President Bush recently appointed Gilberto Cardenas, Julian Samora Chair in Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame, to a commission that will study the potential creation of a National Museum of the American Latino.
The White House announced the appointment of seven people,including Cardenas, to be members of a commission that will give the president and Congress recommendations about the direction of the project. It will consider the presentation of art, history, politics, business and entertainment in American Latino life in addition to the location and cost of the project. One crucial question for debate is whether the museum will be part of the Smithsonian Institute.
Cardenas, assistant provost and director of Notre Dame’s Institute for Latino Studies, twice has been named by Hispanic Business Magazine as one of the 100 most influential Latinos in the country. He received his doctoral degree from Notre Dame in 1977.
Specializing in international migration, U.S.-Mexican border studies, and Latino populations in the U.S., Cardenas is the co-author of"Los Mojados: The Wetback Story,"a seminal text in immigration scholarship. He is a professor in Notre Dame’s Department of Sociology.
Contact: Katie Schlotfeldt, Institute for Latino Studies, 574- 631-3672 Katie.A.Schlotfeldt.1@nd.edu
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