To the students

Our goal is to center your life experiences and communities in the Spanish language curriculum. We are using CUNY Latino archives to craft contents that are responsive to your cultural and social realities because we believe that learning a language is not just about grammar but also about the people who speak the language. We are happy to know that you were very aware of this underlying conception as many of you let us know in various ways that these language classes were different or ‘weird’ because they were not just about linguistic rules but also about relevant topics related to Latinx communities such as the arts, urbanism, and history. We are glad that you noticed the difference; for us, it means that you are eager for a curriculum that sees you as a whole rather than as a broken student who needs ‘to be fixed’. Based on your survey responses, we realize that many of you did not know about the Dominican Studies Institute, The Center for Puerto Rican Studies or The Mexican Studies Institute; however, you showed interest and engaged with these archival materials - even becoming archive producers yourselves. It is our ultimate desire that your voice become a part of these archives and we hope to see your coursework in the archives’ websites in the future.