Meet the Nuestra Casa Initiative Team
The Nuestra Casa Initiative Team has shepherded the project through development since December of 2010. The Nuestra Casa Initiative began as a conversation between UTEP Centennial Museum Director Dr. Bill Wood and Dr. Eva Moya about how to reengage the community of the Paso del Norte Region in the social and public health issues of TB and HIV/AIDS using Nuestra Casa as an advocacy and social mobilization catalyst. Moya brought the faculty members, staff, and students identified below from departments and programs across campus to the initiative and together they worked to analyze the “trapitos” (small pieces of cloth with insights about TB contributed by exhibition visitors) as a window into how people think and feel about TB and how their perceptions were impacted by the exhibit. The work of these students has become an integral component of Nuestra Casa, The Exhibition on display at the UTEP Centennial Museum from January 17th to December 6th, 2012. Over the course of 2012, the Initiative team will lead the development of a complete schedule of workshops, events, presentations, and other events that will refocus the Paso del Norte community on this important social and public health issue.
The Community Partners:
- Project Concern International
- USAID
- Mexican Consulate in El Paso
- Alliance of Border Collaborative
- TB Photovoice
The Artist:
- Damien Schumann
The UTEP Students:
- Michelle Alvarado
- Enrique Botello
- Victoria Bowler
- Marisela Cruz
- Diego Dávila
- Leah Diaz
- Michelle Díaz de Leon
- Viviana Fernandez
- Erick Fontanez
- Guadalupe Marquez
- Laura Martinez
- Valeria Mendoza
- Lauren Moreno
- Patricia Odette Carrete
- Crystal Ulibarri
- Amanda Volker
The UTEP Professors, Staff and Partners:
- Silvia Chávez
- Lucia Durá, Department of English and the Social Justice Initiative
- Azuri Gonzalez, Center for Civic Engagement
- Eva Moya, Department of Social Work and Project Concern International
- Guillermina “Gina” Nuñez-Mchiri, Department of Anthropology and Sociology
- Raquel del Consuelo Orduño, TB Photovoice
- Jennifer Rodriguez, Center for Civic Engagement
- Arvind Singhal, Department of Communication and the Social Justice Initiative
- Rocio Solis, Center for Civic Engagement
- Bill Wood, Centennial Museum and Department of Anthropology and Sociology
The Centennial Museum Staff, Interns, and Volunteers:
- Sonia Alvarado
- Barb Bailey
- Josias Castorena
- Scott Cutler
- Kaye Mullins
- Eurydice Saucedo
- Efrén Solorzano
- Marcela Verona
- John White
Participating UTEP Departments and Programs:
- The College of Health Sciences
- The Department of Anthropology and Sociology
- The Department of Communication
- The Department of Social Work
- The Social Justice Initiative
- The Center for Civic Engagement
- The Centennial Museum and Chihauhaun Desert Gardens