Central College’s Central RED Society will present “Culture Night: Chile” with Paulina Mena, associate professor of biology, during a virtual event at noon Tuesday, May 18.
Membership in Central RED is required to attend, and a Zoom link will be emailed to members.
Central RED (Ready to Engage and Discover) is a volunteer-driven, lifelong learning and social organization with an abiding partnership with Central College alumni and friends who wish to share knowledge, talents and experiences. Members pay $20 annually to join Central RED.
No affiliation with Central College is required to join. For more information, visit www.central.edu/red or contact Mary Benedict by email at benedictm@central.edu or phone at 641-628-7641.
Situated south of Peru and west of Bolivia and Argentina, Chile is twice the size of Montana and home to more than 18 million people. Mena will discuss the history, people, politics and obstacles the country faces.
Mena has been teaching at Central since 2009. She obtained her bachelor’s degree from Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso, Chile, and her Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. In addition to biology, her teaching interests include intersections in introduction of the liberal arts and interdisciplinary senior capstones, such as “Pachamama Never Left: Nature and Culture of Peru” and “From Lady Bugs to Lady Gaga: The Evolution of Sex in Nature and Culture.” Mena also enjoys taking students on short-term faculty led trips abroad. So far, her classes have taken students to Belize, Costa Rica and Peru.
