Goucher College will celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, held from September 15 through October 15, with a series of arts presentations, discussions, and social events.
Hispanic Heritage Month recognizes the contributions of Hispanic Americans to the United States and celebrates Hispanic heritage and culture. The observation started in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week. September 15 was chosen as the starting point for the celebration because it is the anniversary of independence for five Latin-American countries — Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico declared its independence on September 16, and Chile on September 18.
Opening Ceremony
Wednesday, September 16
6 p.m.
Geen Community Center
Goucher will kick off Hispanic Heritage Month with a dessert reception hosted by the Department of Hispanic Languages, Literatures, and Cultures. President Dr. José Bowen will also be attending and leading a jam session.
Art Reception for Mexican Artist Dulce Pinzon
Friday, September 18
6 p.m.
Rosenberg Gallery, Kraushaar Auditorium
Dulce Pinzón is presenting a solo photography exhibit in Goucher’s Rosenberg Gallery. Superheroes: The Real Story consists of 20 color photographs of Mexican immigrants dressed in the costumes of popular U.S. and Mexican superheroes. Each photo is accompanied by a short text including the worker’s name, his or her hometown, and the amount of money he or she sends home each week. T
Movie Presentation: Ocho Apellidos Vascos
Tuesday, September 22
7 p.m.
Welsh Hall 128
In this 2014 Spanish comedy, Rafa has never left his native Seville, until he meets a Basque girl named Amaia, who resists his seduction. Against his friends’ advice, he follows her to the Basque Country after she stays the night in his house and forgets her purse. A series of misunderstandings forces Rafa to impersonate a full-blooded Basque with eight surnames, and he gets more and more entangled in the ruse. The movie will be presented by professors Jeanie Murphy and Maite Gomis-Quinto.
Dr. Monica Lopez-Gonzalez: Being a Hispanic Art-Science Entrepreneur
Thursday, October 1
10 a.m.
Julia Rogers 277
From business to technology, science to politics, environment to art, three buzzwords seem to dominate everyday discourse: creativity, innovation, and interdisciplinarity. As co-founder and artistic director of La Petite Noiseuse Productions, Dr. Lopez-Gonzalez will speak about her experience as a Hispanic entrepreneur at the forefront of art and science integration and
how she uses her education, training, and skills in both the arts and the sciences to create bilingual works and new forms of scientific data. She will provide examples from photography, film, theatre, and cognitive science. This talk is sponsored by the Lillian Welsh Lectureship Fund.
Hispanic Dinner Night
Sunday, October 4
5 p.m.
Stimson Dinning Hall
Join President José Antonio Bowen and other members of the Goucher community in a delicious, Hispanic-inspired dinner at Stimson Dining Hall, featuring food from a variety of Spanish-speaking countries.
Musical: Los Valientes
Wednesday, October 7
7 p.m.
Hyman Forum, the Sanford J. Ungar Athenaeum
This chamber music theatre production explores Diego Rivera’s artistic and political passions, Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero’s unwavering commitment to human rights, and the pursuit of social justice by Mexican-American desperado Joaquin Murrieta (a.k.a., Zorro). Music for this show features songs and concert music by a wide range of Latin-American composers, including Astor Piazzolla and Osvaldo Golijov.
This event is sponsored by the Elizabeth B. and David Allan Robertson Lectureship and the Department of Hispanic Languages, Literatures, and Cultures.
Baba John Mason’s African Spirits of Cuba
Tuesday, October 13
7 p.m.
Hyman Forum, the Sanford J. Ungar Athenaeum
This musical trip to Cuba highlights the special people and places that became dear to John Mason over the last three decades in his work there as a world-renown Òrìsà priest, historian, ethnographer, and musician. The program comprises musical compositions and lyrics by Mason, with arrangements by Gregory Maker. Goucher President José Antonio Bowen, a concert and jazz pianist, will be a special soloist during this celebration of the patroness of Cuba, La Caridad del Cobre.
This event is sponsored by the following Goucher departments and programs: Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; Hispanic Languages, Literatures, and Cultures; Music; Africana Studies; Creative Writing; History; English; Peace Studies; and Business Management, as well as the Center for Race, Equity, and Identity; the offices of the President and the Dean of Students; and the Educational Opportunity Program.
All of the Hispanic Heritage Month events are sponsored by the Elizabeth B. and David Allan Robertson Lectureship; the Department of Hispanic Languages, Literatures, and Cultures; the offices of the President and Residential Life; the Futuro Latino Learning Center; and the Language House.