Virtual colloquium will address health challenges in the Americas

LAWRENCE — The 29th annual Waggoner Research Colloquium will include scholars from the University of Kansas and KU Medical Center to discuss health care issues facing minority and international communities.

“Confronting Health Challenges in the Americas,” hosted by the KU Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies, will address COVID-19, health and Indigenous populations, diabetes and other noncommunicable diseases, mental health and nutrition. It will take place from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Nov. 13 on Zoom, and it is free and open to the public. Registration is now open.

Presentations are as follows:

• “COVID's Impact on Kansas City Area Minority Communities,” presented by Mariana Ramirez, director of JUNTOS Center for Advancing Latino Health, KU Medical Center
• “Confronting Health Challenges among the Guatemalan and Honduran Mayas,” presented by Brent Metz, associate professor of anthropology, KU
• “New Burdens of Westernization: Diabetes in the Indigenous Peoples of the Upper Amazon,” presented by Bartholomew Dean, associate professor of anthropology and director of public anthropology programs, KU; and David Robbins, professor of medicine, director of the KU Diabetes Institute, KU Medical Center
• “Cultural Implications for Nutrition Guidelines: the Maya K’iche’ Food Groups,” presented by Miguel Cuj, doctoral student in anthropology, Vanderbilt University 
• “Considerations and Responses: Amazonian Peoples and the Pandemic in Peru,” presented by Miryam Yataco, Indigenous language rights advocate, Peru
• “Psychoanalysis as a Treatment for Health Issues in Brazilian Children,” Claudia dos Reis Motta, licensed mental health psychoanalyst, Federal Bureau of Psychology, SEDE Psicanálise, Brazil.

The Waggoner Research Colloquium, created in 1992 by Elizabeth Kuznesof, former director of Latin American studies, is a hallmark of KU’s longstanding commitment to international education and its promotion of international awareness among students and faculty. Along with the presentation of scholarly work, the colloquium provides an opportunity for networking and meaningful exchange among scholars, students and community members interested in Latin America and the Caribbean.

This event celebrates and carries on the legacy left by George Waggoner, dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences from 1954 until 1975, when he became the associate vice chancellor for academic affairs. During his tenure, Waggoner founded the College Honors Program and established educational ties with universities in the Caribbean and in Central and South America. He was presciently concerned with international programs and development and was instrumental in bringing to KU many of the scholars who have been instrumental in making KU's area studies programs so distinguished. CLACS is currently one of 16 centers designated by the U.S. Department of Education as a National Resource Center in Latin American Studies, and it is one of 15 centers funded by the Tinker Foundation as part of the Tinker Field Research Collaborative.