Woodring to bring Arizona educator Curtis Acosta to campus Oct. 17

Western Washington University’s Woodring College of Education will host a lecture by Curtis Acosta, a high school teacher of 21 years in Tucson whose Mexican-American curriculum was outlawed by the state of Arizona, from 7-8:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 17, in Academic Instructional Center West room 204 on Western’s campus. Curtis will speak on the increasing criminalization of Latino youth and the type of educational programs and pedagogies that can inspire hope, empathy, and love.

Banning his curriculum sparked a nationwide debate over what population is represented and whose voice is heard in the nation’s public schools. According to the U.S. Census, Hispanics comprise the largest minority population at 17 percent, and the government projects that in five years minorities will make up more than half of the children under 18.

An upcoming issue of Western’s Journal of Educational Controversy, “Who Defines the Public in Public Education,” will publish an article by Acosta, “Dangerous Minds in Tucson: The Banning of Mexican-American Studies and Critical Thinking In Arizona.”

Acosta is an award-winning educator that has been featured in the documentary “Precious Knowledge,” and in profiles by CNN, PBS, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. He is also the founder of the Acosta Latino Learning Partnership, an educational consultation firm designated to help educators create dynamic learning environments, pedagogies and curricula.

Acosta continues to teach high school students at Prescott College, and pursue his doctorate in Teaching, Learning and Sociocultural Studies at the University of Arizona. He will be the keynote speaker at the Northwest Teaching for Social Justice Conference in Seattle following the lecture at Western.

The event is free and open to the public and is sponsored by the Journal of Educational Controversy and the Center for Education, Equality and Diversity at the Woodring College of Education, Western Washington University.

For more information, contact Western Washington University Professor of Educational Philosophy Lorraine Kasprisin at 360-650-3871 or lorraine.kasprisin@wwu.edu.