Eureka College Arts and Lecture Board to Host Presentation on U.S. Relationship with Mexico
EUREKA — The Eureka College Arts and Lecture Board is pleased to announce Dr. Janice Jayes will be speaking as a part of Hispanic Awareness Month on Sept. 26 at 6:30 p.m. in the North Terrill Room of the Cerf Center at Eureka College.
Jayes’ lecture is titled “Imagining Mexico, Imagining the World: What U.S. visions of Mexico reveal about the way Americans interact with the world and one another.”
“Today as much as in the 1880s, cultural visions are central to the way humans perceive the world and its challenges,” Jayes said. “Unfortunately, the examination of cultural biases is often undervalued in our current society, which prefers to look at hard “data” and often misses the way in which the data may be incomplete. Looking at the U.S. relationship with Mexico helps us understand how cultural biases both expose and influence domestic and international politics and why they remain so powerful.”
Dr. Jayes’ interest in Mexico began as a college student studying abroad in Mexico City. She later worked as a journalist in Mexico City, and in her dissertation, chose to explore the curious cultural relationship between the U.S. and Mexico. That work led to the publication of Illusion of Ignorance: The American Encounter with Mexico, 1877-1920 in 2011. More recently she was an election observer in Mexico for the 2018 elections. She writes about immigration issues as well as U.S. foreign relations in the Middle East and Africa, and is working on a longer project examining structural similarities between non-state actors like cartels and religious extremist groups which are more often studied and handled differently.
Dr. Jayes teaches in the History Department at Illinois State University. She began her academic career as a specialist on U.S. – Latin American Relations, with an M.S. from Georgetown University and a Ph.D. from American University. Since then she has had the opportunity to work in several other world regions which have given her a broader interest in how cultural models influence foreign relations. She worked in Buenos Aires, Argentina as a Study Abroad Director, in Latvia as a Soros Scholar, in Kyrgyzstan and Morocco as a visiting scholar, and in Egypt as a Fulbright Scholar.
Admission is free and the event is open to the public. Questions and requests for accommodations can be made with Associate Dean of Student Activities, Leadership, and Service, Shari Rich at srich@eureka.edu or the Arts & Lectures Board chair, Max Martin at mmartin16@eureka.edu.
The Arts and Lectures Board at Eureka College is a student-driven committee that works to bring nationally known educational and cultural events to campus through diverse programming that strives to further support the mission of Eureka College in the areas of learning, service, and leadership. The Board is comprised of students and is advised by a faculty member and staff member from the Office of Student Life.
Located in Eureka, Illinois, and chartered in 1855, Eureka College cultivated excellence in learning, service and leadership while providing students uniquely personalized and custom educational opportunities.
Originally founded by abolitionist members of Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Eureka College holds the unique distinction of being the first college in Illinois and only the third in the nation to admit men and women on an equal basis. The College, which is located on nearly 70 wooded acres in central Illinois, is the smallest of only 23 colleges and universities to ever award a bachelor’s degree to a future President of the United States.