Part of the Latin American Studies in Motion series.

Light reception at 3:30 p.m. in Humanities Gateway Courtyard

Chulas Fronteras is a vérité style documentary film that tells the story of the Norteño music played on both sides of the Mexico–Texas border. It offers an insightful look at the Chicano experience as mirrored in the lives and music of the most acclaimed Norteño musicians of the Texas-Mexican border, and depicts the grassroots recording industry and radio networks being built around the music. Chulas Fronteras was selected by The Library Of Congress to be added to the National Film Registry list.

Deborah Vargas is associate professor and Henry Rutgers Term Chair in Comparative Sexuality, Gender, and Race at Rutgers University. In her book, Dissonant Divas in Chicana Music: The Limits of La Onda (Minnesota University Press, 2012) she devotes a chapter to the accordeon-style music that is characteristic of the Texan borderlands conjuntos that are featured in the film. She will share her expertise on this popular music, its recording, and its vital role in community life in this region.