Junípero Serra's legacy examined

Nov. 19 marks the 300th anniversary of Junípero Serra's birth, and CSUMB professor Ruben Mendoza, a scholar on the California Mission system, has been busy granting interviews.

An interview Mendoza did for Eternal Word Television Network, a global Catholic radio and television network,  will be aired at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 21. EWTN is available on DISH Network, Direct TV, and Comcast Digital Channel 229. His interview will also be available online here.

Mendoza has also been interviewed for a Catalonian mini-series on Serra, which began airing in the Balearic Islands in September and is expected to air in Mexico in the near future. 

If the mini-series is as good as the promo, I can't wait to watch it.

And speaking of Serra, CSUMB will host a symposium on Serra's legacy on his birthday.

Serra is credited with founding the first nine of the 21 missions in Alta California. The missions were instrumental in the advance of European colonialism, and in the subjugation of Native Americans to the colonial powers.

The symposium will take place from 6:30 to 9 p.m. in the University Center living room, and will include presentations by Rose Marie Beebe and Robert Senkewicz, both professors at Santa Clara University. Guest panelists will include Ann Marie Sayers of Indian Canyon; Kathryn England-Aytes, a psychology lecturer at CSUMB; and Father Carl Faria of the Diocese of Monterey.

In conjunction with the symposium, an exhibit of mission photography by Mendoza will open in the Student Center West Lounge at 5 p.m., Nov. 14.

The University Center is located on Sixth Avenue at B Street. For driving directions and a campus map, click here.  Event is free, but a parking permit must be purchased from a dispenser on the lot or here.

RSVP for both events by calling Heather Wilde at hwilde@csumb.edu or calling 582-3890.