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Learn More About the Events at the Lewis Center of the Americas
The Lewis Center Distinguished Speakers Panel featured Mr. Anthony Bradley, Vice-President of Emerging Technologies and Trends Research at Gartner; Mr. Jahasiel Sevilla Muñoz, Digital Transformation Manager for Northern Latin America at Google; and UIW’s own Dr. Paul Lewis.
On Tuesday, March 18, UIW had the privilege of welcoming San Antonio artists Kathy and Lionel Sosa to the Broadway Campus to discuss their recently released documentary Al Otro Lado del Espejo, which explores the significance of San Antonio's missions, and the relationship shared between San Antonio and the city of Querétaro, Mexico.
At UIW, we celebrate Día de los Muertos system-wide at our campuses in San Antonio, Mexico City and Irapuato! Click below to learn about our special holiday Masses, traditional ofrendas, calaveritas poetry competition, catrines/catrinas costume contest and more!
The system-wide symposium shed light on UIW courses, research, community service and campus life programming that have helped our UIW community explore and celebrate our shared Hispanic heritage. The event took place the 2nd week in October as part or UIW’s Hispanic Heritage Month
UIW 2024 System - Wide Symposium
The 2024 Creation Care Conference, coordinated by Sister Martha Ann Kirk, brought together presenters from the United States, México, Uganda, Guatemala, and Perú to share information regarding the efforts of their organizations and institution to respond to our current climate crisis and to Pope Francis’s Laudato Si encyclical.
Around the World, a multicultural fair with over 30 countries represented, was held on Wednesday, Sept. 18 at UIW’s SEC ballroom. Presented by the World Affairs Council of San Antonio the event offered dancing and music from around the globe along with representatives from each country present.
The U.S. – Mexico Bilateral Relationship: North Americas as a Region, featuring Ambassador Gerónimo Gutiérrez Fernández
The World Affairs Council of San Antonio recently hosted a successful event at UIW's Seddon Recital Hall. Moderated by Dr. James Creagan, a Lewis Center Fellow, the panel featured expert insights from Romanita Matta-Berra and Jorge Canavati. The event was open to UIW students and staff at no cost.
The SCI All Americas Summit will take place May 28th- 31st, 2024 at the Henry B. González Convention Center. This summit is dedicated to cultivating people-to-people ties to foster mutual understanding and peace with other countries and states.
The Conversations with Ambassador Creagan series, hosted by UIW’s Lewis Center of the Americas and Department of Political Science, was initiated in February of 2023. The series offers the UIW community, as well as a broader general public, a unique opportunity to hear UIW’s Ambassador in Residence, Dr. James F. Creagan, and his featured discussants converse about various topics in the realm of international affairs. The conversations are live streamed to make them accessible to a wider audience and allowing our Mexico campuses to connect.
Feria del Mariachi was the final concert of the 2023-2024 academic year for the newly formed Mariachi Cardenal of the University of the Incarnate Word. The performance took place on May 1st at the Bennack Concert Hall.
Commissioner Calvert is the youngest and first African-American County Commissioner in Bexar County, and as one of the most dynamic young leaders in the state of Texas, he is the winner of San Antonio Business Journal’s "40 under 40" award.
Don’t miss the opportunity to see a special private collection of 250 traditional Mexican masks. This event was opened to the public free of charge on December 7th, 2023 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Mexican Institute of Culture at Hemisfair Plaza, 643 E. Nueva St. San Antonio 78209.
More information about the traditional masks of Mexico
Sandra Guzmán, Emmy Award-Winning producer, documentary filmmaker, editor and writer, made a presentation on her anthology, Daughters of Latin America, followed by a Q&A and book signing at the UIW Mabee Library Auditorium. In addition to her main presentation for the campus community, Sandra led discussions with UIW students on Oct. 4 and 5, 2023.
2023 Speaker Series featured Guatemalan social justice activist, champion of Indigenous human rights and Nobel Peace Laureate Rigoberta Menchú Tum!
Lewis Center hosted The City of San Antonio Welcoming Week Kickoff at the SEC Ballroom on the evening of Sept. 8, 2023, at 6 p.m. Welcoming Week is an opportunity to celebrate the values that unite us as neighbors, parents, and colleagues, and to make our communities more welcoming to all those who call San Antonio home.
Explore the world while serving your country during the U.S. Department of State Careers & Internships Information Session with State Department representatives Kris Sivertson and Antoinette Hurtado.
The World Affairs Council, with the support of the Lewis Center of the Americas and Dr. Roberto Fajardo of our School of Osteopathic Medicine, hosted “Strengthening Bonds with Colombia” at UIW. The panel discussion featured honorable panelists such as Mr. Alberto Gonima, Ms. Aida Pérez, Dr. Alejandro Velez, and San Antonio Councilman Manny Peláez.
The event was designed to help students better understand how careers can develop when we look beyond our culture and national borders for opportunities.
The event took place, after weeks of planning, on April 18 and 19, 2023, and was open to all UIW students and alumni from campuses in both Mexico and the United States. It was the second symposium presented by the Lewis Center.
The Liza and Jack Lewis Center of the Americas and the Department of Political Science hosted the third session of the Conversations with Ambassador Creagan series at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, April 13, in the Mabee Library Special Collections Room. Ambassador Dr. James F. Creagan spoke with special guest Mr. Richard C. Merrin, Foreign Policy Advisor, U.S. Army South., on the topic of “Advancement of U.S. Relations in the Americas through Military Cooperation.”
Read More and Watch the Conversation
The Liza and Jack Lewis Center of the Americas and the Department of Political Science hosted the second session of the new Conversations with Ambassador Creagan series at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 22, in the Mabee Library Special Collections Room. Ambassador Dr. James F. Creagan spoke with special guest Dr. Rubén Minutti Zanatta, General Consul of Mexico in San Antonio, on the topic of “The State of U.S.-Mexico Diplomatic Relations on Their 200th Official Anniversary.”
Members of the UIW community gathered on Thursday, Feb. 16, for the first session of Conversations with Ambassador Creagan, hosted by the Lewis Center of the Americas and the UIW Department of Political Science. The event was live-streamed to Centro Universitario Incarnate Word and Universidad Incarnate Word Campus Bajío.
Conversations with Ambassador Creagan offer the communities in the U.S. and Mexico a special opportunity to hear directly from Ambassador Dr. James F. Creagan on various topics in the realm of international affairs. Creagan, who spent time as a UIW professor in the early 2000s, is excited to be back on campus as a fellow for the Liza and Jack Lewis Center of the Americas.
“The inaugural conversation of the series was well received, with strong student attendance and numerous faculty members and administrators in the audience,” shared Dr. Rafael Hoyle, director of the Center. “Students and faculty from our Mexico campuses connected via YouTube, along with UIW community members from San Antonio who could not attend in person.”
Creagan was joined by UIW Professor of Political Science Dr. Scott Dittloff, who served as the guest interviewer for the first discussion. The conversation, titled “Democracies in Crisis? Interpreting the Transition of Power in the United States and Brazil,” helped audience members reflect on the similarities and differences between the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection in Washington D.C. and the events at the Brazilian capital of Brasilia on Jan. 8, 2023.
Questions from the audience contributed to the conversation, which touched on topics such as the current state of rainforest destruction in the Amazon and the severe polarization of society currently plaguing the U.S. and Brazil. Creagan provided insight into how Brazilian government policies and legislative developments are relevant to the U.S.
Ambassador Dr. James F. Creagan served as a diplomat in the Foreign Service for over 30 years. He has held positions as Chargé d’Affaires and Deputy Ambassador to Italy and, separately, the Holy See. He has also lived and worked in Brazil, Portugal, Mexico, Peru and El Salvador. He was named U.S. Ambassador to Honduras by President Bill Clinton in 1996. In 2009, under President Barack Obama, Creagan served as Chargé d’Affaires to Bolivia and Chief of the U.S. Mission.
Ambassador Dr. James Creagan of the Lewis Center of the Americas joined Dr. Jorge Schiavon of Mexico’s Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE), Mr. Raúl Rodriguez of the Tecnológico de Monterrey, and Mr. Gerald Schwebel of IBC Bank for "The Challenges and Opportunities of the US-Mexico Bilateral Relationship in the Current Juncture", a panel discussion moderated by Consul General Rubén Minutti Zanatta. The Consulate General of Mexico in San Antonio coordinated and hosted the panel, as part of their series celebrating 200 years of diplomatic relations between the United States of America and Mexico. Among the distinguished guests in the capacity crowd was the City of San Antonio’s (COSA) Chief Diplomacy Protocol Officer, Ms. Sherry Dowlatshahi, who presented an official city proclamation to the Consul General, celebrating the bicentennial of diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Mexico.
The film Heart of Sky, Heart of Earth (2013) follows six young Maya in Guatemala and Chiapas through their daily and ceremonial life. Their cosmology, in which all life is sacred and interconnected, presents a deeply compelling alternative to the prevailing worldview. As giant corporations go to the ends of the earth to extract all resources, these Maya reveal their determination to resist the destruction of their culture and environment. They believe they are the guardians of the earth. Each of their stories touches upon a facet of the current global crisis.
For many years, UIW has commemorated Día de los Muertos with a beautiful ofrenda near Our Lady's Chapel, decorated with symbols and signs of the season, skulls and skeletons (reminding us that death is part of life), and most importantly, with pictures of those whom we wish to honor. These altarcitos, or “little altars,” are not only created to help us remember but also to help us learn about and celebrate the lives of our family, friends and mentors. The 2022 community ofrenda will be set up in the hallway leading to Our Lady's Chapel on Tuesday, Oct. 25. It will remain set up until Nov. 18. Share photographs of your deceased loved ones and friends on the community ofrenda outside Our Lady’s Chapel. Please include your name, cell phone and email on the back of each photo if you wish them to be returned.
Attend All Saints’ Day Mass on Nov. 1 and All Souls’ Day Mass on Nov. 2 at 12 noon in Our Lady’s Chapel. There is no better way to honor the memory of a loved one than with your prayers, joined with the prayers of your UIW family. Please note that the 6 p.m. Mass on Nov. 1 at the Chapel of the Incarnate Word has been canceled.
Sign the Book of Remembrance in the hallway near the Our Lady’s Chapel.
If your department or school will be setting up an ofrenda, take some pictures and please inform Mission and Ministry at uiwmediaministry@uiwtx.edu. UMM is compiling an ofrenda pictorial directory of these places of remembrance from our UIW campuses and Brainpower schools. Send pictures to with “Ofrenda pictures from (your name)”
Visit the UMM webpage for additional ways to honor your loved ones during this season of “remembering.” The UMM web page also includes some helpful information if you would like to create your own ofrenda. Send UMM a picture to share in the ofrenda pictorial directory so that others can see it. The webpage also includes important details and deadlines.
The inaugural UIW Student Leadership Symposium is a three-day event consisting of in-person presentations and virtual presentations including break-out sessions. It will take place on Oct. 4 - 6, 2022. Students from all three UIW campuses are encouraged to attend.
The purpose of the event is to strengthen cohesion across our all campuses (San Antonio, Irapuato and Mexico City) and raise student awareness about immigration and inspire action. Registration for the event will open no later than Sept. 1, 2022. Be on the lookout for details in The Word Today, UIW's daily employee newsletter, and on social media channels. For more information, please contact Dr. Rafael Hoyle by email at hoyle@uiwtx.edu.
Eduardo Chávez, director, speaker, podcast host and grandson of legendary civil rights activist César Chávez, will be on the UIW campus on Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2022, to discuss his journey to connect with his grandfather’s legacy, and his efforts to capture and document the journey.
The screening, in recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month, is hosted by the Beckendorf Family Center for Innovation and Global Entrepreneurship, UIW Center for Teaching and Learning, Department of Communication Arts and the San Antonio Chapter of the Fulbright Association. The film screening will take place on Sept. 20, from 6 - 8 p.m., in the UIW Student Engagement Center Ballroom and will be followed by a Q&A with award-winning journalist, producer and director Patricia Nazario. This award-winning bilingual documentary takes a modern-day look at the classic American Dream through the quintessential 21st-century entrepreneurial endeavor, food trucks!
A collection of the photographs of Anayantzin Contreras and José Luis Rodríguez Ritte, curated by Gabriella Scott of the UIW Department of Art, will be on exhibit at the Kelso Art Center’s Semmes Gallery, on Sept. 9 – 20, Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. The works of these Mexican artists explore the tensions embodied by their country’s syncretic heritage: tensions between nature and culture, instinct and intellect, design and improvisation, local and global, history and contemporaneity. These works, created in Mexico and abroad, are informed by cross-cultural exchange. In some cases, these images function as reverse “dispatches from the colonies” that once intrigued and delighted the European public with representations of difference coming from the New World. They are also grounded in the history of Mexican visual culture, in which figuration and abstraction have alternated through centuries to deploy, respectively, spirituality and intellectualism. Some of the images are presented as traditional 2-D works, some others are seeking status as objects: through the use of tactile, non-traditional materials and arrangements they evoke presence and encounter, juxtaposing tradition and modernity. In Contreras’ work, landscape and natural forms become introspective, disembodied and ethereal; Rodriguez Ritte explores idiosyncratic beauty without indulging in the narrow optics of the ethnographic gaze: the portrait is a convergence of personal and social truths, while architecture lays bare contradiction and paradox, but also imagination. Both artists focus on revealing the complexity and sophistication that, combined with a contemporary sensibility, reveal the adaptive, receptive nature of a culture in a constant state of renewal. “Ojos que no ven, corazón que no siente.” The event is presented by the UIW Department of Art.
The Kickoff to Welcoming Week 2022 will be held at the UIW Student Engagement Center Ballroom from 6 to 8 p.m. and is free and open to the public. The program includes opening remarks by Mayor Nirenberg, a showing of the documentary The Price of a Dream, and a poetry declaration by Dr. Octavio Quintanilla. For a more detailed program description, please click on the full program flyer below.
The Lewis Center's Leaders of the Americas Speaker Series was officially inaugurated on Wednesday, March 29, with Mr. Vicente Fox as our featured presenter at the UIW Concert Hall. His much-anticipated speech, titled "Immigration: Challenges and Opportunities for Our Next Generation of Leaders," was heard live and in person by over 350 members of our community in attendance. The speech was also live-streamed to our Mexico campuses. Prior to the speech, a select group of 30 students from the UIW Honors Program attended a meet-and-greet with Mr. Fox. Drs. Scott Dittloff and Verónica Acosta, who led the selection and invitation of students, were also present, along with Dr. Evans, Mr. Marcos Fragoso, Dr. Rafael Hoyle and Dr. Juan Hernández, Guanajuato's Minister of Migrant and International Affairs. The enthusiasm of students was beyond expectations. Following the speech, Dr. Evans and Mr. Fox signed a memorandum of collaboration to facilitate the development of UIW academic programs with Centro Fox.
The U.S.A. screening of Tombuktu Films' Un Mundo para Julius, based on Alfredo Bryce Echenique's novel by the same name, will be held at the UIW Concert Hall on Feb. 19 at 6 p.m. A question and answer with Peruvian director and founder of Tombuktu Films, Rossana Díaz Costa, will immediately follow. For further information, please contact Dr. Gabriel T. Saxton Ruiz, saxtonru@uiwtx.edu, Professor of Latin American Literature and Culture at the University of the Incarnate Word.
The Center for Medical Tourism Research delivered a 3-hour seminar on Oct. 19 and 22 to a mostly Mexican audience of 75 individuals. The seminar featured UIW's Dr. David Vequist and Mr. Ilan Geva of the University of Chicago as the main presenters. Dr. Vequist is the Director of the UIW Center for Medical Tourism Research, which now operates under the auspices of the Lewis Center. In response to the interest of Guanajuato government officials who attended the seminar, the CMTR is now designing a workshop to facilitate the development of a medical tourism industry cluster in Mexico's Bajío region. For more information, please contact Dr. David Vequist, CMTR Director at vequist@uiwtx.edu.