Latin American program creates new understanding
By MAUREEN SMITHE
Assistant News Editor
When Isabel Jakob arrived in the United States in 1981, she was fleeing a civil war in her home country of El Salvador.
"The Spanish Civil War had lasted three years, so when I left two years into the civil war in my country, I figured I would go to the United States for a year or two until the war was over," Jakob said.
However, the civil war in El Salvador lasted another 13 years, and Jakob was settled in America by the time it was over. Now a Spanish professor at Notre Dame, Jakob met with several colleagues to support the new Latin American Area Studies Program (LAASP), funded by the Kellogg Institute for International Studies.
In a reception Tuesday celebrating the Program's inception, Father Tim Scully, vice president and senior associate provost, talked about how the LAASP will "form a community of people who are willing to share experiences, scholarship and ideas."
The goals of the program are far-reaching and include developing research grants, internship opportunities in Washington, D.C, Minneapolis and Mexico and foreign study programs in Mexico and Chile.
"We can celebrate and help one another understand the life of another culture," Scully said.
Fran Hagopian, acting director of the Kellogg Institute, found it "a real pleasure to have faculty and students interested in this program.
"Every university should have a program like LAASP," she said. "It is exactly the type of thing we should be doing."
LAASP will look closely at all Latin American countries, including Brazil, where, unlike most Latin American countries, Portuguese is the national language.
Notre Dame Portuguese professor Ana Maria Goulet and visitor Sandra Teixeira stressed the importance of Brazil's impact in Latin America.
"Brazil is the biggest country in Latin America, and I want more people to know about it," Goulet said. "This program will give more exposure to Latin American students and open up their horizons."
"I moved to South Bend 18 months ago from Brazil and I am very interested in the institute," Teixeira said. "We can not neglect the importance of Latin America."
Many faculty members from departments not involved in Latin America were on hand for the reception. American studies professor Susan Ohmer noted the program's ability to unite people.
Anthropology professor Father Patrick Gaffney agreed.
"I am convinced that the United States — especially among educated people and Catholics — should get much more involved with our Latin American neighbors," he said. "The history of indifference has isolated many English-speaking Americans from economic opportunity and political possibilities. This program gets students involved and that is something very important."
All News Stories for Thursday, January 27, 2000
