ONLINE: Intercultural Education in Mexico: Implications for the Conservation of Natural Resources – Isthmus

press release: Please join the Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies program at UW for the LACIS Lunchtime Lecture, Tuesdays at noon. Events are free and open to the public.

About the presenter: Francisco J. Rosado-May is an agroecologist. He graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz and has over 35 years of experience in research, higher education and outreach in Mexico and other countries, including the Americas, Europe, the United States. Africa and Southeast Asia. Francisco’s research area and academic background focuses on indigenous food systems, agroecology and indigenous education, aiming to develop concepts and methods towards cross-cultural/biocultural development by understanding the epistemology of indigenous knowledge, with an emphasis on the Yucatec Maya, his own ethnicity. His academic experience includes work for the University of California, Santa Cruz, University of New Mexico, Atlantic College in Maine, Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica, and Universidad de Quintana Roo. In addition, Francisco has been a member of the Steering Committee of the Agroecology Fund and the United Nations Development Program Small Grants Program in Mexico for several years. His experience in higher education includes appointment as President of the University of Quintana Roo and Founding President of the Intercultural Maya University of Quintana Roo, both in Mexico. Francisco’s academic publications are available on Research Gate and Google Scholar.

About the presentation: In 2004, Mexico opened the first intercultural university in the State of Mexico and began to develop a new model of higher education for indigenous students. In theory, the intercultural model provides a safe space in which different (e.g. scientific and indigenous) ways of learning, building, innovating and imparting knowledge coexist, creating the conditions for synergies to occur, new knowledge, intercultural knowledge emerges from this process. The implications of the intercultural model on well-being, development and the conservation of natural resources will be discussed.