From the UA Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion | In Mexico, Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a holiday celebrated Nov. 1-2 to honor deceased ancestors, celebrate their lives and welcome the return of their spirits. During these days, people build an altar with offerings, including sugar skulls, food and drink, semisweet bread, marigold flowers, seeds, photographs, personal items, decorated tissue paper, and candles. This holiday has the long-held tradition of writing a calavera literaria, a short satirical poem that portrays people as if they were dead.

From Nov. 1 through Nov. 9, the Hispanic-Latino Association and the Department of Modern Languages and Classics, with the support of the Spanish club Los Estudiantes de Alabama sin Fronteras and the Intercultural Diversity Center, will host a Day of the Dead commemoration. Also, students of different foreign languages classes collaborated in the creation of literary calaveras, which will be hung next to the altar in the Student Center.

For more information, contact Dr. Yunuen Gómez-Ocampo.