Marysa Navarro, the chair of the College's Latin American and Carribean Studies Program, kicked off a six week program about Latino culture in the United States last night with a lecture in Dartmouth Hall.
Dean of the College Lee Pelton introduced Navarro, who presented an overview of Latino history and diversity.
Navarro decried the inaccuracy of lumping such a varied population under a single moniker.
"Both Latino and Hispanic are generic terms meant to blur heterogeneity," Navarro said.
Navarro said the United States Census includes "people of different races, of different origins and, of course, of different classes," under the term Hispanic, Navarro said.
Latinos share a history of Spanish colonialism, and the term 'Hispanic' - which means 'Spanish-speaking' - does not apply to everyone, Navarro said.
"It's as if I asked who in this room is a Britannic," Navarro said.
Navarro's lecture opened a program titled "Voices of Diversity: Latino Perspectives," which will feature a variety of presentations addressing different aspects of the Latino population.
The program, which will run until May 21, features 14 presentations including discussion panels, films and speeches.
At the end of her talk, Navarro noted the lack of Dartmouth courses studying Latino culture.
"There are only two or three courses dealing with the Latino experience," she said. "I do hope that one of the things that will come out of this program will be expanding the Latino curriculum."
Patricia Arroyo, a staff psychologist at Dick's House and one of the program's chief organizers, said she wanted Navarro's talk to give an informative introduction to Latino issues.
"I thought it was very informative and it brought up a lot of facts that people hadn't thought about," Arroyo said.
The program will also present a Latin Music Radio Show Saturdays from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on 1340 WDCR and an outdoor musical and cultural celebration on May 21.
Samuel Betances, a noted sociologist, will give the keynote address on May 10. Betances has hosted his own television show and appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show, The Phil Donahue Show and a Peter Jennings Special on Prejudice and Children.
Arroyo and Michelle Darter '94 have been organizing this program since last summer.
Darter said the program aims to expose students to Latino issues the College has never addressed.
