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hispanic studies

A guide to Día de los muertos celebrations in Lexington

Availability

Fall 23 office hours: Monday 9:30-11:30 and 2-3, Wednesday and Friday 9:30-11:30. Other times via Zoom by appointment.

Education

PhD, Hispanic Studies University of Kentucky

MA, Spanish University of Kentucky

BA, Spanish Berea College

Biography

I teach a wide variety of courses, including Intermediate Spanish, Spanish American culture, Spanish for Heritage Speakers, and the service-learning course Hispanic Kentucky. I am particularly interested in finding practical and professional ways for students to engage with our local Latinx communities and use Spanish in practical, personal ways. Currently my teaching emphasis includes instructional design and service-learning curricular development, in particular in relation to inclusive and digital pedagogies

In my role as Director of Elementary Language Instruction, I provide administrative oversight and supervise the instruction of the six courses in our elementary and intermediate Spanish language sequence. This work involves managing the curriculum for these classes, providing professional development and mentoring for the Graduate Teaching Assistants who teach these classes, and conducting program evaluations.

My research applies the field of migration studies to our local context through the collection and documentation of the histories and cultures of Kentucky’s Hispanic and Latino people and communities through the in-progress Kentucky Hispanic Heritage Project (https://khhp.createuky.net/). I also enjoy studying creative narratives (films, short stories, novels, and chronicles) about Hispanic and Latinx communities in Kentucky and migration in the Spanish-speaking world, in particular Mexico and Central America.

Beyond the university, I have many years of experience working and traveling in Mexico and the US-Mexico Border region.  I worked with Lexington's Hispanic community for over seven years as a social services provider, health educator, interpreter/translator, and community organizer. During that time, I made many trips to Mexico, visiting the states from which Kentucky's migrants hail and getting to know the Mexican health care system and reasons why people choose to migrate. In 2013-14 I served as Director for Georgetown College's Inmersión en Español Spanish Immersion Program. I have also participated in activities with the Foundation for Latin American and Latin@ Culture and Arts, the Latino Leadership and College Experience Camp, and the Lexington Latino Festival Health Fair planning committee.

Selected Publications:

"‘It’s Important that Diversity is the Hub of Lexington’s Growth’/ ‘Es importante que la diversidad sea el foco del desarrollo en Lexington’.” Kentucky Hispanic Heritage Project, 31 May 2023.

“Migration Chronicles: Reporting on the Paradoxes of Migrant Visibility.” Textos Híbridos: Revista de estudios sobre la crónica latinoamericana. 2.1 (2012)

“Tensiones heterogéneas: La redefinición de lo subalterno en Sab y Aves sin nido." Retomando la palabra: las pioneras del xix en diálogo con la crítica contemporánea. Claire Martin and Nelly Goswitz, eds. (forthcoming from Iberoamicano in June 2012)

“El activismo local de Maquilapolis: Armonizando la mirada femenina con una política de lugar.” Letras femeninas 36.2 (2010): 199-213.

Review of Woman and Change at the U.S.-Mexico Border: Mobility, Labor, and Activism. Journal of Cultural Geography 26.2 (2009): 248-9.

“Chronicling the Border: Chicano Advocacy in a Mexican Genre in Across the Wire.” Enkidu Magazine 2008 Summer Conference Proceedings.

Submitted by rrehle0 on Wed, 10/30/2013 - 12:42 pm

It’s a good weekend to be a hispanista in Lexington. Granted we’ve had a great fall; from the Lexington Latino Festival to the many activities surrounding the Arts and Sciences Passport ¡Viva México! program, those of us who love the Spanish language and Hispanic culture have been busy. Still, this Friday and Saturday are special. 

This weekend we celebrate Día de los muertos, or Day of the Dead, a well-known holiday that has become increasingly popular in the US. On November 1st and 2nd, families throughout Latin America (but especially in Mexico) build altars and visit cemeteries to remember loved ones who have passed away. The holiday is joyous, despite the macabre theme. Día de los muertos is a time to laugh with death, to accept the fact that we’re all headed that way eventually, and to give those we have lost a place at our table for the night. Here are some suggestions for how you can celebrate this weekend, just follow the hyperlinks to more information about and directions to the events. ¡Qué vivan los muertos!

Preparations

Break dancing with the dead: Popular music and the role of ancestors in Maya language revitalization

Dr. Barrett will talk about Maya understandings of the dead, funerary practices, and ways of communicating with the ancestors, and then discuss the emergence of rock and hip hop music performed in Mayan languages and the ways they emphasize the ancestors in their music. 

El Dr. Barrett explicará como los Mayas se comunican con sus ancestros, las prácticas funerarias que los mayas tienen y sus pensamientos en cuando a los muertos. También hablará sobre como los ancestros tienen un rol en la inspiración de la música Maya y como el rock y hip hop ha influenciado a esta cultura.

Date:
-
Location:
Niles Gallery
Type of Event (for grouping events):

The Human Side of the Environment

By Guy Spriggs

According to Spanish and topical studies major Sammi Meador, it can be hard to use words like environmentalism and sustainability when talking about her personal and academic interests.

“These are hot topics right now,” Meador said, “and a lot of people think these are just wishy-washy terms.”

As she explains, however, sustainability is about far more than buzz words and empty gestures. Environmental studies is also about people.

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