FOR RELEASE: Thursday, September 13, 2007

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month at the University of Arkansas

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The University of Arkansas and the Hispanic Heritage Month Committee announce the 2007 Hispanic Heritage Month schedule of events on the university campus. Combining academic lectures, distinguished speakers and cultural events, Hispanic Heritage Month is an exciting opportunity to create greater awareness of the heritage and contemporary achievement of Hispanic and Latino cultures.

This year's celebration is titled "Hispanic Americans: Our Rich Culture Contributing to America's Future." The celebration is a wonderful opportunity for students, faculty, staff and community members to be exposed to an array of Latino cultures that make up the Hispanic-Latino umbrella.

Hispanic Heritage Month begins Saturday, Sept. 15, the anniversary of independence for five Latin American countries - Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, which declared independence from Spain in 1821. Mexico had earlier declared its independence on Sept. 16, 1810, and Chile on Sept. 18, 1810.

Today, more than 40 million people of Hispanic and Latino ancestry reside in the United States, making them the largest ethnic minority in the country and the fifth-largest population among the 19 Spanish-speaking countries of the world. According to the 2000 census, 67 percent of the Hispanic and Latino population of the United States trace their origins to Mexico, 14 percent to Central and South America, 9 percent to Puerto Rico, 4 percent to Cuba, and 7 percent to other Hispanic origins.

Friday Night Live "Latin Soul" will kick off the celebration at 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 21, in the Arkansas Union. Friday Night Live is an initiative by the Division of Student Affairs to create fun and entertaining late night programs for UA students. FNL provides a setting in which students, faculty, staff and community members can be "edutained" in a stress-free environment. Each FNL provides a variety of activities, games, contests and memorabilia.

The following is a schedule of events for the Hispanic Heritage Month celebration:

Friday, Sept. 14
Paintings Display by Juan Torres-Zavala
11 a.m. - Multicultural Center
Sponsored by the HHM Committee and the Multicultural Center

Monday, Sept. 17
Free Citizenship Legal Clinic
6 - 8 p.m.
Jones Center for Families (Springdale) Room 226
For: Legal Permanent Residents with questions about citizenship application
Sponsored by the HWOA

Wednesday, Sept. 19
Free Citizenship Legal Clinic
10 a.m. - noon
Fayetteville Public Library
For: Legal Permanent Residents with questions about citizenship application
Sponsored by the HWOA

Making Payments to Non-Residents ... the Who, What, When and How
1 - 2:30 p.m.
Arkansas Union 507-508
Sponsored by HHM Committee and U of A Human Resources.

Free Citizenship Legal Clinic
6 - 8 p.m.
NWACC Shwemaker Technology Center
For: Legal Permanent Residents with questions about citizenship application
Sponsored by the HWOA

Thursday, Sept. 20
Panel Discussion: Media Coverage of the 1957 Little Rock Central High Desegregation Crisis
12:30 - 1:50 p.m.
Kimpel Hall 102
Sponsored by the Department of Journalism
Department of Journalism will present a panel discussion on "Media and Memory: News Coverage of the 1957 Little Rock Central High Desegregation Crisis." Panel members will include Professors Hoyt Purvis, who has written extensively on television and newspapers reports of the events, and Gerald Jordan, who is an expert on African American newspapers in the United States.

Latin American Studies and Foreign Language Film Series
El Laberinto del Fauno/Pan's Labyrinth
5 - 7 p.m.
310 Kimpel Hall
Sponsored by Latin American Studies and HHM Committee

Friday, Sept. 21
Friday Night Live - Latin Soul
8 p.m. - 1 a.m.
Arkansas Union
Sponsored by FNL and HHM Committee

Monday, Sept. 24
Plaza de las Americas
Free food, music, and information about Latin America!
11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Connections Lounge
Sponsored by the UA Hispanic Heritage Month Committee

Engineering EXPO
Noon - 4 p.m.
Bell Engineering
Sponsored by the UA Career Center

Wednesday, Sept. 26
"The Saving Grace of Stories" - An Evening with Sandra Benítez
7 p.m.
Arkansas Union Theater
Sponsored by Latin American Studies and the UA Hispanic Heritage Month Committee

Friday, Sept. 21
Friday Night Live - Hogs United
8 p.m. - 1 a.m.
Arkansas Union
Sponsored by FNL, ISS and International Student Organization

Wednesday, Oct. 3
Wind Symphony Concert
7:30 p.m.
Walton Arts Center
Sponsored by the Music Department
Admission will be $10 for the general public, $5 for senior citizens and $1 for students.  Tickets will be available at the door prior to the event.

Thursday, Oct. 4
Hispanic Heritage Month Brown-Bag Lecture Series
"Sports in Spain and Spain in Sports"
12:30 - 1:30 p.m.
Multicultural Center
Sponsored by Latin American Studies and the UA Hispanic Heritage Month Committee

Friday, Oct. 5
Guest Artist Concert
Ken Eshelman Tuba Concert, with In-Ja Eshelman, piano, and UA Faculty Jazz Combo
7:30 p.m.
Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall, Fine Arts Center
Sponsored by the Music Department
Admission is free.

Saturday, Oct. 6
Hispanic Women's Organization of Arkansas Conference
"Citizenship: Reaching the American Dream"
9 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Northwest Arkansas Convention Center
Sponsored by Hispanic Women's Organization of Arkansas

Wednesday, Oct. 10
Sabor Latino
A Celebration of the Latino Community
2 - 5 p.m.
Multicultural Center
Sponsored by Latinos Unidos

Thursday, Oct. 11
Hispanic Heritage Month Brown-Bag Lecture Series
"The Life of Language in the Theater of Luis Valdéz"
12:30 - 1:30 p.m.
Multicultural Center
Sponsored by Latin American Studies and the UA Hispanic Heritage Month Committee

Annual Student Health and Safety Fair
10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
ARKU Ballroom
Sponsored by the Pat Walker Health Center

Friday, Oct. 12
Dia de la Raza Movie Night
6 p.m.
Giffel's Auditorium - Old Main
Sponsored by the UA Hispanic Heritage Month Committee

Monday, Oct. 15
"Resonance: Echoes Along a Personal Journey"
Michel Rojkind, Rojkind Arquitectos, Mexico City
5:30 - 7 p.m.
Ken Shollmier Lecture Hall
Sponsored by the Department of Architecture
Architecture abhors a vacuum. It never happens in isolation. Designs have always flown: fist from paused listening; and second, from an intense dialogue. A conversation that includes clients, users, the landscape, history and our values and hopes projected into an ever-present future.

Faculty Recital
Benjamin Pierce, Tuba & Euphonium and Lyndon Meyer, Piano Recital.
7:30 p.m.
Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall
The program will feature a variety of original works for the tuba and euphonium.  Several transcriptions will also be featured, including Benjamin Pierce's own arrangement of several of Pablo de Sarasate's Spanish Dances, originally for violin and piano.  Pierce has become known as a prominent low brass solist, and has recently released two solo CDs, Wheels of Life and Cheers.  The concert will also feature music department senior Lyndon Meyer, piano.

Thursday, Oct. 18
Latin American Studies and Foreign Languages Film Series
El Lobo/The Wolf
5 p.m.
310 Kimpel Hall
Sponsored by Latin American Studies and HHM Committee

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Contact:

Scott Flanagin, coordinator of communications and outreach
Division of Student Affairs
(479) 575-67875, sflanagi@uark.edu