Francisco H. Vazquez '72, professor of the history of ideas at the Hutchins School of Liberal Studies and director of the Hutchins Institute for Public Policy Studies and Community Action at Sonoma State University, will visit campus on Thursday, Sept. 24 to provide the keynote address in this year's recognition of Latino Heritage Month. His address, "Latinos in the United States: A Continental Quest for Democracy," is free and open to the public at 6:45 p.m., with seating on a first-come basis at the Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum.
In his lecture Vazquez will explore the political philosophy of Latinos in the American continent and their struggle for democracy.
His presentation is based on the premise that English Americans and Latin Americans have a common political cradle. While focusing on the incorporation of Mexicans, Cubans, and Puerto Ricans into the United States, he will discuss the role of Latinos in the United States and propose the concept of a "Continental American."
Vazquez joined the faculty at Sonoma State University in 1990. He attended CMC when it was still a men's college, and graduated with a degree in philosophy in 1972. He then went on to complete an interdisciplinary doctoral program in philosophy, history, and literature from Claremont Graduate University, and received his Ph.D. in 1977.
He is the author of Latino/a Thought: Culture, Politics and Society, a well-recognized text in the field that has a second edition due in January 2009. Vazquez also has published numerous publications including The Political Economy of Culture and the Birth of a Civil Society after NAFTA (1997) in established journals of social theory. He is on the Board of Directors of Community Action Partnership.