Academic Events

Medical Spanish for Heritage Learners presents "Las enfermedades en el séptimo arte: Diarios de motocicleta (2004)"

This film presentation will accommodate medical reflection, debate and learning through exposure to the diseases brought to the big screen.

Medical Spanish for Heritage Learners presents "Las enfermedades en el séptimo arte: Malos hábitos (2007)"

This film presentation will accommodate medical reflection, debate and learning through exposure to the diseases brought to the big screen.

"Tu voz, mi voz: La importancia de la capacitación del intérprete médico inglés-español en el área de la salud"

Students in the Medical Spanish for Heritage Learners program through testimonies will describe their experiences when in the absence of a professional interpreter had to take the role of the interpreter in the health area.

The Role of Cultural Relevance in Literacy

Dr. David Bowles will discuss the crafting and use of culturally relevant literature to reach and engage struggling young readers.

VAO Publishing: The Birth of a Small Regional Press

Editors, staff and writers from local press VAO Publishing will discuss the need to give local voices a venue.

(Re) framing the Conversation: An Exploration of How UTPA's MFA Program has Impacted the Growing Community of Writers in the Rio Grande Valley

Since its first class in 2007 UTPA's MFA in Creative Writing Program has impacted the writers of the region. Though relatively young, it is beginning to have a history all its own, with numerous successful alumni, a diverse student body, and a list of student accolades that continues to grow. Now in this roundtable discussion session with new MFA in Creative Writing Program Director Philip Zwerling, alumni and current students, we wish to look back, through various perspectives, and explore the conversation of this program's influence and impact on the academic and local artistic community. This will be an open discourse about the program meant to explore its implications, direction, and highlight its significance.

Study Abroad and International Programs in the Art Department

A presentation and question and answer section with officials involved in the promotion of existing and future study abroad courses and programs.

Visiting Artist Rigoberto A. Gonzalez, Lecture and Demonstration

Rigoberto A. Gonzalez paints large-scale scenes of contemporary life in the style In a naturalistic style that is conversant with the Italian baroque. His recent solo exhibition, Baroque on the Border at the Rubin Center, University of Texas at El Paso, features twelve paintings and several working drawings. In Rigoberto's paintings, dramatically lit groups of figures convey the anxiety and distress of recent violence in northern Mexico. Originally from Tamaulipas, Mexico, Gonzalez resides in San Juan, Texas. He earned an MFA from The New York Academy of Art in 2004.

Borderland Writers

Ehlen-Tai Piano Duo

A Steinway Artist Ensemble will perform the opening concert in FESTIBA 2013. Have you seen twenty fingers dancing on the 176 keys and creating symphony-like sonorities? We will present music from four different countries. Come to join us and enjoy the magic music world! <

Poems in Esperanto - A reading of original works by Edwin de Kock

Mr. Edwin de Kock will read a selection of original poetry in Esperanto.

Collaborative Playwriting in Theatre for Young Audiences

Co-authors Brian Warren and Marlene Galvan will share some pointers and pitfalls of collaborative writing for young audiences.

Visiting Artist Margery Amdur - Lecture and demonstration

"Margery Amdur's mixed-media works and installations often incorporate materials such as paint chips, pompoms, paint-by-number patterns, intermingled with hand-cut frosted mylar suspended within layers of poured liquid resin that speak of the impossible separation of our culture view and the natural world. Amdur's elaborately layered works utilize ornament and pattern to reveal the constructed nature of the garden." Peter Frank

The Philosophical Significance of Schizophrenia; and Other Problems of the Mind

Movie Showing : "Intouchables" or "The Intouchables" (2011)

Based on a true story, this movie approaches with humor and irreverence the unlikely friendship of two opposite characters: Philippe, an aristocrat who became paraplegic after a paragliding accident, and Driss, his street-smart caretaker raised in the projects. Critically acclaimed across Europe, it was released in selected theaters in the U.S in 2012. The screening is in French with English subtitles and will be followed by a 30 minute discussion.

"Monólogos de la vagina" by Eve Ensler

Performance of monologues in Spanish with the Theatrical Group "Frontera Líquida"

Ten-Minute Play Festivals

Playwriting graduate students will present their original 10-minute plays.

The City and City Life in 19th Century American Literature

Psychoanalysis Panel Discussion

Thought Experiments in Philosophy

Creative Writing Student-Teaching Presentation

A group of undergraduate creative writing students will take over the classroom and teach a creative writing technique of their choosing.

Artist Robert Moreau - Lecture & Demonstration on the Renaissance techniques of Verdaccio, Grisaille and A La Prima

"Verdaccio" is a technique used in oil painting dating back to the Renaissance and is typically associated with the work of Leonardo Da Vinci and artists of the Southern Renaissance. This technique involves the development of the figure using a green/umber under painting in order to establish the believable illusion of three-dimensionality rendered on a two-dimensional plane by developing a wide range of values from dark to light. "Grisaille" is a similar technique dating back to the same time period and is more closely associated with artists such as Jan Van Eyck. This technique uses a grey under painting rather than green to develop form in the figure. With both techniques, after the under painting has been established and the paint has set, a glaze of low intensity red such as 'Indian Red' or 'Light Red' is used to start the process of 'building' believable flesh tones.

Poesía Sin Fronteras: A Celebration of Chican@ Poetry

The Chican@ Poetry and Poetics class at UTPA and community members will perform poetry banned from the Tucson Unified School District curriculum. (TUSD's Mexican American Studies program was dismantled in 2012.) Participants will also present original poetry in response to bans on ethnic studies and conduct a discussion.

"The struggle has always been inner": Gloria Anzaldua's (Border)Land Images and the (R)evolutionary Steps toward Environmental Change

Fiction Along the Rio Grande

Readings of original fiction by local authors.

The Three Amigos Write!

UTPA Instructors and writers will read their creative writing ranging from creative non-fiction, fiction and poetry.

Obsessions and Authenticity: A Poetry Reading

In her writing classes, poet M. Miriam Herrera encourages students to develop a flourishing writing process unique to each writer, to tap into their obsessions and write from the deepest parts of their most authentic selves, which must be discovered, uncovered, and nurtured. Miriam often stresses the organic nature of the poem, and how a writer must listen closely for guidance in unearthing what the poem wants to do in form, sound, image, and meaning.

Gravity Series

An interdisciplinary group of faculty and students will discuss innovative and effective teaching methods. Faculty presenters/participants: Various faculty and students from several colleges on campus.

Tips for Mixing Multiple Sources and Your Own Ideas and Research into a Strong Paper or Presentation

The Colonial, Catholic Body: Identity and Self-Relation in Mexican and Irish Diasporas

In Our Words: Poems in Voices

Advanced poetry writing students will read/perform their original poetry.

"Espirales al viento: Spanish Narrative"

Graduate Students will read their works in Spanish

Scene Writing Workshop

This workshop will present and explore the basics of dialogue, character, and location that form the tissues of the scene, and the basic dramatic unit of the play and screenplay. Attendees will participate in writing exercises that will create opening scenes for their own projects.

"Fun with Bronc Radio and TV"

TV Time: An interactive three stage real time TV studio experience. Students will run cameras, run the control room and act as talent in the Bronc TV news studio

Gender and Women's Studies Presentations on Gender, the body, and Cultural Politics

Three Graduate students will present work.

Another exciting event promoting literacy in the community continues the tradition started two years ago at FESTIBA 2011. The Dustin Michael Sekula Memorial Library in Edinburg will host an International Book Discussion between 4th - 6th grade students of St. Matthews School in Edinburg and the Oxford School of Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico. This event is sponsored by the South Texas Literacy Coalition and the Library. Children from both schools will meet at the Sekula Memorial Library where they will gather for a face-to-face discussion of "Wonderstruck" by Brian Selznick, followed by a luncheon and an afternoon filled with literature-filled events.

"Legacy of Courage-The Story of Gregorio and Ana Esparza and Their Descendants"

La Critica Literaria de Emmanuel Carballo en 'Mexico en la Cultura'

Join us for a celebration of FESTIBA 2013 authors, presenters, and participants, including a showcase of UT Pan American faculty authors signing their new books. Faculty with recent book publications include: Russell Showronek; Jonikka Charlton, Colin Charlton, Steven Schneider, Linda English, Rebecca Mitchell, Tamer Balci, Scott Roeder, Jean Braithwaite, Matthew Christensen, Katherine Hoerth, Edna Ochoa, Elvia Ardalani, and Emmy Perez. COAH Alum to be showcased include: Myra Infante, Joe Haske, and Brian Carr.

The Marialice Shivers Endowed Chair and UTPA Visiting Assistant Professor of Violin Dr. Daniel Andai and UTPA Associate Professor of Viola Dr. Joel Pagan are joined by guest artists Carmelo de los Santos (violinist, Assistant Professor of Violin at the University of New Mexico and winner of the IV "Júlio Cardona" International Competition in Portugal) and Timothy Deighton (viola, Professor of Viola at Penn State University and recipient of the String Teacher of the Year Award by the Pennsylvania-Delaware String Teachers Association) to present an evening of beautiful music,Together! The performers will be accompanied by members of the Pan American Festival Orchestra in works by Bach, Telemann and more!

Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities

"From Porciones to Colonias: Curriculum Innovation in the Rio Grande Valley" (Place-based learning in K-12 Curriculum)