NWWS Panel “Crossing Borders: What It Means in the Life of a Child,” with keynote author Reyna Grande

NWWS Panel “Crossing Borders: What It Means in the Life of a Child,” with keynote author Reyna Grande

the-distance-between-usBrowsing Room Knight Library 1501 Kincaid St. Eugene, OR  97403 UO campus

Full Schedule: 2016 CSWS Northwest Women Writers Symposium

“Crossing Borders: What It Means in the Life of a Child,” with keynote author Reyna Grande, Browsing Room, Knight Library.

This panel will focus on Reyna Grande’s memoir The Distance Between Us, featuring Reyna Grande reading sections from her work, with comments by community educators and University of Oregon faculty.

In The Distance Between Us, Grande tells the story of a childhood spent torn between two parents and two countries, a vivid accounting of her life before and after her undocumented border crossing as a young child from Mexico to the United States. A National Book Circle Critics Award finalist, this book was hailed by Los Angeles Times reviewer Hector Tobar as “the Angela’s Ashes of the modern Mexican immigrant experience.” This book is inspirational, the story is unforgettable, and the content opens a door to discussing challenges and obstacles faced by educators, parents, children, social workers, and all those who care about equality and opportunity in our educational system.

Panelists include:

    • Reyna Grande: keynote author
    • Gustavo Balderas, Superintendent, Eugene School District 4J
    • Lidiana Soto, UO graduate and recent Migrant Education Program worker
    • Carmen X Urbina, Program Development and Outreach Coordinator, Educational Methodology, Policy, and Leadership Program, UO College of Education; Administrator on Special Assignment, Eugene School District 4J
    • Kristin Yarris, a migration scholar and Assistant Professor in the UO Department of International Studies
    • Moderator: Lynn Stephen, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and Ethnic Studies at the University of Oregon and co-director of the Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies (CLLAS).

Reception, May 6, 2:30 – 3:30 Browsing Room, Knight Library

Hosted by the Center for the Study of Women in Society at the University of Oregon in cooperation with Eugene Pubic Library, this symposium is generously cosponsored by Oregon Humanities Center’s Endowment for Public Outreach in the Arts, Sciences, and Humanities; UO Libraries; Center for Latino/a and Latin American Studies; Department of Women’s and Gender Studies; Department of English; School of Journalism and Communication; School of Music and Dance; and the University Health Center.