The Western Connecticut State University Department of World Languages and Cultures and the WCSU International Center will host Dr. Gloria Arjona, a lecturer in the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences at CalTech, for a virtual discussion about “Selena: Breaking Gender Barriers in Tejano Music” at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 16.
The event is in English, and it is open to the public via Webex at here.
Arjona lectured at WCSU in 2013 during Hispanic Heritage Month about Latin American cultures, including five important themes to Mexican culture.
This time, Arjona will discuss the various barriers broken by Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, including being able to succeed in a male-oriented musical style so successfully that she was referred to as the “Queen of Tejano Music.” Arjona also will discuss how Selena made Tejano music appealing to audiences that were not Tejano music fans. Arjona feels that there are two meanings within the discussion: “breaking gender sexual barriers and breaking musical genres or styles.”
WCSU Department of World Languages and Cultures Chairperson Dr. Galina Bakhtiarova and Arjona became friends when both received their doctorates in Spanish at the University of Southern California. She said that Arjona’s lectures and performances “have always been a great success.”
For the login information to join the Webex, send an email to bakhtiarg@wcsu.edu. For more information, contact the Office of Public Relations at pr@wcsu.edu.