Dr. Pablo Peschiera, associate professor of English at Hope College, will present the college’s 2024 Hispanic Heritage Month Lecture on Tuesday, Sept. 17, at 4 p.m. in the Maas Center auditorium.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
The lecture will address the theme “How I Learned to Open My Self Through Poetry,” in which Peschiera will discuss his life, and gradual awakening as Latinx in the 20th and 21st centuries. Living as Hispanic/Latin@/Latinx in the U.S. is defined by a related spectrum of complex and diverse histories and experiences. Peschiera will share how he learned to access the complexities and diversities of the U.S. Latinx experience, and how the lens of poetry helped him to feel more in touch with the world.
The doors will open at 3:45 p.m. There will also be an opportunity for the audience to participate in a question-and-answer panel discussion following the presentation.
Peschiera was born in Toronto, Canada, to Peruvian parents. They returned to Peru for a time, and then immigrated to the United States to settle in Kalamazoo. He attended Hope College, graduating in 1993. Then, he earned an M.F.A. and an M.A. at Western Michigan University, and his Ph.D. in literature and creative writing at the University of Houston in 2005. Peschiera returned to teach at Hope in 2008. He has published more than 100 reviews, translations, essays and poems, and has received awards from The Bread Loaf Writers Conference and the National Endowment for the Humanities, among others.
The lecture is being presented by the college’s Center for Diversity and Inclusion (CDI), which is currently celebrating its 40th anniversary and is incorporating the theme throughout the 2024 Diversity Lecture Series. CDI is using the 2024 Diversity Lecture Series to celebrate and honor those who have put their time and effort into creating a diverse and inclusive community at Hope. The celebration will continue through presentations scheduled across 2024, including most immediately the college’s Disability Inclusion Lecture on Wednesday, Oct. 16.
“Our theme for this time of celebration and reflection is ‘40 years of Belonging and Growing Together: 1984-2024,’” said Jevon Willis, director of the Center for Diversity and Inclusion. “Utilizing CDI’s distinctive diversity spring and fall lecture series, each lecture will focus on the legacy of work and personal experiences connected with past and present leaders of CDI at Hope College.”
National Hispanic Heritage Month runs September 15-October 15. The college’s Center for Diversity and Inclusion is presenting the Sept. 17 lecture in collaboration with the Latino Student Organization, Office of Culture and Inclusive Excellence, and GROW Diversity Council.
To inquire about accessibility or if you need accommodations to fully participate in the event, please email accommodations@hope.edu. Updates related to events are posted when available at hope.edu/calendar in the individual listings.
The Maas Center is located at 264 Columbia Ave., between 10th and 13th streets.