Faculty Forum: Ideas to learn about Latinx history

We hope you had a chance to attend our May Faculty Forum on Equity in Teaching. You can review the presentation slides on our May 2022 SSU Faculty Development Forum home page. This week we'll be looking at some resources inspired by conversations at the forum. 

First, for me, this article by Mays Imad from July 2021 still resonated on the topic of trauma-informed teaching. She writes personally about how trauma can impact the classroom, and gives practical ideas for what supporting mental health while teaching might look like: How faculty can support college students' mental health this fall (opinion). Links to an external site.

Second, there was a great question in the Q&A of the HSI session about how faculty can prepare to become an Hispanic Serving Institution. While one branch of conversation focused on learning Spanish (World Languages allows any faculty to audit language classes at SSU!), another focused on learning more about the history, nuances and diversity of the Latinx experience. For me, a great resource for finding out what I didn't know I didn't know has been the NPR Podcast Code Switch Links to an external site.. In their words, "Hosted by journalists of color, our podcast tackles the subject of race with empathy and humor." Here are some episodes that focus on aspects of the Latinx experience: 

Questioning the monolith of a single “Latino” identity:

Who You Calling 'Hispanic'? : Code Switch : NPR Links to an external site.

Interrogating race in Latinx communities: 

Can Therapy Solve Racism? Links to an external site.

What Does It Mean To Be Latino? The 'Light-Skinned Privilege' Edition Links to an external site.

Puerto Rico, Island Of Racial Harmony? Links to an external site.

Families with mixed immigration status:

Status Update : Code Switch : NPR Links to an external site.

 

Code Switch has stories from a variety of perspectives, including Asian-American, Filipino, Muslim-American, Native American, African American, and more. If want to explore, check out The Very Best Of Code Switch, In 8 Episodes Links to an external site.

And if you're a basketball fan, you might enjoy the Davíd and Goliath story about the relationship between the US and Puerto Rico, as told via a basketball game Links to an external site..