LAII Affiliated Faculty Named Teaching Fellows by the Center for Teaching Excellence

April 24, 2014

The UNM Center for Teaching Excellence recently named nine University of New Mexico (UNM) faculty members as Teaching Fellows for the 2014-15 academic year. Of the nine recipients, three are faculty affiliated with the Latin American and Iberian Institute (LAII): Patricia Covarrubias (Communication and Journalism), Naomi Shin (Spanish and Portuguese/Linguistics), and Sarita Cargas (Honors).

The newly appointed fellows will have a number of responsibilities on campus and in the classroom. Fellows will investigate carefully-defined teaching challenges by examining the latest research on teaching and learning in their respective disciplines, and will also be responsible for creating innovation in teaching and evaluating evidence of student learning with their methods. Some of these projects include teaching transferable critical thinking skills and using writing to improve students' success in learning course content.

Co-directors Aeron Haynie and William Pockman were very impressed with the large number of applications the program received in only their first year. According to Monica Pena, CTE's program coordinator, "This program will allow the University of New Mexico to become a national leader in the movement toward a more scholarly, evidence-based approach to college teaching."

Faculty affiliated with the LAII engage in research and teaching that is key to UNM's overall dedication to Latin American studies. Having the UNM Center for Teaching Excellence name Covarrubias, Shin, and Cargas as Teaching Fellows demonstrates the excellence of Latin American studies faculty across campus. Overall, nearly 200 faculty are affiliated with the LAII.