights: Activism in an Aspiring Muslim Democracy, with the University of Minnesota Press. She received an ENHANCE CAS grant in support of the book. Kang also co-delivered a presentation at the American Political Science Association meeting entitled "Diversity on High Courts: International Influences on Women's Appointments" in San Francisco in September.
Have news or noteworthy happenings to share?
The Institute for Ethnic Studies encourages our faculty to submit stories about their activities and publications of note by emailing James Garza at jgarza2@unl.edu.