HESBURGH LECTURE SERIES 2012 Program - Alumni Association ...

Gilberto Cárdenas, ’72 M.A., ’77 Ph.D.
Director, Institute of Latino Studies; Professor, Julian Samora Chair,
Latino Studies, Sociology; Fellow, Kellogg Institute for International
Studies
Biography
Gilberto Cárdenas is the director of the Institute for Latino Studies at the University of Notre
Dame. He is also the executive director for the Inter-University Program for Latino Research
(IUPLR). He holds the Julian Samora Chair in Latino Studies and teaches in the Department
of Sociology. He received his B.A. from the California State University at Los Angeles, and his
M.A. and Ph.D. from Notre Dame. His principal research interests are immigration, race and
ethnic relations, and visual sociology.
Cárdenas has worked in the area of immigration for 40 years and has gained international
recognition as a scholar in Mexican immigration. Three times named by Hispanic Business Magazine as one of the 100 most
influential Latinos in the U.S., Cárdenas has authored and edited numerous books, articles, monographs, and reports on topics
covering several fields of specialization, including international migration, economy and society, and race and ethnic relations.
These works include his co-authorship of Los Mojados: The Wetback Story (with Julian Samora and Jorge Bustamante)
and most recently, editorship of LA CAUSA: Civil Rights, Social Justice, and the Struggle of Equality in the Midwest, which
was published in 2005 by Arte Público Press, University of Houston. Cárdenas previously was a member of the sociology
department at the University of Texas at Austin from 1975 until 1999.
Cárdenas established and owned Galería sin Fronteras Inc., in Austin, Texas, a commercial gallery exhibiting the works
of Chicano/Latino artists. In 1994, he founded and served as executive producer of Latino USA, a half-hour weekly radio
program produced at the University of Texas at Austin and distributed nationally by National Public Radio. In addition to his
professional and artistic activities, Cárdenas has provided testimony before the U.S. Congress and state legislative bodies, and
has served as an expert witness in several critical or landmark cases, including Plyler v. Doe (1982).
A member of the original task force that produced “Willful Neglect,” Cárdenas served on the Smithsonian Institution’s
Oversight Committee for Latino Issues, and is a member of the Smithsonian Institute’s Latino Centre Board. In 1997, he
served as first vice president of the Board of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), and
currently serves on the board. Cárdenas was one of six people appointed to the advisory committee of the Gates Millennium
Scholars Program, a $1 billion plus minority scholarship initiative established by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Cárdenas was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as a member of the President’s Commission on White House
Fellows (2001-2008), and more recently to serve on the President’s Commission on the creation of the National Museum of the
American Latino. In addition, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels appointed Cárdenas to serve as a commissioner on the Indiana
Arts Commission.
Lecture
Immigration
This lecture will discuss contemporary issues pertaining to Mexican immigration, drawing on historical foundations of immigration
policy and utilizing a visual presentation based on contemporary artwork addressing immigration issues. These issues
will include works from the “CARAS VEMOS” exhibit inaugurated at the University of Notre Dame’s Snite Museum in the fall
of 2006 and formerly on national tour.
20 The Hesburgh Lecture Series, 2012 Program
Categories
History, Notre Dame, Social
Concerns