NORTH MIAMI, Florida – October 7, 2013 – (HISPANICIZE WIRE) – Florida International University’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication (SJMC) today announced the participation of Dan Restrepo, a former Special Assistant to President Obama, as a panelist in the school’s upcoming Hispanic Communication Conference: Bridging Culture and Behavior event. The two-day conference will take place at FIU’s Biscayne Bay Campus on November 7 – 8, 2013.
“We are very pleased to have Mr. Restrepo as a speaker in this national conference,” said Raul Reis, dean of the SJMC. “We are certain his background and expertise in effectively engaging the Latino community on a political level will provide ample discussion points and insights that will be beneficial to our attendees.”
Dan Restrepo – Founder and Managing Director of Restrepo Strategies LLC, an international strategic consulting firm – has built a career crafting strategies and solving problems at the intersection of policy, politics, communications, and law. He is a regular conference speaker; and is an on-air contributor for CNN Español. For nearly six years and through two presidential campaigns, Restrepo served as the principal advisor to President Obama on issues related to Latin America, the Caribbean, and Canada, serving as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the National Security Council from March 2009 to July 2012, and as an advisor to Obama for America in 2008 and 2012. He also served as a principal Spanish-language media surrogate for the 2008 and 2012 Obama presidential campaigns, among many other positions.
Mr. Restrepo will participate in the conference’s round table discussion, “Legacy and Prospects of Latin American Communication Research: Hispanic Media Markets Here and There,” together with Dr. Leonardo Ferreira, Worlds Ahead Scholar in International Communication at the SJMC; Dr. Jake Beniflah, the Executive Director of the The Center for Multicultural Science; Millie Carrasquillo, Senior Vice President of Research at Telemundo Media; Dr. Manuel Chavez, Professor in the School of Journalism at Michigan State University; Dr. Kenton T. Wilkinson, Thomas Jay Harris Regents Professor and director of the Thomas Jay Harris Institute for Hispanic and International Communication in the College of Media and Communication at Texas Tech University; Dr. Sallie Hughes and Dr. Gonzalo Soruco, professors at the School of Communication of the University of Miami, among others.
For more information on the conference and how to register, please visit: http://hcc2013.com
About the Hispanic Communication Conference
The Hispanic Communication Conference: Bridging Culture and Behavior will join scholars and industry professionals from around the country to discuss and analyze communication among Hispanics and their stakeholders, with an emphasis in the public relations and advertising sectors. Within this theme, topics of interest will include consumer culture and behavior, health, and environmental and political communication.
The two-day conference will include keynote speakers, discussion panels, and a focus group with Hispanic college students. A mix of scholars and professionals will comprise the panels.
About The School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Florida International University
The School of Journalism and Mass Communication (SJMC) at Florida International University is at the forefront of global and strategic communications education. With more than 1,900 students, 82 percent minority, the school offers undergraduate and graduate degrees and certificate programs in advertising, broadcasting, journalism, and public relations – including its Spanish-language Journalism master’s program, the first of its kind in the United States. As one of only 25% of all communication schools in the country fully accredited by ACEJMC, the SJMC is ranked in the Top 3 nationally for undergraduate communication degrees awarded to Hispanics. The School’s master’s program in Global Strategic Communications emphasizes global decision making and has rapidly become a model for other such graduate programs in the country, underscoring the importance of global learning initiatives and international citizenship.