Initiative
SA Fall '24 Mich
Call notes
(203) 236-9863, didn’t show up!
Title
Assistant Professor in Residence
School Name
University of Connecticut
Department
Department of Geography, Sustainability, Community, and Urban Studies
Engagement Description
Topics may vary depending on students interested in social movements: building mutual aid networks; immigration justice; reproductive health/justice; climate change/environmental justice among other topics.
Experience
I have partnered with several organizations to include community-based work in my teaching. In my previous institution (UMBC), I organized a workshop on social action for undocumented Latin American and African immigrants in Baltimore. For example, I collaborated with CASA de Maryland in the youth summit, where youth develop strategies and a curriculum to teach their school official about different social injustices in their school. I also collaborated with Centro Sol to provide youth with the tools to build a map that shows their social determinants of health in Baltimore. At UConn, in the course URBN1300, I have incorporated different approaches to community asset mapping in partnership with NEST (Neighborhood Housing Services of Waterbury). Aligning with NEST goals, students assisted their project by conducting surveys in the South End Neighborhoods to learn about the area's strengths. From those surveys, students developed a map linking their interests, such as environmental racism, access to public health, lack of community connection, and strengthening business in the area to provide potential responses to the community. In my class GEOG3000: Race, Sex, Place, and Space, I am currently partnering with the Afro-Caribbean Cultural Center to develop a project documenting hidden Latin American and Latinx stories in Waterbury. Students are conducting oral history, archival research in the local library, and oral histories with current activists in the city to learn and map the past, present, and future of Latin American and Latinx communities in Waterbury. Students plan to present their results to community members.
Interest
My main interest in this course development program is to incorporate a pedagogical approach that engages in reciprocal learning with students on topics that seek to change policy. Often, students receive theoretical material without understanding the connection between law or city policy and how this policy impacts their communities. My main objectives during the institute will be: 1) incorporate a social action approach to activities in this new course; 2) create a course syllabus with a social action approach to fit a 14-week course; 3) incorporate methods to adapt this pedagogy to the classes online as I teach these courses during the summer as well.
How did you hear about opportunity
google search
Semester Teaching
Fall '25
Community Engagement
Social Action
Breakout Group
Environment & Sustainability
