Julian Samora Legacy Conference dedicated to legendary sociologist

Author: Shannon Roddel

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Graduates of legendary sociologist Julian Samoras Mexican-American Graduate Studies Program at the University of Notre Dame will reunite on campus Thursday to Sunday (Oct. 12 to 15) to pay tribute to their late mentor and participate in theBeyond Borders: Samora Legacy Conference 2006.

Samora, a pioneering scholar of Mexican-American studies, paved the way for Latinos to understand and study themselves at the university and policy-making levels, to understand the complex relationships between Mexicans and Mexican-Americans, to begin the study of Mexican immigration, and to ready theUnited Statesfor the reality of Latinos as the nation’s fastest growing minority.

The first Mexican-American to earn a doctorate in sociology, Samora was a co-founder of the National Council of La Raza and served on the Notre Dame faculty from 1959 until his retirement in 1985.He died in 1996 at age 75.

Hosted by Notre Dames Institute for Latino Studies (ILS), the event is co-sponsored by the Samora Legacy Project, the Notre Dame Alumni Association and theGraduateSchool.It will include keynote speakers and panel discussions with faculty, staff, alumni and students who studied with Samora.

Featured speakers include the following:

  • Rev. Daniel Groody, C.S.C., assistant professor of theology at Notre Dame, will introduce a screening of his film Dying to Live: A Migrants Journey, at 7 p.m. Thursday in the auditorium of theHesburghCenterfor International Studies.
  • Andrew Weigert, professor of sociology at Notre Dame, will deliver a talk titledReflexiones on Julian, la Persona,at2 p.m.Friday in the auditorium of the Eck VisitorsCenter.
  • Joseph Scott, professor emeritus of sociology at theUniversityofWashington, will discuss the Samora/Scott model for ethnic coalition and programming, at4:30 p.m.Friday in theEckCenterauditorium.
  • Jorge Bustamante, Eugene P. and Helen Conley Professor of Sociology at Notre Dame, will discuss Samoras legacy, at6:45 p.m.Friday in the Notre Dame room of theMorrisInnon campus.

A detailed schedule of events is available at http://www.nd.edu/~latino/outreach/samora_schedule.htm .Registration for the conference, which is open to the public, will be held in McKenna Hall.

The Julian Samora Legacy Project , created by colleagues, students, friends and family of Samora, was designed to make a new generation of students, scholars and community leaders aware of his contributions to Latinos in theUnited States.It assembled a consortium of partners to develop, catalogue and distribute material from the Julian Samora Archive at theUniversityofTexas.In addition to the Benson Library atTexas, other consortium partners are the ILS at Notre Dame, the National Council of La Raza, theUniversityofNew Mexico, and the Julian Samora Research Institute atMichiganStateUniversity.

* Contact: * _Carmen Macharaschwili, Institute for Latino Studies, program coordinator, 574-631-3747, cmachara@nd.edu
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