Welcoming new faculty

This fall, we welcomed three new professors to our Center-based faculty: Ariadna Tenorio, Rafael Ramírez Solórzano, and Luis Felipe Lomelí. Read more about their interests and teaching philosophies:

Ariadna Tenorio

Course taught: “Issues and Perspectives in Latin American Studies”

“The students were what I was most excited about. Visiting campus, you see the opportunity to meet some of the students, and their interests really grabbed my attention. They’re very distinct interests—for example the interests of the students I’ve met and interacted with who are concerned with everything they have been viewing in ‘the real world,’ and who are worried about how to apply the foundations they are learning, not only to their personal experiences but also problems in countries of Latin America. I've been very excited to be able to talk with them.”

Rafael "Rafa" Ramírez Solórzano

Courses taught: “Introduction to Latinx and Chicanx History,” “Queer Trans Expressions in the Americas”

“I truly believe in three things. One: everybody can teach; everybody in my seminar can learn from each other. We have the skills and the knowledge to learn from each other. The second one is that I want to make things accessible. My teaching style is for everybody to learn together, to not leave people behind. The third one is really about people bringing different types of knowledge, cultural wealth, to my classes. I want to hear from students: what do you want to learn? What can you bring, what can you share? Let’s develop this class together. I want students to build some ownership in these spaces.”

Luis Felipe Lomelí

Courses taught: “Intro to Latin American Studies,” “The Politics of Knowledge in Latin America”

“I believe that the most important ideas that a person can come up with are developed before the age of 30, if not before 25, so the most exciting thing is what students think: their original ideas and the critiques they make to canonical authors. The usual dynamics in any of my classes starts with understanding what an author is trying to convince us about: ‘Okay, here’s what I agree with, what I like, and what makes sense.’ And then, as we say in Mexico, we take a machete out and begin pointing out to everything that no longer works, everything that does not make sense, or only makes sense in a very particular and privileged way: ‘This only applies here, or for this particular group of people, et cetera.’” ◆