2002-2003 Lectures
The Center for U.S. – Mexico Studies cordially invites you to its Lecture Series 2002 – 2003.
The Center for U.S. – Mexico Studies, seeking to foster greater understanding between our two nations, is pleased to host lectures on issues of interest to both Mexico and the U.S. Previous lectures have included such issues as the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), analysis of domestic politics and foreign policy, issues in science and technology, transborder population, and cultural development in both countries. The Center has hosted Carlos Fuentes, Ezequiel Padilla, Andres Oppenheimer, Elena Poniatowska, among others, under the frame of this series. Gabriela Gudino, Mario Melgar, Jose Pagan, David R. Beall, Victoria Rodriguez, and Ana Maria Salazar are scheduled in this academic year. The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) students, faculty, and staff and those interested in U.S. – Mexico affairs from the University of Texas System (UT) and from the metropolitan area of Dallas – Fort Worth will benefit from the different perspectives presented by these scholars, regarding Mexican indigenous values, Mexican foreign policy, U.S.-Mexico border development, drug abuse control, Mexican women in politics, and U.S.-Mexico bi-national security.
We look forward to seeing you in this series.
Indigenous Values in Mexico: The Case of Tzotzil Maya in Chiapas, Gabriela Gudino Gual
September 24, 2002. Regency Room 2, Student Union2.514, 16:00-19:00 Hrs.
Gabriela Gudino Gual is Tourist Delegate in San Cristobal de Las Casas. Founder of this Delegation in 1994. B.A in Teaching English as a Second Language from Universidad Autonoma de Chiapas, Campus III. She got her Teacher of English as a Second Language Certificate from International House, Hastings, England. In 1981 she was Paleographer in Archivo General de La Nacion, deciphering the Trial of Simon Baez, a Jewish prosecuted by the Spanish Inquisition in the XVII century; in 1982 she translated into Spanish the Book The Precolumbian Exchange by James Haas (Fondo de Cultura Economica). In 1990 she participated in San Cristobal during The UNESCO Lecture Series The Olmecs and Mayas of Chiapas and Tabascowith the Lecture “Ethnography of Chiapas Indians”. From 1994 to 2001 she had been English-Spanish Tourist guide specialized in the Ethnography of the Mayan indigenous groups of the Highlands of Chiapas.
Mexico – U.S. Immigration, Central Issue on the Agenda, Mario Melgar
October 22, 2002. Engineering & Computer Science South Building 2.306, 11:00 AM
A native of Mexico, Dr. Mario Melgar holds an undergraduate degree in Law from the UNAM School of Law, a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at UT Austin and a Ph.D. in Law from UNAM’s School of Law. He currently serves as the Director of the National Autonomous University of Mexico’s Campus at San Antonio, Texas and is also tenured professor at the UNAM School of Law and researcher at UNAM’s Judicial Research Institute. Prior to his appointment in San Antonio in 2001, he held a high level administrative post with Mexico’s Ministry of Health in the year 2000. Appointed by the Mexican Senate, he served as Advisor of a Federal Judicial Body from 1995-99.
At the National Autonomous University of Mexico, he served in the Main Administration Attorney General from 1990-92, Administrative General Secretary from 1992-93, and Coordinator of Humanities from 1993-94. From 1987-1990, he held the post of Secretary of Social development in the Government of the Senate of Guerrero. From 1982-84, he was Director General of Administration at Mexico’s’ Ministry of Heath. From 1978-1980, he served as Director of Incorporation, Accreditation and Validation in Mexico’s Ministry of Education. Dr. Melgar has published six books and has written approximately one hundred articles published in group editions and technical journals dealing with public administration, education and law. He contributes to editorial columns in Novedades, Uno mas Uno and Cronica, Mexican newspapers. He is also an editorial commentator for the Nucleo Radio Mil, radio station in Mexico. Among his publications are: Economia, Lecciones Elementales; Destino los Pinos; La carrera politica y militar de Juan alvarez; Edicion Superior, propuesta de modernizacion; El Consejo de la Judicatura Federal, and Justicia Electoral.
U.S.-Mexico Border Development, Bi-National Challenges and Perspectives, Jose Pagan
November 18, 2002. Jonsson Building 4.614, 2:00 PM
Jose Pagan is CBEST Director for Research and Associate Professor of Economics in the University of Texas Pan American (UTAP) College of Business Administration. He has a B.S. in Mathematics and an M.A. in economics from The Ohio State University, and a Ph.D. in economics from The University of New Mexico. He has been at UT-Pan American since 1995 and his research areas are labor and international economics. He was a Border Fulbright Scholar in 1999 at the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo León and he has published extensively in issues of importance to Mexico and the U.S./Mexico border region (immigration, employment, earnings, gender issues, taxation and public finance).
U.S.-Mexico Relation: The Challenge of Education, Francisco Marmolejo
January 14, 2003. Jonsson Building 4.614, 3:00 PM
Francisco Marmolejo serves as executive director of the Consortium for North American Higher Education Collaboration (CONAHEC), a leading network of 120 colleges, universities, and higher education organizations from Mexico, the U.S. and Canada, headquartered at The University of Arizona. Previously,
Marmolejo was an ACE fellow at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst–the first Mexican selected to participate in this premier higher education leadership development program.
His past positions include vice president for administration and finance and vice president for academic affairs at the Universidad de las Americas (UDLA) in Puebla City. Marmolejo has taught at several universities in Mexico and also served as director of the Mexico City
PROFMEX Center (a consortium for research) and is currently on its board of directors. Marmolejo consults for Mexican and South American universities, as well as for the Mexican Ministry of Education (SEP) on issues related to administration and international initiatives. At SEP he led efforts to create national standards for accounting and financial information for colleges and universities. Currently, he serves on the board of various Mexican universities, and the Mexican Association for International Education (AMPEI). He has published several articles on administration and higher education, has contributed chapters in books, and is a member of the editorial board of several specialized journals. Marmolejo holds an M.B.A. from the Universidad Autonoma de San Luis Potosí (UASLP) and has conducted doctoral work at the National University of Mexico (UNAM).
Inter-American Drug Abuse Control, The Case of U.S.-Mexico, David R. Beall
February 18, 2003. Jonsson Building 4.614, 2:00 PM
David R. Beall is the Executive Secretary of the Inter American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) of the Organization of American States (OAS). Under his leadership, CICAD approved the Plan of Action for the Implementation of the Anti-Drug Strategy in the Hemisphere in May 1998, which includes the control of the international movement of firearms, their parts and components, and ammunition introduction. This strategy was negotiated at the hemispheric level by all of the member states of the OAS. Mr. Beall also has promoted the development of a singular and objective process of multilateral governmental evaluation, in dealing with the diverse manifestations of the drug problem, within OAS members. He has successfully accomplished three meetings of the Inter-Governmental Working Group on the Multilateral Evaluation Mechanism (MEM) in the last three years. From an Inter-American perspective, Mr. Beall will lecture on drug abuse control with emphasis on the case of U.S. – Mexico.
Women in Contemporary Mexican Politics, Victoria Rodriguez
March 4, 2003. Jonsson Building 4.614, 2:00 PM
VICTORIA E. RODRiGUEZ is Vice Provost of the University of Texas at Austin and a Professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. She received her Bachelor’s degree from the Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey and her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley. Her scholarly work has focused on governance and democratization in Mexico. In addition to other books, articles, and book chapters on Mexican politics and public policy, she is the author of Decentralization in Mexico: From Reforma Municipal to Solidaridad to Nuevo Federalismo (1997). Her current work includes pathbreaking research and two books on women in Mexican politics: Women’s Participation in Mexican Political Life (1998) and Women in Contemporary Mexican Politics (2002). She has also served as consultant for the World Bank. In 2000 she received jointly with Peter Ward the Ohtli Medal, the highest honor granted by the Mexican government outside Mexico.
National Security: The Challenge for Democracy, Ana Maria Salazar Slack
April 22, 2003. Jonsson Building 4.614, 2:00 PM
Ana Maria Salazar Slack is the author of the book Seguridad Nacional Hoy. Reto Para las Democracias (SeguridadNacionalHoy.Com.Mx), where she addresses what should be the role of civil society in a democracy regarding security issues. She is also Vice-President of Synthesis Digital, a site dedicated to interviewing Mexican policy-makers and politicians and publishes a weekly column on politics and foreign affairs in major newspapers in Mexico, in addition to teaching national security policy at the Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico (ITAM) in Mexico City, and other civilian and military institutions. Between June 1998 and January 2001, Ms. Salazar served at the Pentagon as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Drug Enforcement Policy and Support, where she oversaw and controlled a budget in excess of $1 billion dollars that supported the Department of Defense’s counter drug programs in the United States and over 20 other countries. As a result of her efforts at the Pentagon, Ms. Salazar was recognized by Hispanic Business Magazine as one of the 100 most influential Hispanic Americans in the United States 2000-2001. Prior to joining the Pentagon, Ms. Salazar served at the White House as Policy Advisor for President Clinton’s Special Envoy for the Americas in 1998. From March 1995 to June 1997, Ms. Salazar served in the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. Ms. Salazar has also worked and lived in Latin America. In Colombia she served as the Judicial Attaché at the United States Embassy in Bogotá, coordinating evidence and information requests between the United States and the relevant Colombian agencies for prosecution of drug trafficking kingpins. She also has supervised multi-million dollar projects designed to improve the administration of justice in Colombia and Guatemala. Ms. Salazar received her J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1989 and a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley in 1986 and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.