• Submitted by: manso
• Society
• 03 / 28 / 2011

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Monday, March 28, 2011 12:15 am. Cuba, U.S. women and families topic of panel discussion on Wednesday Chronicle news sources The Bozeman Daily Chronicle. Scholars and activists from Cuba and the United States, including Montana State University

President Waded Cruzado, will discuss issues of concern to women and families in the two countries and Latin America on Wednesday, March 30.

The panel discussion begins at 4 p.m. in MSU's Procrastinator Theater. A reception will follow in Leigh Lounge. The event is free and open to the public.

The panel discussion is organized in conjunction with the "Maestra/Teacher" Literacy U.S. Film and Speaking Tour. "Maestra" is a 30-minute documentary by filmmaker Catherine Murphy about young female literacy workers who went to the mountains and valleys of Cuba to teach their nation to read and write. "Maestra" also aims to spark political dialogue and strategies for positive social change.

Bozeman is one of 10 cities that the tour will visit.

Murphy, a San Francisco-based filmmaker, will speak on the MSU panel. She is founder and director of The Literacy Project.

One of the teachers in the film, Norma Guillard, will also be on the panel. One of the first Cuban women to call herself a feminist, she is a founder of the first organization of lesbian and bisexual women in Cuba.

Cruzado, a native of Puerto Rico, became MSU's first female and minority president in 2010.

Other panelists are Patricia Catoira, an MSU Latin American studies professor and chair of the women's and gender studies program, and Leah Schmalzbauer, an MSU sociology professor whose research focuses on Latino migration and transnational migrant families.

Source: /www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/article_cf213a92-58e4-11e0-aa09-001cc4c03286.html