This year's celebration was planned and presented by the students in Professor Mildred Lopez’s MLSP 201 class. It is co-sponsored by the Duquesne University Honors College and Gumberg Library.
This program aims to contribute to the University mission in promoting multicultural perspectives and awareness by converging the feeling of being embedded in a Latin American communal celebration with a rewarding experience of learning a new language in a relaxed and fun environment.
The Day of the Dead is an important celebration not only in Mexico but also in other parts of South America. Indigenous Pre-Columbian societies celebrated the dead before the arrival of the Spanish. After their arrival, the celebration was aligned with the Catholic celebrations of All Saints Day (November 1) and All Souls Day (November 2) creating a phenomenon which in anthropology is called religious syncretism. Every region or town celebrating the Day of the Dead does so in their own unique way. In recent times, due to the significant Spanish population in the United Sates, it also has become one of the most popular festivities for Hispanic and non-Hispanic communities in some states.
