Posted by William Nunnelley on 2007-04-20

Samford University's Latin American Studies program will present a colloquium on "Issues of Indigenous Peoples" Thursday, April 26, at 7 p.m. in Brock Forum of Dwight M. Beeson Hall.

The program, free and open to the public, is part of Samford's Perspectives on Latin America series funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

Speakers will include Dr. Juan Martinez-Borrero, chair of the department of archeology, anthropology and history of pre-Colombian cultures and Hispano-American art at the University of Cuenca, Ecuador, and Dr. Fred M. Shepherd, chair of the department of political science and co-director of Latin American Studies at Samford.

Martinez-Borrero is an expert on folk art, music, myth, iconography and popular culture of the Caribbean and Andean regions. Shepherd has published widely on Central American religion and politics, and his current research focuses on genocide and the struggle for justice and human rights in Guatemala.

Two earlier colloquia in the series examined the political and economic scene and religion and the church in Latin America.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 5,791 students from 49 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.