Jorge Hernández, Ph.D.

My coming-of-age as a Spanish heritage speaker from the New Mexico–Texas–Chihuahua borderlands grounds a student-centered pedagogy that foregrounds linguistic diversity, community knowledge, and the lived histories of borderland peoples. Over eight years of teaching at three R1 institutions I have designed and taught a wide range of Spanish courses—beginner and intermediate Spanish as a second language, multi-level Spanish heritage language courses, special topics on the U.S. Southwest Borderlands, and introductory courses in Mexican American, U.S. Latinx, and Latin American literatures and cultures—alongside futre offerings in Latinx studies, migration, race and ethnicity, and digital humanities. My classroom practices emphasize active learning, critical historical thinking, and multimodal production so that students not only learn content but also practice the analytical and civic skills necessary for engaged social citizenship.

In my roles as Teaching Assistant and Assistant Coordinator for UNM’s Sabine Ulibarrí Spanish as a Heritage Language program, I contributed to curriculum development, program management, and TA training and mentoring; I also helped launch the program’s first comprehensive online SHL courses and led research and development of Open Educational Resources that expanded access, increased enrollment, and raised the program’s campus and social media profile. My teaching philosophy is inclusive, evidence-driven, and mentorship-oriented: I design assessments that respect diverse linguistic backgrounds, scaffold research and literacy skills, and create pathways for students to publish or publicly present their work. These commitments have been recognized with campus awards, including the 2022–2023 Susan Deese-Roberts Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award and the Spring 2024 OER Champion Award at UNM. I am happy to share syllabi, sample assignments, and project templates on request.