We have invited several guests to speak on multi-cultural values and perspectives:
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Armando Solorzano - Armando Solorzano is a sociologist and historian. He works as an Associate Professor in the Dept. of Family and Consumer Studies. His interests include race relations and minority families. His publications include topics, such as the roots of Mexican-Americans in Utah and the changing cultural values of the Chicano people. Currently he is engaged in a research project that looks at the process of family formation and ethnic identity of Mexican-Americans in the state of Utah. He will also be bringing a photo exhibit to the Festival that portrays the history of Chicanos in Utah. He will speak about this project and what changes he sees in the cultural values of Latinos in the U.S.
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Lucille Hunt –
The Changing Navajo
Born and raised on Navajoland, Lucille Hunt has been a speaker and presenter of the Navajo culture and language for numerous organizations for many years. She makes her home in Blanding, and has been a frequent Navajo storyteller at the annual Living Traditions Festival in Salt Lake City. She will speak on Navajo traditions and customs as expressed through storytelling. She will show us how the Navajo’s traditions and customs have responded to outside influences and what contemporary people might learn from this culture.
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Tony Yapias –
Conversation on Immigration
Tony Yapias is a native of Junin, Peru. In 1981, at the age of fourteen, he immigrated to the United States. He received a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Brigham Young University and served as Director of the Utah State Office of Hispanic Affairs under Governors Michael Levitt and Olene Walker. Currently, he is a columnist for the weekly newspaper El Estrandar and hosts a weekly radio program “Pulso Latino” on Radio Exitos, 1550 AM in Salt Lake City. He will speak on Hispanic immigration issues and the challenges of “illegal immigration”. His presentation will give the community more information about this controversial issue. He will review the history of current immigration policy, its impact on undocumented workers and the U.S. economy and society, and will encourage discussion of the consequences of various legal measures currently proposed.
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Yukio Kachi –
The Heart of Buddha’s Teaching
Yukio Kachi was born in England, brought up in England and Japan, and schooled in Japan and the U.S. After earning a Ph.D. in philosophy from Princeton University in 1970, Kachi taught in Wisconsin, Ontario, Minnesota, Japan, and Utah. He retired in 2004 after 40 years of teaching. Last year, he was a non-matriculated freshman at the University of Utah, this year a U of U drop-out. A lover of the mountains, he has been walking the Continental Divide of the U.S. little by little for the past decade. Although he will not live to finish at the current rate, he knows it is the journey that matters, not the destination. His presentation will explore the original teaching of Buddhism, which underlies and is common to all Buddhist sects. He will help audience members gain a basic understanding of Buddhism and how it differs from and is similar to teachings from other religious traditions.
We will also be sharing three films on cultural perspectives looking at both similarities and differences:
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Cartas del Otra Lado (Letters from the Other Side): A documentary on the lives of Mexican immigrants and the families they leave behind. This film takes a unique perspective by interviewing the wives of the immigrants and how their lives are affected when their husbands leave them for work in the United States. It is very compelling.
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ONE: This film is the perfect complement to a multicultural festival. It demonstrates how we are all connected by asking ultimate life questions to people from all different cultures and backgrounds. It features Ram Dass, Deepak Chopra, Thich Nhat Hahn, Barbara Marx Hubbard and many others. The public screening includes a time for questions and public discussion.
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Navajo Boy: This vintage film was resurrected in the 1990's and tells the story of the Cly family through still photos and moving images. It shed light on the Native side of picture making and uranium mining in Monument Valley. It is a 2000 Sundance film festival selection and is personally narrated by Elsie May Cly Begay, an elder, who also leads a public discussion following the film. It is an intriguing look at Navajo culture and views.
