EL PASO, Texas – Michael Mason, Ph.D., director of the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage at the Smithsonian, will present a Centennial Lecture titled “Cultural Sustainability in the Age of Globalization: Community Action and Cultural Preservation” at The University of Texas at El Paso Nov. 17.
Mason is responsible for the Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections and educational and cultural programs at the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.
In 2008, the Folklife Festival turned its focus to the kingdom of Bhutan, examining the fascinating culture, customs and history of the mountain kingdom. The program included construction of an authentic Lhakhang, the same one that now sits in UTEP’s Centennial Plaza.
Since he was appointed as director in April 2013, Mason has led the center to complete its first strategic plan, increased work on cultural sustainability and intercultural dialogue, and expanded community-based cultural heritage documentation and collaboration.
During his tenure, the center has strengthened its financial base by starting an endowment, raising more than $2.5 million as part of the Smithsonian’s Capital Campaign, and accepting the second-largest gift in the center’s history. Mason has invested in bringing talented staff to the center, and hired a new Smithsonian Folklife Festival director, a deputy director and a curator for cultural and linguistic revitalization.
Mason earned his bachelor’s degree in American studies at the University of Oregon. Trained as a folklorist, he earned his master’s and doctoral degrees at Indiana University. He has been studying the cultures of the African diaspora since 1987.
In 2014, The University of Texas at El Paso celebrated the 100th anniversary of its founding as the Texas State School of Mines and Metallurgy. The Centennial Lecture Series invites noteworthy speakers to the UTEP campus to share their perspectives on a broad range of contemporary issues that are likely to impact our society, culture and lives in the years ahead.
Mason’s lecture, which is sponsored by UTEP President Diana Natalicio and the Robert B. and Lorez M. Price Memorial and Mary Smith Price Memorial Humanities Lecture, is free and open to the public.