Acclaimed Latino Culture Scholar, Author Ilan Stavans to Speak at UNC Asheville

UNC Asheville will host two talks by highly acclaimed Latino culture scholar and author Ilan Stavans April 6-7. Stavans will discuss “Oy, Are We a Pluribus? Multiculturalism and American Jews” at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 6, at UNC Asheville’s Reuter Center and “The Sounds of Spanglish” at 4 p.m. Friday, April 7, at UNC Asheville’s Lipinsky Auditorium. Events are free and open to the public.

Stavans is the Lewis-Sebring Professor of Latin American and Latino Culture and Five-College 40th Anniversary Distinguished Professor at Amherst College. He is also a professor of creative writing at Columbia University. Stavans is the author of dozens of notable books, including the best-selling “The Hispanic Condition,” “On Borrowed Words: A Memoir of Language” and “Dictionary Days: A Defining Passion.” The recipient of numerous honors, including three Emmy nominations, a Guggenheim Fellowship and Chile’s Presidential Medal, Stavans is the host of the PBS program “La Plaza: Conversations with Ilan Stavans.” A descendant of Eastern European Jews who settled in Mexico, Stavans has been hailed as “the czar of Latino culture in the United States” by the New York Times.

Stavans’ talks will be held in conjunction with the 20th annual National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) at UNC Asheville April 6-8. Some 2,000 of the brightest undergraduates in the nation will gather on campus to present their original research on topics ranging from hurricanes and Holocaust literature, to ovarian cancer and television violence. UNC Asheville, a pioneer in engaging students in research, organized the first conference in 1986. For more information about the conference, call UNC Asheville’s NCUR 20 Office at 828/251-6963 or e-mail ncur20@unca.edu. A full schedule of events is available online at http://ncur.unca.edu.

For more information about Stavans’ talks, call UNC Asheville’s Center for Jewish Studies at 828/251-6576. 

Media Contacts:

• Dr. Richard Chess, UNC Asheville Center for Jewish Studies Director, 828/251-6576
• Jill Yarnall, UNC Asheville Public Information Assistant Director, 828/251-6526