The Latino Studies Program at Cornell University begins its Fall Colloquium Speaker Series with a free public lecture by Laura Pérez, professor of ethnic studies at the University of California Berkeley, Thursday, Sept. 28, at 4 p.m. in Room B30 of Goldwin Smith Hall.

Pérez's talk is titled "Altarities: Chicana Art, Politics and Spirituality," and she will explore the intersection of the political, the spiritual and art in the work of more than 30 visual, performance and literary artists. The "literature" Perez will refer to includes comics, CD-ROMs, spoken word, mystery novels, book art and installations.

Pérez attended the University of Chicago and completed her Ph.D. at Harvard University. She has written on Central American literature, Chicana educational issues, Chicana literature and art. She currently is completing a work that will be among the first to discuss Latina art.

Pérez is the first of four guest speakers scheduled for LSP's fall colloquium series. Upcoming guests and speakers include:

• Author Loida Maritza Pérez '87, reading from her acclaimed novel "Geographies of Home," Saturday, Oct. 21, at 3:30 p.m. in the A.D. White House.
• Ginetta Candelario, professor of sociology and Latin American and Latina/o studies, Smith College, Friday, Nov. 10, at 4 p.m. in 142 Goldwin Smith Hall. The title of her talk is "Africans Have No History."
• Ricardo Rene Laremont, professor of political science, and Lisa Yun, assistant professor of English, both at SUNY Binghamton, Monday, Nov. 13, at 4:30 p.m. in the A.D. White House. Laremont and Yun will discuss Asian immigration to the Caribbean, Asian-Latino populations in the United States and their political/social commonalties with the larger Asian American population.

For more information about these events, contact Marti Dense in the LSP office at (607) 255-3197, or by e-mail mfd1@cornell.edu .