BACKSTAGE PASS

Featured St. Norbert’s College Lecturer: Professor Aberra Tesfay
Date: Saturday, March 3, 2018

As a region, Africa has seen positive economic trends in the last few years, even as the global economy has been mired in a prolonged period of slow growth. Africa has also made significant improvements in democratic governance and political stability as more and more countries experience the peaceful transfer of power and reduced corruption and conflicts. However, challenges abound in both political and economic spheres, including pervasive poverty, rising inequality, fragile democracies, and limited political liberalizations. In this lecture, Dr. Aberra Tesfay, Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science at St. Norbert College, will discuss recent political and economic developments in sub-Saharan Africa in light of global trends.

Featured St. Norbert’s College Lecturer: Professor Angel Saavedra Cisneros
Date: Saturday, February 17, 2018

Latinos continue to grow in numbers and political importance in the United States. As a demographic category that is labeled by the U.S. Census as an ethnicity and not a race, Latinos are unique in the racial realities of the United States. One-size-fits-all explanations and assumptions of homogeneity impede our understanding of this diverse and changing demographic. This lecture will explore some broad realities about Latinos in the United States, including growth and geographic trends as well as political facts and figures. Relying on his recently published book Latino Identity and Political Attitudes: Why Are Latinos Not Republican, Dr. Saavedra Cisneros, Assistant Professor of Political Science at St. Norbert College, will present his theory of Latino Identity and Partisanship and how it relates to past and future political contests.

Featured St. Norbert’s College Lecturer: Professor Debbie Kupinsky
Date: Saturday, February 10, 2018

The pre-Columbian ceramics of Peru offer a glimpse into the everyday life of an ancient world. This lecture will explore the naturalistic and representational approach of Moche ceramics, the stylized painting of Nazca ceramics, and art and the exploration of environment in Chimu ceramics. Pre-Columbian Peruvians used ceramic works to document their everyday life, social activities, war, metalwork, weaving, and sexual practices. Ceramic works are a historical record of spiritual and social life, and they reflect a sensitivity of form, design, and modeling that sometimes seem at odds with the subjects of sex, childbirth, disease, and human sacrifice. Debbie Kupinsky is currently an assistant professor of sculpture at St. Norbert College. She also maintains a studio in Appleton, WI.