I have taught in diverse academic environments in Mexico and the United States, from a large public university to a small private university and a correctional facility. My teaching goal is to guide students of different learning styles, backgrounds, and interests to appreciate the relevance of literary and cultural discussions and the ways students can actively contribute to them.
ESL Instruction
In my role as English language and literature instructor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), I contributed to creating connections between Mexico’s present academic and cultural context and English-Speaking cultures. I also furthered the English language instruction of university students from beginner to proficiency level ESL courses.
Writing and Composition
I am committed to help students of diverse backgrounds and abilities and at different stages in their academic development become stronger writers. I facilitate the use of writing as a tool for critical thinking as an essential skill in students’ academic and professional careers.
As Writing Center consultant at Brandeis, I encouraged students to use their sessions with me as a resource to help them work through their ideas and test different ways of expressing them. I led students to reevaluate their approach to writing so that they saw it as an ongoing process to develop arguments instead of attempting to meet a fixed set of formulas dictated by instructors.
These are principles I applied on a broader scale when planning and teaching University Writing Seminar courses, where I prompted students to view their papers as a vehicle for exploring questions and engaging in conversations with peers, instructors and other readers. I emphasized peer review, office hours and class presentations as opportunities for students to exchange ideas with others as they pursued individual research projects.
Shakespeare and Early Modern Literature
The early modern period may seem, at first glance, to be removed from present experience, which is why my research and teaching are dedicated to showing the resonance of this time of rich cultural production in the light of current issues. I also highlight the relevance of canonical texts to readers from various cultural backgrounds.
For instance, when teaching survey courses on early modern literature and Shakespeare at UNAM in Mexico City, I prompted students to consider how Shakespeare’s deep understanding of ambition and power in his tragedies and histories could illuminate the dynamics of recent Mexican politics.
Beyond University
I am driven to bring Latin American literature, film, and culture to diverse audiences in alternative educational settings. For the Boston Pre-Release Center School of Reentry, I designed a college credit-bearing course for incarcerated individuals of diverse backgrounds and academic histories. In this course, titled “Monstruos, Demonios y Sueños. Latin-American Fantasy in Short Stories and Films,” participants discussed social issues Spanish-speaking countries through fantasy narratives. They produced analytical and creative writing texts and oral presentations on social questions they were invested in, like macho culture or racism in Latin America.
As Instructor and Workshop facilitator for the Brandeis Educational Justice Initiative, I designed and led workshop sessions and created a handbook to guide participants through their educational paths, as part of the Partakers Empowerment Program, which fosters community reintegration of previously incarcerated individuals.
I have taught Shakespeare and other literature and film courses to age fifty and above adults in the Boston area at Brandeis Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (BOLLI). This was a wonderful experience that posed interesting challenges, as participants had not read Shakespeare for many years, and they found the language and poetry of the plays intimidating. In response, I like presenting literary works like Shakespeare’s as part of a broader cultural landscape to show the relevance of the plays to students who may initially feel culturally or temporally removed from them. I also contrasted scenes from different film adaptations, so that the class could discuss the aspects that each director emphasizes.
Select Courses Taught
Brandeis University
“University Writing Seminar: Monstruos, Demonios y Sueños. Latin-American Fantasy in Short Stories and Films”
“University Writing Seminar: Whose side of the story? Narrators and Perspective on Page and Screen”
School of Reentry, Boston Pre-Release Center
“Monstruos, Demonios y Sueños. Latin-American Fantasy in Short Stories and Films”
Brandeis Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
“The Remains of the Day: history, memory and emotion in Ishiguro’s novel and Ivory’s film”
“Henry V and Hamlet in Words, Pictures, and Human Life”
“The King is Dead: Macbeth in Renaissance England”
National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).
Shakespeare, Elizabethan and Jacobean Literature, English Literature of the Seventeenth Century, Writing and Composition in English, English as a Second Language (Beginner to Advanced), and Nineteenth-Century English Literature.