Ithaca College

Handwerker Gallery
Thursday, November 5, 2009
12:10-1:00 p.m.

Marjorie Agosín, Latina author, activist, and professor of Latin American Studies at Wellesley College, will read from two of her works: A Cross and a Star, a memoir of her mother's childhood as a Jewish immigrant in a German community in Chile before, during and after World War II, and Anne Frank Poems, lyrical tributes to Anne Frank's courage and individualism. These works are devoted to the Jewish Diaspora experience in Latin America, one that saved Agosín’s family from the perils of Nazi occupied Europe while it situated them in a space of marginality in a Spanish speaking and largely Catholic society.

Professor Agosín’s reading and visit to Ithaca College on November 4th and 5th are part of the ongoing exhibition in the Handwerker Gallery. “Threads of Hope” showcases Chilean arpilleras from her collection. Arpilleras are small, hand-sewn and appliquéd tapestries, originally created by women to commemorate relatives who were detained and “disappeared” during the military dictatorship in Chile. 

The exhibit and Agosín’s visit to Ithaca College are sponsored by: Humanities & Sciences Educational Grant Initiative; the Division of Interdisciplinary and International Studies; Departments of Modern Languages and Literatures, Art History, Politics, History, Sociology, Anthropology, and Writing; Diversity Awareness Committee; Office of Student Engagement and Multicultural Affairs; and the programs of Latin American Studies, Women's Studies, and Jewish Studies at Ithaca College.

For more information contact Annette Levine: alevine@ithaca.edu