"The Mexterminator" and Ethno-Techno are only two of the scheduled events Asst. Dean of Students Pablo Davis has lined up for the month of October, which is Hispanic Heritage Month.
Davis said the month's programming aims to portray the wide range of culture within the Hispanic population.
"Hispanic/Latino culture is not only a part of the rainbow of American culture, but a rainbow in itself," Davis said. "There are 20 nationalities, several languages and people of various generational connections, which leads to enormous diversity in the Latino community."
The month's activities will commence Oct. 4 with a lecture by Michael Gerli, a professor of Spanish and Portuguese literature, on a medieval Spanish novel, "La Celestina." Davis said Gerli will explore the novel's twin portrayal of religious and sexual desire.
The event is titled the First Annual Faculty/Student Colloquium.
"Bringing students and faculty together has emerged as the de facto theme of this year's Hispanic Heritage Month," Davis said.
The second of five major events planned for the month is the Second Annual Noche Bohemia, a festive night of poetry and drama recitation, as well as music performances by faculty and students.
Later in the month, Guillermo Gomez-Pena, a Mexican-born performance artist, will present "Ethno-Techno" --- a presentation that explores how Mexican-Americans straddle two sides of a border both physically and culturally.
Davis described Gomez-Pena's performances as "provocative, creative and very cutting edge."
The fourth event is a panel on the realities of contemporary Latino immigration. Ruben Martinez, a former migrant worker and author of the book "Crossing Over: A Mexican Family on the Migrant Trail," will participate in a panel which will address local and national concerns for Latino immigrants.
The last event, "Tongue Ties," a variety of performances on the perils and joys of living in two different languages,will reflect the challenges and benefits of being bilingual. "Tongue Ties" is meant to be a play on words which signifies the sense of being tongue tied as a result of bilingualism and the ties that arise from being connected by a single language.
Davis said the aim of Hispanic Heritage Month is threefold. First, to inform Hispanic and Latino students who are from Latin America or have Latin American heritage to connect with aspects of their own heritage.
Second, to help students from diverse heritages within Latino countries connect with each other, and finally to facilitate connection with the wider community of students who are interested in Latino cultures.
Latino Student Union President Daniel Garcia said he was unsatisfied with past attendance at similar events.
Garcia said the turnout at Latino events "has included a large number of minorities but he would like to see more [non-Hispanic] Americans."
He added that "the LSU welcomes everybody" and would love to have all ethnicities at our events.
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