Pages 15-16: Hispanic Studies

UCF shows its commitment to teaching and learning about the Hispanic and Latino culture, both here and abroad

Hispanics and Latinos are the fastest growing population in the United States, but many people fail to understand the complexity of this demographic shift. The Hispanic/Latino population is not a uniform block of people who all think and feel the same. Instead, it comprises diverse groups—unique in language, ethnicity, culture, and traditions. Add to that, second- and third-generation Hispanic-Americans, and the population assumes an even greater complexity.

Central Florida is a microcosm of America’s Hispanic diversity. It is a region in flux, demographically as well as culturally. The Hispanic experience, here, is also markedly different from that of any other U.S. setting in terms of its social and national origin composition.

Recognizing the opportunities to study the diversity inherent to the region, the university has dramatically reinvigorated its Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies program. This year, the program’s focus expanded to include Latino Studies, and Luis Martínez-Fernández—a renowned scholar of Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Dominican Republic history—was brought in to direct the renewed program.

Martínez-Fernández has infused Central Florida with new enthusiasm about Latin America, Latinos, and their history and culture. With Martínez-Fernández’s help the program has established close working relations with the local History Center, El Nuevo Día news agency, the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Office, the Greater Orlando Chamber of Commerce, and several local Latin American consulates.

The program’s new direction includes a strong emphasis on community education and involvement, which it demonstrates through frequent newspaper and television communications, as well as by hosting numerous public events, such as October’s forum on Latino politics in the 2004 elections, and a special presentation by Sylvia Méndez, on whose behalf a lawsuit was filed that led to the desegregation of California schools in 1947.

This spring, the program is presenting a film series featuring three Caribbean documentaries. The highlight of the series is the U.S. premiere of UCF Professor Gladstone Yearwood’s film, Chattel House, a riveting account of grassroots architectural style in Barbados as interpreted by local Barbadians. The film features—and is named for—the country’s distinctive cottage-style house, which was developed during the era of slavery.

The second film in the series, The Agronomist by director Jonathan Demme, is a stunning account of Jean Dominique, the Haitian agronomist who bought a radio station in the early 1960s and became a leading voice of the popular democratic movement in Haiti. The film also boasts an original soundtrack by famed Haitian musician Wyclef John. The last in the series is Life and Debt by director Stephanie Black. Using voice-over narration adapted, in part, from the work of Caribbean writer Jamaica Kincaid, Life and Debt shares the stories of individual Jamaicans whose day-to-day lives are shaped by foreign economic agendas.

On May 19, on the eve of the day celebrated as the anniversary of Cuba’s independence, the program is sponsoring a special event at the Orange County History Center, including a lecture on Cuban history and geography, Cuba-inspired poetry readings, and an exhibition of Cuban historical artifacts and rare books.

Next fall, the program will host lectures by four distinguished scholars of Puerto Rican history. These lectures will be held downtown, in the heart of Orlando, in order to better address students and the community, alike.

These are just a few of the special events the Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies program sponsors. The variety of the events reflects Martínez-Fernández’s commitment to the study and recognition Latin Americans, Caribbeans, and Latinos from diverse national origins.

How has Central Florida, whose population is nearly 20% Hispanic and Latino, reacted to the new, enthusiastic Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies program? According to George Rodon, director of Government Economic Development and Tourism for Orange County, “UCF continues to be the Partnership University when it comes to linking the community with academia” and Jacob Stuart, president of the Orlando Regional Chamber of Commerce, said “exploration and discovery are two of our core values at the Chamber of Commerce and for the Central Florida region. The Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies Program bears evidence of these values by expanding and enhancing our understanding of the growing strength and importance of the Hispanic Community.”

In less than a year, UCF’s Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies program has made an enormous impact on Central Florida. In the years-to-come, the program will continue to expand and reach-out to the various segments of the community. Director Martínez-Fernández also envisions the program becoming a valuable intellectual resource for private companies, government entities, community groups, and scholars seeking survey data, demographic information, or other forms of research on Hispanic and Latino’s society, culture, history and politics.

Want to know more?
Program website: www.cas.ucf.edu/lacls
Luis Martínez-Fernández, martfern@mail.ucf.edu

Professor Luis Martínez-Fernández
Professor Luis Martínez-Fernández, director of the Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies program, is a scholar of Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Dominican Republic history. He joined UCF in the fall of 2004 from Rutgers University where he chaired the Puerto Rican and Hispanic Caribbean Studies Department. Martínez-Fernández has written extensively on the Caribbean. His most acclaimed book is Fighting Slavery in the Caribbean, and his most recent work is the two-volume Encyclopedia of Cuba.

Monument To Lost Data

Have you ever accidentally deleted an important document? Or maybe you are one of thousands of people each year whose hard drive crashes, deleting years of precious data. Assistant Professor of English Barry Mauer and his student, Cynthia Zamminer, are studying the effects of this kind of loss—the mourning associated with lost data.

Mauer and Zamminer are learning about how individuals and society cope with data and memory loss. Corporate data loss costs over $11 billion each year, and there are other profound effects of this loss. Without access to our data, we lose our history and our ability to function in the present. Do people mourn the loss of their computer files, like they mourn other tragedies? According to Mauer and Zamminer, some people do. As part of their research, they contacted data recovery companies (computer repair companies that attempt to salvage data files from broken hard drives). In addition to technicians, these companies also employ therapists. Their job is to help people cope with their loss, should the company fail to recover the data from the damaged drive. Ultimately, Mauer will develop a monument to lost data. The monument will be located at a major national archive, and will have an online component that people who have suffered a data loss can use to connect with others and tell their data-loss stories.

Want to know more?
Barry Mauer, bmauer@ucf.edu

QUEST 2005

DATE
Spring 2005

CONTACT
Sae Schatz
Arts & Sciences
Academic Promotions
407-823-5164
sae@cs.ucf.edu

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