Curriculum to Community: Latina Students Working in/for Latina/o Communities

Comprised of Anthroplogy, Sociology, Ethnic Studies and Spanish language and literature professors, the panel will be an opportunity for us to reflect upon our community based learning and research courses with local Latina/o... [ view full abstract ]

Comprised of Anthroplogy, Sociology, Ethnic Studies and Spanish language and literature professors, the panel will be an opportunity for us to reflect upon our community based learning and research courses with local Latina/o communities in Western Massachusetts. Our courses work with partners who run the gamut from a resilient but beleaguered Puerto Rican community in formerly thriving industrial cities, to newer undocumented, migrant and immigrant Central American laborers in area rural and suburban towns. We theorize our respective pedagogical strategies in terms of 1) how they are informed by Latin@ Studies social justice ethos; 2) transform the pedagogies and paradigms of our respective disciplines, departments and institutions; and 3) affect our community partners, our students and our professional trajectories.

Candelario will present:"Saber Es Poder: Teaching and Learning About Social Inequality in a New England Latin@ Community" This paper will recount the history and theory of the community-based learning (CBL) sociology course I developed on the Cuban, Dominican and Puerto Rican incorporation into mainlaind United States with a substantial component of the course devoted to understanding the local Latino/a community of Holyoke, MA as a case study. In addition to introducing students to sociological approaches to the causes and consequences of emigration from the Hispanic Caribbean to the US, the course utilizes a combination of conventional pedagogical approaches and demanding experential learning strategies.

Hernández will present: "Curriculum to Community: Latina Students Working in/for Latina/o Communities" Community based learning is a central part of the interdisciplinary training in Latina/o Studies at Mount Holyoke College. The presentation will address two “community-based learning” projects underway in conjunction with courses on immigration history and politics. The roles of students, faculty, community liaisons as well as the central experiential challenges will be discussed. The oddly parallel sites for these projects are the Holyoke Public Schools and the Franklin County Jail in which students serve in multivalent roles as translators, visitors, and advocates in entrenched bureaucracies.

Marentes will present: "For Whose Benefit? Spanish Translation Training, Public Health Professions and Latina/os Communities" Using the example of the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s certificate in Spanish and Health and the course “Spanish Translation for Community Health Services”, this paper explores the ways in which Latino Studies and Community Engagement and Service Learning pedagogies can engage, disrupt and profit from recent tendencies in the neoliberal university to emphasize profesionalization in its curriculum.

Martínez will present:"Infusing Latin@ studies into traditional anthropological curriculum and honors program development: ¡Sí se puede!" In my work directing the Honors Program at a local Community College, I have established a year-long summer institute where students work with grassroots agencies in the Pioneer Valley on social justice issues. This institute engages students as active collaborators on a community-based participatory research project exploring how Latina and Black mothers address their maternal health needs amidst structural barriers.