Center for the Study of the Peoples of the Americas

  • Banner

Center for the Study of the Peoples of the Americas

Just Published!


The Center for the Study of the Peoples of the Americas is pleased to announce the release of its latest publications with Casa de las Américas. Please click the images above to access.

Mission

The Center for the Study of the Peoples of the Americas (CESPA) is devoted to the principle that education is the basis for solutions to societal tensions. To this end a primary concern of the Center is the issues stemming from the lived experiences of our students. The purpose of (CESPA) is to promote interest in and knowledge of peoples descendent of Latin American communities, whether of Latino/a, Asian, European, African or indigenous origins, within the US and south of the border through service learning, student and faculty research. CESPA also promotes faculty and public intellectual workshops, symposia, conferences, and lectures. Multimedia forums are utilized to distribute Center programs and research.

The peoples of the Americas have their roots in African, European, Asian, and indigenous cultures. The Center for the Study of the Peoples of the Americas (CESPA), is committed to a deeper understanding of the creation and movements across borders, and the development of border cultures, identities and economies. A primary concern is the lived experiences of our students. The California State University system has among the largest concentration of students of Mexican and Central American extraction of any four-year university system in the country, as well as substantial populations of Asian American and African American students.

To this end CESPA will bring together a group of scholars, researchers, and creative artists from a wide range of disciplines to more effectively provide accessible information to all students and communities about the experiences and the cultures of the more than 50 million Americans of Latin-American extraction and the more than 600 million people living to the south of the United States.

 

Upcoming Events:

500 Years of Nicaraguan LGBT History: A Book Talk by Dr. Victoria González-Rivera

Wednesday, November 15, 2023 - 11:00am to 12:15pm

Event Flyer

Dr. Victoria González-Rivera is Associate Professor of Chicana/o Studies at San Diego State University. Professor González-Rivera is the first woman of Nicaraguan ancestry to obtain a Ph.D. in Latin American History from a U.S. university and is a pioneer in the fields of Nicaraguan women’s and LGBTQ+ history. Her publications include Radical Women in Latin America: Left and Right (2001) and Before the Revolution: Women’s Rights and Right-Wing Politics in Nicaragua, 1821-1979 (2011), among others.

Read more

Maya Geometry and Textiles: A Talk by Aurora Nohemí Chaj Haz

Monday, October 30, 2023 - 11:00am to 12:15pm

Event Flyer

Aurora Nohemí Chaj Haz is a Maya-K’iche’ architect, who graduated from the University of San Carlos, Guatemala. She is a professor of Maya arts as well as a composer/performer and self-taught producer of experimental music. In her talk at CSUN, Chaj Haz will examine the ways in which Maya textiles are filled with geometric calculations and symbols as well as discuss the relationship that textiles have with Maya philosophies, rhythm, sound, and architecture.

Read more

Pages