Environmental Campaigns and Politics lecture set for Feb. 15

SHREVEPORT, La. (Centenary News Service) — "How environmental campaigns are affected by border and immigration politics" will be the topic by guest lecturer, Dr. Jessica Piekielek, Tuesday, Feb 15.

The lecture takes place in the Whited Room in Bynum Commons beginning at 6 p.m., and is free and open to the public.

Dr. Jessica Piekielek

Dr. Piekielek is the ACS-Mellon Environmental Post-Doctoral Fellow in Environmental Anthropology at Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss. She studied cultural and applied anthropology at the University of Arizona, and has research interests in environmental anthropology, especially conservation and environmentalism, and U.S.-Mexico border studies. In her dissertation, she explored the themes of conservation, wilderness and the shifting construction of borders. Her dissertation fieldwork was based at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in Ariz., and El Pinacate y Gran Desierto de Altar Biosphere Reserve in Sonora, Mexico.

She has taught introductory and environmental anthropology classes at the University of Arizona and Pima Community College in Tucson. She also worked as a research assistant at the Bureau of Applied Research in Anthropology, exploring the histories and successes of small, rural cooperatives in Brazil and Paraguay and the possibilities for community-created green spaces in Nogales, Mexico.

Before entering graduate school, Dr. Piekielek served as a policy advocate on indigenous affairs for a Quaker non-profit lobby organization in Washington, D.C.

For more information about this event, call 318.869.5082.

About Centenary College of Louisiana

Centenary College is a private, four-year arts and sciences college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Founded in 1825, it is the oldest chartered liberal arts college west of the Mississippi River and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Centenary is one of 16 colleges and universities constituting the Associated Colleges of the South and has been recognized as "One of the Best 373 Colleges" by the Princeton Review and one of "America's Best Colleges" and one of "America's Best Private Colleges" by Forbes.com. In 2008 Centenary College celebrated 100 years in Shreveport and Bossier City.