First Latina bishop in United Methodist Church to speak at UTPA lecture series

Bishop Minerva Carcano, the first Latina bishop in The United Methodist Church and a 1975 alumna of The University of Texas-Pan American, will be the featured speaker at the second annual Hermila Anzaldua Lecture Series hosted by the UTPA Department of Social Work.

Focusing on spirituality and social justice, the lecture will be held on Nov. 12 at 6:30 p.m. in the UTPA Ballroom. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Carcano, an Edinburg native, also earned a Master of Theology from Perkins School of Theology in 1979 from Southern Methodist University. She currently serves as bishop of the Phoenix Episcopal Area, Desert Southwest Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.

For additional information, contact the UTPA Department of Social Work at 956/381-3575.

ABOUT THE HERMILA ANZALDUA LECTURE SERIES

The lecture series honors Hermila Anzaldua, professor emeritus and founder of the social work program at UTPA, who came to the university in 1969 and became the director of the community services program which would later merge into the UTPA social work program offering an undergraduate degree in professional social work. Under her leadership, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board designated the academic program as the Bachelor of Social Work degree and in 1976 the Council on Social Work Education, the profession’s accrediting body, granted initial accreditation status.