Building on Our Assets: Language, Culture and Education

The UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center (CSRC) and the UCLA Civil Rights Project/Projecto Derechos Civiles (CRP) are pleased to announce the Sixth Annual UCLA Latina/o Education Summit. Each year this conference brings together scholars, educators, community representatives, policy makers, and students to discuss critical education issues at each segment of the education pipeline. Participants explore viable policy recommendations and initiatives that can improve educational opportunity for Latina/o students. This year the conference will focus on a significantly different approach to the education of Latina/o students by viewing their language and culture as assets that schools can use to build success.

Joining UCLA researchers at the 2011 summit—a collaborative effort between the CSRC and the CRP—will be scholars representing the University of Arizona, Stanford University, the University of Southern California, and San Jose State University.

Agenda

Welcome by Chon Noriega, CSRC Director, and Faculty Moderator Patricia Gándara, Co-Director, Civil Rights Project/Projecto Derechos Civiles and Professor, Graduate School of Education and  Information Studies, UCLA

Address by Rachel Moran, professor and dean, UCLA Law School
“Challenges and Opportunities: A Personal Journey”

Panel: The Challenges We Face in Adopting an Assets View of Language and Culture

Panelists: Luis Moll, Professor, University of Arizona; Robert Rueda, Professor, University of Southern California; and Danny Martinez, Graduate Student, UCLA

Lunch

Keynote Address by Kenji Hakuta, The Lee L. Jacks Professor of Education, Stanford University
“Building on the Legacy of Lau: A Retrospective and Prospective Look at the Role of the Native Language in Educating English Language Learners”

Afternoon

Panel: Constructing Language and Culture as Assets

Moderator: Concepción Valadez, Associate Professor, UCLA

Panelists: Marjorie Orellana, Professor, UCLA; Ursula Aldana, Mary Martinez-Wenzl, and Megan Hopkins, Graduate Students, UCLA

Panel: Building Programs that Foster Language and Cultural Assets

Moderator: Octavio Pescador, Coordinator, Center for Mexican Studies, UCLA

Panelists: Karen Quartz, Director of Research, Center X, UCLA; Kathryn Lindholm-Leary, Professor, San Jose State University; and Marcos Aguilar, Executive Director, Semillas Community Schools 
Reception 

For a program of the Education Summit, go to http://www.chicano.ucla.edu/research/edsummit.html