OER Team
Grant Principal Authors
Sylvia Fernández Quintanilla, is a transfronteriza from El Paso-Cd. Juárez border region. She is an Assistant Professor of Public and Digital Humanities with the Interdiciplinary School of Engagement and affiliated with the Spanish and English programs in the College of Liberal and Fine Arts at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She serves as the co-director of the Community-Engaged Digital Scholarship (CEDISH) Hub with UTSA Libraries and is the advisor of the Digital Humanities Student Organization (DHSO). Her research, teaching and community work leverages theory of the flesh, interdisciplinary studies focus on Transborder (U.S.-Mexico Border) and Latina/o/x literature, archives, cultures and languages with digital technologies to analyze, design and develop scholarly and creative digital and public work. She focuses on transborder translingual digital humanities to study and produce humanities-social science data of gender violence, feminicides, migration, feminist social movements, intersectional and transnational women identities and cultural expressions.
Stephanie Brock González is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the College of Liberal and Fine Arts and the Director of the Spanish as a Heritage Language Program at UT San Antonio. She has taught Spanish as a Heritage Language classes throughout the US Southwest for nearly 15 years and is currently launching a program to train MA students to teach SHL classes. Currently her work focuses on updating the SHL curriculum to be student-centered and include place-and-asset-based approaches as well as connections within the local communities.
Contributors
Elisa Castro is a first-generation Mexican-American student, deeply rooted in her heritage. Born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, with roots tracing back to Viesca, Coahuila, Mexico, she has found inspiration in the different landscapes and cultures of both her ancestral homeland and her place of birth. Currently pursuing her Spanish MA degree at the University of Texas in San Antonio, Elisa is passionate about exploring the intersections between language and identity. In addition to her academic work, she is an avid reader and lifelong learner, continually seeking to expand her understanding of the world. She finds inspiration in literature from across various genres, always eager to gain new perspectives and insights from various literary traditions.
Jessica Corona is a Master’s student in Spanish in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Growing up on the Ciudad Juárez/El Paso border has deeply influenced her role as a research assistant. She received her bachelor’s degree from Our Lady of the Lake University in 2023, graduating with a Ronald E. McNair Scholarship and double majoring in Psychology and Spanish. Jessica specializes in the representation of Latina women in archival material, utilizing practices, methods, and tools from the digital humanities to connect her frontier knowledge with her academic research.
Aidee Larios Palomera is a Lecturer and a Dual Credit Project Coordinator at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). Originally from Nayarit, Mexico but has lived in the United States for more than twenty years. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in Spanish and her master’s degree in Spanish with a graduate certification in Linguistics from The University of Texas at San Antonio in 2022. Ms. Larios Palomera focuses on the teaching of Spanish as a heritage language and the integration of Hispanic cultures in the classroom. She is passionate about encouraging her students to value and maintain their cultural heritage.
Sara Huerta Quiñones holds a Master’s Degree in Education from Our Lady of the Lake University and a Master’s Degree in Spanish from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Growing up in the border region of Brownsville-Matamoros, she developed a deep appreciation for its unique culture and language. Having earned a degree in Chemistry, she previously worked in an industry led mainly by men, where she actively challenged the stereotypes. This experience deepened her understanding of the challenges faced by Latina women, empowering her to teach her daughters to defy these stereotypes. Sara dedicated over eight years to teaching, including five years as a high school Spanish teacher. Her passion for Spanish literature enriched her teaching of AP Spanish Literature and Language and inspired her to continue studying Spanish in the United States.
Ada M. Zamarripa is a Senior Lecturer at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). She is also the Director of La Comunidad, LLC at UTSA. She was born and raised in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico. She earned her Law Degree from La Universidad Metropolitana de Monterrey in 1999, followed by a B.A. in Spanish with a minor in Education from UTSA in 2019 and an M.A. in Spanish from UTSA in 2022. As the Director of La Comunidad, Ada is dedicated to supporting and uplifting students by providing essential resources and guidance. She is passionate about motivating students to pursue higher education, especially within the Heritage population. In her spare time, Ada enjoys reading, spending time with her family, traveling, and learning about different cultures.
Reviewers
Glenn Martinez