Mariachi Country

Dive deep into the world of mariachi in the United States. Join for lively, onstage performances by Mariachi El Son de Morelos and Academia Cesar Chavez’s “mariachito” (little mariachi), followed by a discussion about the profound impact mariachi has on fostering a sense of belonging and pride among Mexican and Mexican American communities. Renowned author and journalist Cecilia Ballí will discuss how mariachi serves as a transformative space for young adults, as well as how she finds inspiration and connection through mariachi—a musical genre that she says knows no borders. Together, we will celebrate the resilience of immigrant communities and how this rich musical tradition serves as a powerful vessel for immigrant communities to preserve their culture, traditions, and identity.

Photo credit: Benjamin Lowy for the New York Times.

The (In)Justice Series presented by the Institute for Advanced Study at the University of Minnesota brings together scholars, artists, activists, and community leaders to discuss different visions for what justice might look like. This event is presented in partnership with the Voice, Art, Community Series from the Office of the President.

About the Presenters

Cecilia Ballí is a writer and journalist. She has written extensively about Tejano history and culture, immigration, among other subjects. She has published stories in The New York TimesMagazine, Harper’s Magazine, and Columbia Journalism Review; in 2000, she became the first Latina or Latino writer at Texas Monthly. Ballí is also a cultural anthropologist who taught for six years as an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin. She is currently a Professor of Practice in the College of Liberal and Fine Arts at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She is also the founder of Culture Concepts, a creative and strategic consultancy focused on ethnographic research, cultural analysis, and storytelling. Her latest story for The New York Times Magazine chronicled a championship season among Texas’ most elite high school mariachis, and is being developed into a scripted and unscripted television show by Fremantle. The daughter of former migrant farmworkers, she grew up crossing the border and is a proud tejana and fronteriza. She’s roamed around Texas much of her life, but presently lives in San Antonio.

Moderated by: Bianet Castellanos is an anthropologist, Distinguished McKnight University Professor of American Studies, and director of the Institute for Advanced Study. She is an affiliate faculty in American Indian Studies, Chicano and Latino Studies, Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies, and the Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change. Her new book, Indigenous Dispossession: Housing and Maya Indebtedness in Mexico (Stanford University Press 2021), analyzes how Maya families make sense of the cultural, political, and legal ramifications of neoliberal housing policies that privilege mortgage finance over land redistribution. It was awarded the Gregory Bateson Book Prize, Arthur Rubel Book Prize, and Edward Bruner Book Prize. She served for five years as a board member of El Colegio High School in Minneapolis.

Related Links

• “A Championships Season in Mariachi Country” by Cecilia Ballí for the New York Times
• Cecilia Ballí
• Mariachi Son de Morelos
• Institute for Advanced Study