Lacking in Representation: The Absence of Latine Professors at Towson University’s Spanish Department
- lavozlatinatu
- Oct 6
- 6 min read
Theo Velásquez-Arreage and Sofía García
Word count: 1,325
Estimated Read Time: 7 minutes
If you’re Latine and have sat in Spanish classes at Towson University, perhaps you’ve been learning about vosotros and its conjugations, even though you don’t use it. Perhaps you’ve had cultural differences or barriers between you and your professors. Perhaps you’ve noticed said professors are oftentimes European or white American. Perhaps you’ve noticed the large number of Latine students within the program.
Yet, how is this number not equally represented within our programs’ faculty?
“We are on the minority side despite being the majority,” says Dr. Leticia Romo, Spanish professor for the Department of Languages, Literatures & Cultures – the only female faculty of Latin American descent within the Spanish department.
Hispanics or Latines – however you chose to identify us – are the largest minority group in the country. Although we are not the largest minority group at our majority-minority institution, our numbers within the Spanish department speaks to the sheer diversity of the surrounding Baltimore County and DC, Maryland, Virginia (DMV) region.
Most of Towson’s Spanish department’s faculty hail from European, mainly Spanish, or American backgrounds. Dr. Romo and Dr. Joseph Wieczorek – whose family is from Uruguay – are the only professors with Latin American background in the department.
Dr. Wieczorek did not respond back to our interview inquiry.
Associate Professor Dr. Diego del Pozo said that there is no intentionality in hiring faculty who are Spanish. The department has merely been unable to hire more tenured professors due to university budget cuts.
Misrepresentation in Courses
From our perspective, many professors in the department fail to acknowledge where representation is lacking. This misrepresentation is even seen in courses offered through the department, including its literature and cultural classes related to Latin America.
The online course catalog even emphasizes “Ibero-America” in courses regarding Latin American history, culture and literature including SPAN 312, Culture and Civilization of Latin America. Others like SPAN 322, Survey of Spanish-American Literature emphasize Spanish-America, not Latin America.
SPAN 322 in itself is disheartening as it predominantly centers white male writers from the colonial and post-independence era.
Granted, women weren’t given much opportunity to become writers or publish their works, but for a region so big and diverse in all aspects, students only read Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and Rosario Ferré.
Professor and Director of the Graduate Certificate in Professional Spanish program, Dr. Colleen Ebacher, teaches the course. She gained her PhD in colonial literature, which explains why she feels most comfortable teaching from that point of view, says Dr. del Pozo.
We consider the amount of work it takes to structure these courses while selecting appropriate authors and texts – we just wish it was more representative and relevant for us Latine students.
In comparison, the Spain literature and civilization courses are well-structured and are taught by faculty motivated by passionate pride in their patria’s rich cultural heritage – who wouldn’t be passionate talking about where they’re from?
Though these course titles and descriptions were made a long time ago, this underscores the question – why hasn’t this been changed yet?
Different Terms and Their Nuances
This inquiry opens another plethora of questions regarding how we chose to identify ourselves and the nuances that stem from each term.
For example, Ibero-America encompasses Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries throughout the Americas, Caribbean and the Iberian Peninsula – hence ‘Ibero.’ Hispanic-America on the other hand includes just Spanish-speaking countries in the region plus Spain.
Why would we want to be in the same sphere as our former oppressors? Clearly there are dynamics of power at play here, especially within the language utilized.
Then we should instead use Latin America since it’s the most popular term, no? Well, not entirely.
Dr. Romo and Dr. del Pozo shared that it's important to critically examine where the term originated from. Latin America is only a recent term, a legacy of colonialism.
Originating in the 19th century, the French developed the term to reclaim their presence and exercise power in the continent.
As an opposition to Anglo-Saxon influence, it aimed to create a cultural connection with nations who predominantly speak Romance languages, i.e. Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, etc., who all have linguistic ties to Latin, language of the former Roman Empire.
The term Latin America in itself is controversial due to its European origin. It leaves non-white Latinos unrecognized, especially Afro Latinos and indigenous communities.
Several native tribes throughout the continent had names for the continent prior to European colonization, including “Turtle Island” for North America and “Abya Yala” for South America.
Yet these names also create disagreements as there are hundreds of indigenous tribes with different languages and names for things throughout the continent. One cannot use a “one size fits all” approach.
If classes are renamed, they’ll either still abide by European origin and/or leave others unsatisfied.
“It will be a problem no matter what because you’re not going to be able to satisfy everybody,” says Dr. Romo. Especially because Latin America wouldn’t fully be encompassed in the courses due to the department not teaching Brazilian or Haitian literature.
Associate Professor Dr. Francisco Martínez-Ibarra believes a consequence of incorrectly naming a course can create a lack of engagement among students – especially Latine students beginning to get in contact with aspects of their history and culture, in our opinion.
Leaving the Canon Behind
The department has been working over the past 30 years to ‘leave the canon behind,’ i.e. decenter Spain.
Dr. del Pozo emphasizes the need to explore different writers that encompass the rich diversity within Latin America whether racial, ethnic, linguistic, or experiences – including those of the United States.
Both Dr. del Pozo and Dr. Martínez-Ibarra highlight the idea of being open to talk about different issues with students in class. Listening to students and learning from past mistakes are beneficial to improving the Spanish program.
Having professors lead by this example is one of the best ways to create a safe learning environment where students can address their concerns.
“We have to look at things like prejudice and be open… talk about all these things. I think to speak from our truth and make mistakes and learn,” says Dr. del Pozo.
Dr. Martínez-Ibarra hopes that in the future, the department will incorporate other important terms such as voseo into the curriculum.
Although vosotros may be uncommon for Latines, it’s still important to acknowledge its existence and validity as a Spanish dialect, especially since professors don’t enforce its use.
Creating new titles will also create more engagement among students, he says. Even allowing flexibility among prerequisites may encourage students to take more courses within the Spanish program.
Re-centering Students
For Dr. Romo, being the only Latina in the faculty is like “moving a big mountain.” She wishes students received courses relevant to their experience, so they are equipped with skills beneficial for them past college.
A firm believer in education serving as a key to unlocking a better future, she wishes her department would prioritize the needs of its students and not the survival of the department – which is still equally important.
These same students and their families often acquire debt; therefore, she believes it is unethical of her department to not honor these students and their family’s sacrifices.
“My hope is for overall, not this department, not this university, but educators as a whole – to realize how much power we have in our hands to change the world and use it for good. To teach people how to question. How to understand somebody, how to be curious about the world, how to be passionate about something and go after it,” she says.
Our intentions are not to cause issues or drama within the department. We are merely taking a critical look at how things are currently functioning in the department and the need to shift its approaches and center us. We hope our department takes our concerns into consideration.
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