What: A lecture at the University of North Texas by Jorge Huerta, Chancellor’s Associates Professor, Emeritus at the University of California at San Diego. Huerta will discuss and demonstrate the important role that Teatro Chicana/o, or the Chicano theater movement, has played in the struggles for social justice since 1965.
When: 3 p.m. April 9 (Tuesday)
Where: Forum on the first floor of UNT's Willis Library, which is located one block east of Highland Street and Avenue C at 1506 W. Highland St.
Cost: Free
Contact: Teresa Marrero, associate professor in the UNT Department of World Languages, Literatures and Cultures, 940-565-2404
DENTON (UNT), Texas— The University of North Texas Department of World Languages, Literatures and Cultures, in collaboration of Department of Dance and Theatre Arts will host a guest lecturer on Chicano theatre during the Chicano social justice movement of the 1960s and ‘70s. Jorge Huerta, Chancellor’s Associates Professor, Emeritus at the University of California at San Diego, will discuss “Teatro Chicana/o: Performing Social Justice Beyond the Classroom” at 3 p.m. April 9 (Tuesday). The lecture will take place in the Forum on the first floor of UNT’s Willis Library, which located one block east of Highland Street and Avenue C at 1506 W. Highland St.
“We, in World Languages, Literatures and Cultures, are proud to sponsor a Distinguished Speakers Series, whereby outstanding scholars and artists are invited to campus so that students and the community at large can enjoy their vast knowledge and contributions to their fields,” said Teresa Marrero, associate professor in the UNT Department of World Languages, Literatures and Cultures. “Dr. Huerta is the outstanding figure in the field of Chicano-Mexican-American and Latino Theater in the U.S. He is a personal witness to the growth of the Chicano movement since the 1960s.”
Huerta is part of the Los Angeles Latino Theater Alliance. He played an important part in creating the first nation-wide Chicano/Latino theater program at the University of California at San Diego. In 1993 he was awarded the Chancellor’s Associate’s Endowed Chair in recognition of his international stature. He has also been a key figure in Chicano-Latino performance studies since the 1970s. He has published a number of articles, books and performance reviews, and edited three anthologies of plays.
Huerta has also directed in theaters across the country including the San Diego Repertory Theatre, Seattle’s Group Theatre, Washington D.C.’s gala Hispanic Theatre, La Compania de Teatro de Albuquerque and New York’s Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre. He has lectured and conducted many workshops in Chicana/Chicano theatre throughout the U.S., Latin America and Western Europe. He has won many awards including “Outstanding Achievement in Theatre Arts” from the California State Assembly in 2009.
A reception will follow the lecture from 4:15-5 p.m. in Room 410 of UNT’s Language Building, located at the southwest corner of Avenue A and West Hickory Street.