Students interested in volunteering with Engineers Without Borders are encouraged to attend a lecture featuring Dan Banda, a documentary filmmaker, who will discuss promoting a positive discourse between the United States and Central America.
Banda will speak at the Olin Engineering Center on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in a Engineers Without Borders-sponsored presentation. The non-profit organization is known for its partnerships with developing countries that include implementing sustainable engineering projects there and training engineering students to be internationally responsible.
A Milwaukee native, Banda is a Marquette graduate and former College of Communication employee. He is currently involved with Marquette's College of Engineering's Health, Environment, and Infrastructure in Latin America Initiative, which sends students to Central American countries for two week service learning projects. Banda has also worked with Daniel Zitomer, associate professor of engineering, on an array of projects related to Guatemala's land, people and resources.
Focusing on ethnicity's many meanings and cultural information not usually offered in history classes, Banda's Emmy award-winning documentaries have been featured on the Public Broadcasting Service.
His multipurpose documentaries attempt to create a better understanding of Mexican and American history, explain the impact of cultural identity on national identity and give a voice to those who reject the labels and stereotypes of a racial group.
When describing his involvement with ethnic identity studies and diversity training, Banda said, "I'm like the 'fly in the ointment' kind of guy," raising questions that may even make ethnic studies professors uncomfortable.
"A lot of people fail to look at their own ethnicity, which creates a sense of 'otherness,' " Banda said.
Even though some people prefer not to admit it, ethnic borders exist and Banda wants to expose these boundaries in the hopes of diminishing their effect on society, he said.
Banda's lecture on Wednesday will not only focus on physical borders in Central America, but an array of cultural, social and ethnic borders.
His documentaries and frequent visits to Panama, Guatemala, Mexico and other Latin American countries offer a firsthand perspective on Central American culture and how to enact positive change in these regions.
Kathryn Rasmussen, president of Marquette's chapter of Engineers Without Borders and College of Engineering senior, said in an e-mail that the chapter sponsors trips to Central America to help communities in need.
"While on these trips students have experienced the difference between the North and Central American cultures, and have returned to Marquette wanting to understand more of the culture that had welcomed them so warmly," she said.
Engineers Without Borders is sponsoring three trips to Guatemala in the coming year and Rasmussen hopes Banda's presentation will "spark enthusiasm in students about the bond between people of various cultures."
"Banda will help provide insight into cultural practices and links between the cultures, and will show similarities not obvious," she said.