How can we create decolonial pedagogy practices that position students and narrators as research partners in and outside of the classroom?
About this event
Workshop by Zaira Arvelo Alicea, Ricia Anne Chansky, Marci Denesiuk, and Bryan Ramos Romero
Led by the coeditors of Mi María: Surviving the Storm, Voices from Puerto Rico, in collaboration with student and narrator contributors, discussants will frame the conversation through a foundation of decolonial practice that position students as research partners in and outside of the classroom. Speakers will share examples from the development process of Mi María, a collection of seventeen narratives about the aftermath of the 2017 hurricane, eight of which began as course projects. Additional attention will be given to the common core-aligned curriculum constructed in conjunction with the book, one that works to be inclusive of students in Puerto Rico as well as those in the continental US.
Zaira Arvelo Alicea is a Puerto Rico based and trained educator. She currently runs a small business dedicated to educational and language services from her native Puerto Rico. Her story is featured in the Mi María book, and she developed the curriculum that accompanies it.
Ricia Anne Chansky is professor of literature in the English Department at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez and co-editor of Mi María: Surviving the Storm, Voices from Puerto Rico. Her research focuses on interdisciplinary and multimodal life narratives, and she is directing a new Oral History Lab on her campus.
Marci Denesiuk is a Canadian writer with a background in journalism and creative writing who currently teaches in the English Department at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez and is the co-editor of Mi María: Surviving the Storm, Voices from Puerto Rico.
Bryan Ramos Romero is a senior student majoring in English with a teacher certification in the University of Puerto Rico at the Mayagüez Campus. He is currently involved with collaborating in the Mi María: Puerto Rico After the Hurricane oral history project, among other public inequality-based projects. His interview with his father is included in the Mi María book.
Image Description: Photo of Carlos Bonilla Rodríguez's house after Hurricane Maria took its roof and walls (ABOVE) and cover of the book Mi María: Surviving the Storm, Voices from Puerto Rico (BELOW).
We are excited to offer this round of workshops fully bilingually, in English and Spanish. We will also be providing ASL interpretation on demand, and offering live captioning on all sessions. We are hopeful that this will broaden access, allow for conversations that would not otherwise be possible, and deepen all of our learning.
We are committed to making these workshops as broadly accessible as possible, so we are offering an option of free registration for those who could not otherwise attend, with a sliding scale suggested donation of $20-$100 per workshop. We encourage you to pay what you can to support fair pay for our instructors as well as free registration for those who need it.
These events are open to all. You can use this quick survey to let us know how we could make these events more accessible for you. Note that we are able to provide ASL interpretation for any event, but need two weeks' notice. Please contact Rebecca McGilveray at rlm2203@columbia.edu with specific access requests or questions.