Spanish in the Community

The Samuel Proctor Oral History Program (https://oral.history.ufl.edu/) is an award-winning, social-justice research center engaged in experiential learning initiatives all over the world. Their team of student researchers, interns, volunteers, and staff are dedicated to gathering, preserving, and promoting living histories of individuals from all walks of life.

These are some of my jobs with the center.

Spanish American Theater
​for Social Justice

América: Comida y Conflicto

First UF Quest Course taught in Spanish

In Spring 2020, Prof. Kathryn Dwyer Navajas and I taught América: Comida y Conflicto, the first UF Quest Course taught in Spanish, which is also the first course offered in Spanish ever for first-year undergraduates. This course uses both written and visual forms of literature, film, art, music, and historical texts. We examine conflicts regarding the use of natural resources, specifically food production, in México, Central America and the Caribbean, at two key moments: the colonial period and the twentieth century. From Columbus´ initial assessment of the profitability of natural and human resources that he encountered, to contemporary negotiations of trade deals involving agricultural products. Conflict and war have shaped the land, the people, and the cultures in the region. Corpus focuses on four products with a bloody history: sugar, bananas, coffee, and corn, to understand the local struggles, foreign interventions, and their aftermaths, including waves of migration. We had an enrollment of 28 students.
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