My interdisciplinary background in literature, cultural studies, and linguistics greatly influenced and enriched my pedagogical approaches to teaching Spanish literature and culture. While attending academic institutions in Colombia [Pontificia Universidad Javeriana], Spain [Universidad de Salamanca], Argentina [Centro de Altos Estudios Literarios & Sociales], Mexico [Universidad Iberoamericana], and the United States [UC Davis, Cornell University & The New School], I embraced the opportunities and challenges of learning about different cultures and of experiencing the diverse sociocultural life of the Hispanic-speaking world. These experiences have allowed me to share personal anecdotes with my students to motivate them to discover these worlds for themselves. In my classroom, I establish a nourishing environment by stressing the importance of mutual learning, problem solving, and critical thinking. I have developed various methods to achieve these goals throughout my years as an educator.
I have sixteen years of experience teaching at the university level. I have taught introductory courses in literary theory and criticism, creative writing, and survey courses on Latin American literatures, cinema, and cultures. I especially enjoyed teaching Principles of Hispanic Literature. In all my courses, I introduce students to Spanish American literature and film using a transdisciplinary approach. I select and organize class materials around the concept of visual pedagogies. I continue investigating the ways in which analytical concepts in literary and cultural studies can be explained through critically illustrated editions, photo-essays, infographics, videogames, and digital poetics; these mediums serve to increase comprehension of texts and promotes critical thinking. I have presented my ideas on innovative graphic pedagogies for literacy acquisition and critical thinking at academic conferences in Chile, Colombia, and Mexico. Whenever possible, I draw on my research and use my publication Vida Latinoamericana y Literatura (Voluntad, 2010) to provide additional material to help students comprehend the complex network of artistic, socioeconomic, and political forces at work in the texts. At UC Davis I was honored with the Excellence in Teaching Award and the Recognition of Inspirational Teaching. In 2016 and 2017, I received the Academic Innovation Fund Grant at F&M, and more recently, I was honored with the 2018-2019 Outstanding First Year Student Advocate Award at Longwood University.
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