Professor Watchlist

Jose L. Magro is a Lecturer at the School of Languages, Literatures, & Cultures at the University of Maryland. His research interests are listed as applied linguistics and critical race theory.  

In an interview with, The Diamondback, Margo explained that he incorporates anti-racism into his curriculum. He stated this is part of an attempt to put an end to the “colonized learning” that takes place at the university. 

His comments were delivered following a presentation titled, “Antiracist Pedagogy for Spanish Language Teaching: From Theory to Practice,” which featured six Spanish and Portuguese teachers and the anti-racist materials from their classrooms. 

A fellow professor, Tatiana Chi-Miranda, admitted that although her Spanish language classes focus on grammar and composition, the modules are used to discuss racism and phobias: 

“[This] is a great introduction for the anti-racism module because it allows one to establish a personal connection to the text, but also it allows them to get a critical approach to it. And it opens doors for them to have a critical attitude and cultural approach to it,” 

A sophomore interviewed by the paper praised the initiative, stating that American schools have a “whitewashed curriculum:” 

“I think that’s really important because America has a tendency to leave out certain parts of history in their textbooks and teach a very whitewashed curriculum, so it is really important that Maryland and these professors are acknowledging that we have kind of neglected several important parts of history.”

 

Published – December 28, 2022