Mount Mercy University will host "The Latino Experience in Iowa" with special guest Omar Valerio–Jiménez as part of the Race and Gender Series on Wednesday, April 3, at 7:00 p.m. in Flaherty Community Room. This event is free and open to the public; seating may be limited.
Valerio–Jiménez, an associate professor of history at The University of Iowa, received his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California. Before joining The University of Iowa faculty, he worked as an electrical engineer for five years, then taught courses in California, Texas and New York relating to the history of immigration, comparative borderlands, ethnic relations, the American West and Latina/os and Chicana/os.
Using his research based on the Spanish and English language archives, Valerio–Jiménez's first book, River of Hope: Forging Identity and Nation in the Rio Grande Borderlands, examines cultural change and the state formation along the Mexico-U.S. boarder during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The book displays the history of violence due to multiple conquests, and the conversion of ethnic and political identities.
Additionally, he is co-editor of Major Problems in Latina/o History, and his work has been published in many publications including: The Journal of Women's History, Estudios Mexicanos/Mexican Studies, the Journal of American Ethnic History, Pacific Historical Review, Aztlán and Southwestern Historical Quarterly. Valerio–Jiménez is one of the co-organizers of "The Latino Midwest," a humanities symposium that displays the history, education, literature, art and politics of Latinos in the Midwest as Latino populations are growing.
Currently, Valerio–Jiménez has begun a project to study Latinos in the early twentieth century that focuses on acculturation, labor and gender relations. His study will examine the U.S.–Mexican War through memory, identity and nationalism.
For additional information on the Race and Gender Series contact Associate Professor of Political Science and Department Chair David Doerge at ddoerge@mtmercy.edu.