PUERTO RICO HERALD: UM TO HOST GROUNDBREAKING CONFERENCE ON PUERTO RICAN ISSUES

CORAL GABLES, FL – Changing dynamics in Puerto Rican identity and migration in the context of major events like Vieques, lead the list of topics to be explored at The Puerto Rican Vacilón, a conference on current debates in Puerto Rican culture and politics sponsored by the University of Miami’s Center for Latin American Studies in conjunction with the Puerto Rican Professional Association of South Florida and Miami-based Puerto Rican filmmaker and writer Frances Negrón-Muntaner.

CORAL GABLES, FL — Los cambios en la dinámica en la identidad y la emigración puertorriqueña dentro del contexto de acontecimientos importantes como Vieques, encabezan la lista de temas a investigar en The Puerto Rican Vacilón, una conferencia sobre debates de actualidad en la cultura y la política de Puerto Rico patrocinados por el Centro de Estudios Latinoamericanos de la Universidad de Miami conjuntamente con la Asociación Profesional Puertorriqueña del cineasta y escritor puertorriqueño Frances Negrón-Muntaner, con sede en el Sur de Florida y Miami.

The first-of-its-kind conference will be held April 18-20 at the UM School of Business Administration’s Storer Auditorium, located at 5250 University Drive, on the Coral Gables campus, with a meet-and-greet reception at 8 p.m. April 18 at the Holiday Inn, 1350 South Dixie Highway, across from UM’s Coral Gables campus.

"Puerto Ricans are now the second largest Hispanic group in Miami-Dade County and the largest in Broward," said PROFESA Board Chairman Raúl Duany. "This unprecedented initiative is a top-notch conference that will undoubtedly raise awareness and foster a positive dialogue on important matters related to both Florida and Puerto Ricans."

The three-day conference will gather prominent Puerto Rican civic and political leaders, as well as leading Puerto Rican studies scholars from all over the world to examine the challenges posed by migration, globalization, nationalism and political status issues.

"The latest U.S. Census numbers confirm the growing importance of the Puerto Rican community in the U.S. and especially in Florida," said Dr. Robert M. Levine, UM professor of history and head of the Center for Latin American Studies. " The presence of Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, Colombians, and many others of Hispanic origin in our community demonstrates the importance of addressing issues of Hispanic culture and reality. The conference will be a forum to address many of the more pressing issues affecting Puerto Ricans."

"This conference invites all participants to ‘think out of the box’ about Puerto Rican experiences in the U.S. as well as the complexity of today’s Puerto Rico and Florida," adds Frances Negrón-Muntaner. "I guarantee that no one will leave this conference with their previous assumptions intact. That is why the conference’s is a ‘vacilón,’ a word that alludes to the Puerto Rican way of enjoying life, the political ambiguity that has been part of our history, and the possibility of shifting positions."

Among the participating scholars are Héctor Cordero-Guzman, The New School; Jaime Benson, University of Puerto Rico; Christina Burnett, Princeton University; Félix Jiménez, El Nuevo Dia; Carlos Pabón, University of Puerto Rico; Agustín Lao-Montes, University of Massachusetts; Efrén Rivera Ramos, University of Puerto Rico; and José Quiroga, George Washington University.

Frances Negrón-Muntaner, who originated the idea for Vacilón, is an award-winning filmmaker, writer, journalist, and cultural critic. Her films include AIDS in the Barrio, and Brincando el Charco: Portrait of a Puerto Rican. She is the co-editor of the anthology Puerto Rican Jam and her latest book, Passing Memories: Puerto Ricans and American Culture, will be published this year by New York University Press. An irreverent columnist, her work appears in The San Juan Star and The Puerto Rico Herald (on-line, www.puertorico-herald.org).

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

UM TO HOST GROUNDBREAKING CONFERENCE ON PUERTO RICAN ISSUES

March 29, 2002