Colorado State and University of Colorado-Boulder Co-Sponsor Conference Examining Multicultural Diversity in Film

The universities in Boulder and Fort Collins finally have found a topic of agreement and the collaboration will serve both communities well.

The Center for Applied Studies in American Ethnicity at Colorado State University and the Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder are co-sponsors of the conference "Beyond the Image; Crossing Cultures Through Film." The conference, under discussion for almost two years, will be conducted from 10 a.m.-5:15 p.m. on March 17 in the Lory Student Center on the Colorado State campus. It is free and open to the public.

Nine professors from each campus will be presenting papers on teaching diversity issues through film and video in the classroom. The presenters come from various academic backgrounds including ethnic studies, women’s studies, American studies, political science, speech communications, English and social work. Rosa Linda Fregoso, the director of women and gender Studies at the University of California-Davis and a nationally recognized scholar in Chicana cinema, will deliver the keynote speech on Latina cultural and political representation.

Clips from such recent popular films as Wayne Wang’s "Eat a Bowl of Tea "and "Chan is Missing," Mira Nair’s "Mississippi Masala" as well as several blaxploitation films from the 1970s will be used to illustrate important multicultural issues. Local independent filmmakers David Foxhoven and Irene Rawlings will present a media workshop and include a clip from their film "The Amache Project."

For more information, contact the CASAE office at (970) 491-2418.