Trinidad Gonzales, a professor of history and Mexican American Studies at South Texas College in McAllen Texas, will speak at Boise State at 6 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 3 in Room 110 in the Hemingway Center.
The departments of history and sociology (ethnic studies and the Anti-Racism Collective) are hosting Gonzales’ visit, which will include meetings with students during the day.
Gonzales is a co-founder of Refusing to Forget, a public history project that explores La Matanza (massacre or slaughter), a period of state-sanctioned violence against ethnic Mexicans in Texas during the 1910s that affected his own family.
The project received the Western Historical Association’s Autry Public History prize, American Historical Association’s Herbert Feis Award and the Organization of American History’s Friend of History Award. Gonzales is a board member of the National Humanities Alliance, a coalition of organizations that advocate for the teaching of the humanities.
Lisa Brady, a professor and chair of the Department of History, invited Gonzales to Boise State after hearing him speak at a national conference.
“He is so thoughtful about the role of history in civic education,” Brady said. “His visit highlights the role of humanities in community engagement. Here is a scholar who went out and worked with community members to develop this project. He galvanized people to have big conversations. And we can learn from him here in Idaho.”