Monday, April 30, 2012 (Bronx, NY) - Eugenio María de Hostos Community College will be well represented at the 2012 bi-annual Conference of the Dominican Studies Association. Ana Isabel García Reyes, the College’s Associate Dean for Community Relations, will be a conference honoree and Hostos President Félix V. Matos Rodríguez will speak at the event.

The CUNY Dominican Studies Institute in collaboration with Naugatuck Valley Community College, Eugenio María de Hostos Community College, CUNY and the Latino Artists Roundtable are inviting guests to what is being called, “Moving Dominican Studies Forward,” taking place on May 3 and 4 at the Playbox Theater, Naugatuck Valley Community College in Waterbury, Connecticut.

This conference will present a multi-disciplinary conversation among Dominican Studies scholars in the United States.

As the Dean for Community Relations for the college and a member of the CUNY Legislative Action Committee, Dean García Reyes maintains ties with institutions and professional organizations as well as city, state, and federal policy makers. For her sustained leadership and active involvement in education she will be honored at the conference.

She is a founding and advisory board member of the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute; executive board member of the Dominican Studies Association; and founder of the NYS Dominican Women in Government.

She received a mayoral appointment to the New York City Youth Board in 1994 and a reappointment in 2004. Dean García Reyes has received awards and citations from the New York City Council, NY City and State Comptrollers, the NY State Assembly, the NY State Senate, the Bronx Borough President’s Office, the State of Rhode Island and Providence House of Representatives, and the U.S. House of Representatives. She has been recognized by the City University of New York, Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo, and Universidad APEC.

In two occasions Dean García Reyes received the highest award conferred to educators by the Minister of Education and the President of the Dominican Republic. In 2004 and 2005, she received “The Salomé Ureña de Henríquez” Award.

She has been selected as one of the 25 most influential women of the Bronx and honored at La Feria del Libro de la Mujer Dominicana. She has published in books/magazines and has participated in numerous conferences and roundtable discussions.

Dean García Reyes received her B.A. degree in Sociology and M.A. degree in Bilingual Education from the City College of the City University of New York. Born in La Romana, Dominican Republic and raised in New York City, she has been involved in community service in New York City for more than 20 years.

On Friday, May 4, President Félix V. Matos Rodríguez will introduce keynote speaker Ms. Alejandra Castillo, National Deputy Director of Minority Business Development Agency, U.S. Department of Commerce, who will talk about Community College Students and Business Opportunities; and Discussant, Dr. María Harper-Marinick, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost of Maricopa Community Colleges.

Alejandra Castillo has recently been appointed to serve as National Deputy Director of the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA). In this role, Ms. Castillo serves as the principal advisor to the MBDA National Director and manages the day-to-day activities of the Agency’s five Regional Offices and 48 Minority Business Centers. As National Deputy Director, Ms. Castillo is also responsible for executing the Agency’s mission to help Minority Business Enterprises grow and succeed through access to capital, contracts, and business opportunities both domestically and abroad. Prior to her appointment with MBDA, Ms. Castillo served as Special Advisor to the Under Secretary for the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITA).

A practicing attorney for several years, Ms. Castillo has worked in the private, government, and non-profit sector. Prior to joining the Obama Administration, Ms. Castillo served as the Interim Executive Director of the Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA) headquartered in Washington D.C. During her tenure at HNBA, she was instrumental in working with the White House, as well as non-profit organizations such as the Latinos for a Fair Judiciary, in support of the nomination and confirmation process for Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

In President Clinton’s Administration Ms. Castillo served as a Senior Policy Analyst to the Deputy Director at the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). A native of New York, Ms. Castillo holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and political science from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Ms. Castillo holds a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the Lyndon Baines Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin, and has a Juris Doctorate degree from American University (AU) - Washington College of Law.

Maria Harper-Marinick is the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost for the Maricopa Community College District in Arizona, comprised of 10 colleges and 2 skills centers that serve over 260,000 students annually.

Maria is active at the local and national levels. She is a founding member of the International Society on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. She has served on national and local boards and advisory committees, including the League for Innovation in the Community College; the National Community College Hispanic Council, and the American Association of Community Colleges Commission on Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity, among others.

REGISTATION FEES FOR THE BI-ANNUAL CONFERENCE
OF THE DOMINICAN STUDIES ASSOCIATION:

To register online please visit the following link: http://dsa-conference-2012.eventbrite.com/ .  You may also send a money order or write a check  to the Dominican Studies Association for the rate that applies to you (please see registration rates below).

To pay your registration via check or money order, please mail payment to the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute, 160 Convent Avenue and 137th Street, New York, NY 10031 and remember to write “registration fee for the 2012 DSA conference” in the memorandum section of the check/money order.

$10 undergraduate students & community scholars
$25 graduate students
$50 faculty
$50 administrators & professionals

CONFERENCE PROGRAM
You can access the program at the following link of the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute website http://www1.ccny.cuny.edu/ci/dsi/events/DSA-bi-annual-conference-2012.cfm

Please feel free to distribute the program to your email lists as you see fit.  We sincerely hope that you will be able to join us and look forward to seeing you on May 3rd and 4th 2012.  Below we have included some information regarding travel and lodging for the conference.

TRAVEL
Time is approaching fast for the Conference.  If you haven't made traveling arrangements yet, we highly recommend doing so at your earliest convenience. Naugatuck Valley Community College is located at 750 Chase Parkway, Waterbury, CT 06768.  For information on trains stopping at Waterbury, CT please visit the following link:
http://dan.greaterwaterbury.com/waterbury_trains.php.

For information on cabs once you are at the station, and bus service to Connecticut please visit the following link: http://dan.greaterwaterbury.com/waterbury_car_service.php.

For people flying from other states or from abroad, the nearest airports to the conference site are the Waterbury-Oxford Airport located at 300 Christian Street Oxford, CT 06483.

You may visit the Oxford-Waterbury airport’s website at the following link:
http://www.oxford-ct.gov/Section/Business_Development/Oxford_Airport/index.html
and the Bradley International Airport located at Schoephoester Road Windsor Locks, CT 06096. For more details about Bradley airport, visit the following website: http://www.bradleyairport.com/Directions/index.aspx.

LODGING
The official hotel of the conference is the Hampton Inn Waterbury located at 777 Chase Parkway, Waterbury, CT 06708. For more information regarding hotel booking rates and accommodations, please refer to the Hampton Inn Waterbury Website at the following link: http://hamptoninn.hilton.com/en/hp/hotels/accommodations.jhtml?moreDesc=true&ctyhocn=WTYCTHX

Conference Sponsors:
Naugatuck Valley Community College
CUNY Dominican Studies Institute
Eugenio María de Hostos Community College
LART-Latino Artists Roundtable

Schedule of events

THURSDAY, MAY 3

4:00 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.
Panel I: Configurando la memoria cultural: lo indígena en el
imaginario dominicano

Panelists:
Rebeca Castellanos, Grand Valley State University
La rebelión de Enriquillo como recreación de la Reconquista

Christopher A. McGrath, Grand Valley State University
El trauma histórico y la memoria cultural en Diosas de la Yuca de
Marianela Medrano

Médar Serrata, Grand Valley State University
De la historia como ciencia a la historia como sentimiento: los dos Enriquillos
de Manuel Arturo Peña Batlle

Moderator: Lissette Acosta Corniel, State University of New York at Albany

5:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. - Musical Prelude

Dr. Richard Gard, Professor of Music and Chair of the Department of the Arts,
Naugatuck Valley Community College and Community Members

6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. - Confluencia/Confluence

Poets Celebrate Dominican Culture

Host: Dr. Marianela Medrano
Poets: Yrene Santos, Aurora Arias, Rebeca Castellanos, Médar Serrata, and
Chiqui Vicioso

8:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. - Dinner Reception

In honor of Associate Dean for Community Relations, Ana Isabel García Reyes,
Eugenio María de Hostos Community College, CUNY

“In recognition of two decades of directing the finest international studies
program in The City University of New York”

Location: The De Filippis home (by invitation only)

FRIDAY, MAY 4

9:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. - Registration and Coffee

9:30 a.m. - 10:00 a.m. - Welcome Remarks

President Daisy Cocco De Filippis, Naugatuck Valley Community College
and Distinguished Community Guests

Greetings
Victor Díaz, Deputy Commissioner of Department of Motor vehicles,
Waterbury, CT and President of the Greater Waterbury NAACP

10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. - Keynote Address

Keynote Speaker: Alejandra Castillo, National Deputy Director of Minority
Business Development Agency, U.S. Department of Commerce

Keynote Address: Community College Students and Business Opportunities

Introduced by: Dr. Félix V. Matos Rodríguez, President, Eugenio María de Hostos
Community College

Discussant: Dr. María Harper-Marinick, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost,
Maricopa Community Colleges

11:15 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.
Panel II: Agarrando la sartén por el mango: Cause and Effect of
Dominican Society in the U.S.

Panelists:
Fénix Arias, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY
Left Behind: Children of Dominican Deportees in a Bulimic Society

Ginette Amezquita, Fordham University
Hair Raising Power: Dominican Women Hair Salon Owners in New York City

Mercedes Fernández Asenjo, University of Houston
La Acción Feminista Dominicana frente a Ercilia Pepín, Evangelina Rodríguez y
Petronila Angélica Gómez: relaciones de poder dentro del movimiento feminista
dominicano durante la Era de Trujillo

Nelson Reynoso, Bronx Community College, CUNY
Flourishing in a New Country: Success Stories of Dominican Students at Bronx
Community College

Moderator: Ana Isabel García Reyes, Eugenio María de Hostos Community
College, CUNY

12:50 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. - Lunch on your own

2:10 p.m. - 3:40 p.m.
Panel III: Diaspora and Archive: Rewriting Dominican National Borders

Panelists:
Zaida Corniel, Stonybrook University
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao: Breaking the Curse or Destabilizing Archives

Ramon Figueroa, Millsaps College
Angie Cruz: evolución y obra

Sharina Maillo, CUNY Graduate Center
Aquí se re-escribe la novela: The Voices of Immigrant Dominican Women
Beyond el aquí y el allá

Sobeira Latorre, Southern Connecticut State University
Representations of the Haitian “Other” in Dominican American Fiction

Moderator: Sarah Aponte, CUNY Dominican Studies Institute,
The City College of New York

3:45 p.m. - 5:15 p.m.
Panel IV: Bliss and Bass: Interventions in Dominican Cultural
Frameworks

Panelists:
Carlos Decena, Rutgers University
Towards a Re-membered Country: Notes on the Violence of Belonging

Ana Maurine Lara, Yale University
Mujer 2010: The New Dominican (?) Woman in the 2010 Constitution

Danny Méndez, Michigan State University
The Intricacies of Bliss in Diaspora: The Affective Lives of Dominicans

Angelina Tallaj, The Graduate Center, CUNY
Religion or Business?: Dominican Popular Religion and Music in a
Modern City

Moderator: Juleyka Lantigua-Williams, Naugatuck Valley Community College

5:20 p.m. - 5:25 p.m. - Closing Remarks

Dr. Ramona Hernández, CUNY Dominican Studies Institute, The City College of New York

ON-GOING BOOK EXHIBIT AND SALE, MAY 3 - 4

Book Exhibit and Sale: Coordinated by Dr. Franklin Gutiérrez, Alcance Publishers, Leever Atrium

ABOUT THE ARTIST: SCHEREZADE GARCÍA

Scherezade García is a Brooklyn-based Dominican artist who has been involved in the arts for as long as she can remember. Her drawings are her memories. These drawings are visual interpretations of her surroundings, for example, sounds and movements of daily life. As a very young child, she showed great promise as an artist, so her parents enrolled her in art school. She was fortunate to study under two very special and talented painters, Don Elías Delgado and Nidia Serra.

Scherezade was born in the Dominican Republic in 1966 and has lived in\ New York since 1986. She received a BFA from Parsons School of Design, NY and an AAS from Altos de Chavon School of Design, La Romana, DR. Her work frequently evokes memories of faraway home and the hopes and dreams that accompany planting roots in a new land. Among her solo exhibitions are “Paradise Redefined” at Lehman College Art Gallery, Bronx, NY; “Island of Many Gods” at the Salena Gallery, Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY; “Souvenir” at The Jersey City Museum, Jersey City, NJ; “Stories of Fallen Angels” at Museo de Arte Moderno, Santo Domingo, DR; at Mary Anthony Gallery and Leonora Vega Gallery, New York City.

For more information about the artist, please check her website at www.scherezade.net.

For more information about the conference, go to http://dsa-conference-2012.eventbrite.com/
CUNY Dominican Studies Institute
The City College of New York
Convent Avenue at 138th Street
New York, New York 10031

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