Workshops
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Professional Development Workshops
LLILAS Benson Public Engagement is committed to the professional development and training of K–12 educators, including pre-service educators, librarians, and administrators. We offer general and subject-area workshops to teachers across grade levels who wish to further their knowledge and teaching about Latin America, the Caribbean, and Latinx populations in the United States. These free workshops include seminar-style lectures or curriculum presentations as well as a roundtable discussion of pedagogical tools and curricular resources for classroom application. All participants in our in-person or hybrid offerings are eligible to receive Continuing Education Units (CEUs) from the state of Texas.
Visit the LLILAS Events page to check for upcoming workshops, or contact the Public Engagement Office to request direct e-mails about professional development opportunities.
Recent Workshops by Semester
- Fall 2024
Códices de México y su reproducción artística-didáctica en papel amate, October 11
A professional development workshop on Mexican codices facilitated by Dr. Enrique Reyes Chávez of the Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila, Mexico. The workshop included an in-depth lecture on the ritual production of papel amate, the varied meanings and uses of pre and post-conquest Mexican codices, and a K–16 curriculum unit in which students’ artistic-didactic reproduction of a Mexican codex furthered their visual literacy, historical knowledge, and embrace of Indigenous and national identities.
K’iche’ Maya Workshop & Guatemalan Weaving Demonstration, November 16
This professional development workshop introduced bilingual educators to the K'iche Maya of Guatemala through an exploration of language, culture, geography, and immigration to the United States. The workshop included an introductory language lesson and a practical weaving workshop/demonstration from native speaker Manuela Tahay, a curriculum development presentation, and a bilingual educators' circle.
- Spring 2024
Coffee in Latin America, February 17
LLILAS Benson and the Texas Alliance for Geographic Education (TAGE) hosted a free workshop for K–16 educators on coffee in Latin America. The session included two guest speakers, a tour of the Benson Latin American Collection, and a curriculum presentation of a unit of Powerful Geography lessons to be used in grade 9–12 classrooms.
Teaching Latin America with Comics, March 6
A book talk with Alexis Castellanos on her Américas Book Award–winning graphic novel, Isla to Island. The workshop included a panel of scholars—Enrique García (Middlebury College), Kathryn Blackmer Reyes (San José State), Fernanda Díaz-Basteris (Ohio State), and Frederick Aldama (UT Austin)—to discuss teaching Latinx comics as a pedagogical tool to grapple with challenging topics in the classroom.
Cartonera Literature in the Classroom, February 24
LLILAS Benson hosted a free workshop for K–16 educators on the use of cartoneras in the classroom as part of our Graphic Literacy Toolbox. The workshop included presentations from three visiting Latin American cartonera producers who use cartoneras in their work with incarcerated populations as an outlet for creative expression—Israel Soberanes and Sergio Eduardo Fong Gollaz of La Rueda Cartonera (Guadalajara, Mexico); Magari Quiroz Noriega, La Maga Cartonera (Lima, Peru); and a local Texas State University professor and cartonera publisher Jesse Gainer of Aquifer Cartonera (San Marcos, Texas).
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Image: Manuela Tahay Tzaj conducts a K'iche' Maya weaving workshop in fall 2024; on the screen, an image of her late father, Manuel Tahay, a beloved educator and community leader.