The MSC L.T. Jordan Institute for International Awareness invites you to a musical performance and conversation in Rudder Theatre on Friday, March 1 at 6 p.m. for our upcoming “Soul of an Island: A Response to Hurricane Maria,” program. Hear firsthand how one Puerto Rican community became a beacon of hope in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. Community leaders Christine Nieves and Luis Rodriguez will share their stories and musical talents to demonstrate how community, creativity and the arts help us to persevere even in the hardest of times.
Luis and Christine provide uplifting insight to the many aspects of disaster recovery. They will discuss their experiences with service-oriented leadership in their community and share valuable lessons through their words and music that can be applied to our own Aggie Community. Luis and student musicians will perform works from his recently debuted album, Amor(es), directly influenced by Hurricane Maria.
Christine Nieves is a native Puerto Rican with her Masters of Science in Evidence-Based Social Intervention from Oxford. Luis is also a native Puerto Rican with his Masters of Music in Classical Music Composition from the University of Massachusetts. Together they run a Mutual Protection community in Luis’s hometown of Mariana where they organize citizen efforts to provide for the needs of the community. The organization was founded in response to a lack of government support in the time following Hurricane Maria. By mobilizing their community to found community kitchens and doing restoration work, they were able to provide for both the physical and emotional needs of their fellow residents of Mariana.
A conference by Texas Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies (TREEES)
Throughout the day, they will be hosting 4 panels ranging on topics from Russia’s image of self to Eurasian studies. This conference includes two wonderful keynote speakers, James Olson (11:30am-12pm) and Alexander Genis (4pm-5pm). James Olson has over 30 years of overseas covert action experience with the CIA and currently serves as a Professor of the Practice at the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University. Alexander Genis is a Russian-American broadcaster, cultural critic, and author of more than a dozen non-fiction best sellers in Russia. He has covered the Russian-American dynamic since the 1990’s through various podcasts, TV shows, and essays.
This conference is FREE and open to the public.
Manuel Flores is a senior in the Department of Ecosystem Science
and Management. He traveled to Costa Rica to study the
physiological differences of shade tolerant plants across varying
elevation gradients. Manuel will continue developing his thesis
with the LAUNCH Undergraduate Research Program.
Sarah Brinkley is a PhD candidate in the Department of Horticultural Sciences.
She traveled to Honduras to study how soil health impacts coffee quality and
how it may improve agricultural management practices.
Simon Kiacz is a PhD candidate in
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.
He traveled to the Madre de Dios
region of Southeastern Peru
where he expanded his previous
research on South Texas redcrowned
parrots to the family
group ecology of clay lick parrots
in the genus Amazona.