TAMIU RTG Announces Book Selection: Carmen Aguirre's "Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter"
Texas A&M International University's (TAMIU) Reading the Globe Program (RTG) has selected Carmen Aguirre's book, "Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter" for the 2024-2025 academic year Common Read.
This compelling autobiography journals Aguirre's extraordinary journey as a young revolutionary during a turbulent political backdrop of 1970s and 1980s South America.
On September 11, 1973, General Augusto Pinochet led a violent coup that removed Salvador Allende, the democratically elected socialist president of Chile, from office. Thousands were arrested, tortured and killed under the repressive new regime. Six-year-old Carmen Aguirre and her younger sister fled the country with their parents for a life in exile.
Five years later, when her mother and stepfather returned to South America as Chilean resistance members, Carmen and her sister’s double lives began. At 18, Carmen herself joined the resistance, plunging further into a world of terror, paranoia, and euphoria. “Something Fierce” takes the reader inside war-ridden Peru, dictatorship-run Bolivia, post-Malvinas Argentina, and Pinochet's Chile during the eventful decade between 1979 and 1989.
A lecture by the author at TAMIU is scheduled Friday, Oct. 4 at 12 p.m. She will also present at the Laredo Public Library on Saturday, Oct. 5.
TAMIU students enrolled in UNIV 1201 are invited to participate in an essay competition for a chance to travel to locations in Chile featured in "Something Fierce." Details can be found on the Reading the Globe Program's website.
Dr. Jonathan Martínez, TAMIU University College instructional assistant professor, shared the RTG Program's excitement about the book selection.
“We’re currently planning this year’s trip, and we can’t wait to reveal all the exciting details on our website," he said, "We are looking forward to seeing students’ reactions to 'Something Fierce,' a truly remarkable book with an incredible story.”
Aguirre is a Chilean-Canadian award-winning theatre artist and author based in Vancouver, Canada. She is an Electric Company Theatre Core Artist and has written and co-written over 25 plays and the #1 international bestseller, "Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter" (2012 CBC Canada Reads winner), and its bestselling sequel, Mexican Hooker #1 and "My Other Roles Since the Revolution."
Her new play, "Fire Never Dies: The Tina Modotti Project" will premiere at the 2024 Chutzpah! Festival in Vancouver. She has three other plays in development across Canada. Aguirre has over 80 film, television, and stage acting credits, including her Leo-nominated lead role in the independent feature, "Bella Ciao!," a series regular on the showtime series, "Endgame," and memorable roles in "Riverdale," the Sundance-winning feature film, "Quinceañera," and "Best In Show." She can currently be seen in "Family Law” as Victor Garber’s ex-wife and rival lawyer, and in the upcoming season six of "Virgin River," playing a colleague of Doc’s.
She is the recipient of the 2011 UBCP Lorena Gale Woman of Distinction Award, the 2014 Betty Mitchell Award for an outstanding theatre performance, and was named one of the 10 Most Influential Hispanic Canadians by the Canadian Hispanic Business Alliance in 2014. Aguirre is a graduate of Studio 58.
Spearheaded by University College, TAMIU's RTG Program is a University-wide initiative aimed at engaging members of the University and the surrounding community in a common academically oriented intellectual activity.
Since 2008, the Program has enabled all First Year students to engage with a selected internationally focused book through their University Seminar during the Fall semester. This provides the opportunity for discourse about issues relevant to students and raises social awareness on a local and global scale.
Faculty and staff also participate in the Common Read, fostering and strengthening the growth of an intellectual community that supports students' academic development.
RTG also enjoys a partnership with the City of Laredo Public Library and the Common Read selected becomes Laredo's One City, One Book. With the support from Humanities Texas the author visits TAMIU and the Laredo Public Library.
For more information, please contact Cihtlalli Pérez, University College institutional effectiveness officer, at 956.326.2714, email cihtlallig.perez@tamiu.edu, or visit offices located in the Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library, room 419A.
TAMIU summer hours through Aug. 9 are Monday - Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and from 8 a.m. – 12 noon on Fridays. Regular office hours resume Monday, Aug. 12, and will be Monday and Tuesday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Wednesday and Thursday from 8 a.m. – 6 p.m., and Fridays from 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.
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Summer Semester II begins Monday, July 8, 2024. The first day of classes for the Fall 2024 semester is Monday, Aug. 26, 2024.
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