Speakers Bureau Speaker
Santos C. Vega, Tempe
Santos Vega, Professor Emeritus at the Hispanic Research Center at Arizona State University, conducts Community Documentation Programs. He is involved in research, writing, and education projects. Vega holds five degrees: B.A., M.Ed. (UA), Bachelor of Laws (Blackstone School of Law), M.A. in theology (USF), and a Ph.D., with emphasis in adult education, (ASU). Vega has taught for forty years in various academic institutions, and has published numerous encyclopedia articles and other articles in the popular media. He also does other academic research related to his topics of interest.
Presentations may be made in Spanish, and are suitable for high school as well as adult audiences.
Encountering God Through the Mexican American Experience
The Mexican American faithful see God with their own eyes, which are trained by their religious experience of different worlds. They encounter God through the knowledge and practice of their religion rooted in the theological grounding of Mexico's ancient religious beliefs. The Mexican American people have experienced the integration of Christianity from Europe with religious beliefs of Mexico. This integration has not only created a unique religious experience of God, but a fusion of religious and spiritual practices. Since 1848, the Mexican American faithful have experienced the influences of European American Protestantism, further impacting their beliefs and practices. The Jewish and Muslim faiths from Spain have also had an impact on the Christianity that, coupled with the traditional Christian faith of Spain, and later influenced by Protestantism in the United States, has fused with the ancient religious beliefs in Mexico and created for the Mexican American faithful a theology of the Mexican American.
The History of Mexico and Contemporary Issues
Mexico, home to the ancient Aztec Empire, and the first in continental America to encounter European civilization, continues to face new issues. Mexico enters modernity in a time of great technological, economic, political, and social change in world sectors that remain in conflict. Mexico faces internal concerns with building infrastructure in its cities, providing employment challenges for its citizens in urban and rural areas, creating safe and healthful environments, and solving immigration issues, all while facing the external challenges of trade, tourism, technological development, and a continually changing world.
Mexican American History and Culture in Transition
Mexican American citizens in the United States have a long history of participation in all areas of social, political, economic, and religious life. This presentation explores the social, political, economic, and religious influences that have shaped and formed their historical experience. The Great Depression, the Repatriation, the Second World War, the Economic Opportunity Act, and subsequent wars such as the Korean Conflict, the Vietnam War, and the Iraq war have all impacted the history and culture of Mexican American citizens. Historical experiences have caused transitional paths for the Mexican American people, and current technological developments and social and economic changes also motivate them toward new areas of involvement.
The Repatriation of Mexican and Mexican American Citizens in the 1930s
During the economic downturn in the United States in the 1930s known as the Great Depression, the federal, state, and county governments initiated a repatriation policy to return Mexican citizens to Mexico. Many Mexicans had resided in the country for years and had families. The American citizens who were family members of repatriated Mexicans also went to Mexico on the Repatriation trains. Some of these American citizen family members went to live in Mexico for the first time. They had to speak Spanish, learn a new social and cultural life style, and survive in a strange country. Some later returned to their home country of the United States. The Repatriates were people who lived on two sides of the political border, but had to confront and crossover cultural borders in the economic, legal, educational, and social sectors. They survived the challenges of two nations and differing worldviews, and formed their own unique life perspectives.
