Digital Humanities Commons^™

Indexicalities Of A Haiga: A Transfronterizo Sociolinguistic Stereotype In An Educational Setting, Damián Vergara Wilson, Fatima Dutra

11th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language

No abstract provided.

Cuestiones De Lengua Desde Una Perspectiva Multimodal, Macarena Llamas Molina, Sofía Sánchez Moreno

11th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language

En nuestra vida diaria estamos expuestos a textos multimodales, mediante los cuales construimos significado. No obstante, en las clases de lenguas, especialmente en las de español como lengua de herencia, no siempre se brinda la posibilidad de interactuar con estos textos, puesto que predomina el elemento lingüístico frente al visual, auditivo, gestual, espacial y multimodal (Perry, 2012; New London Group, 1996), lo cual no representa la realidad multimodal a la que los estudiantes están expuestos (Zapata, 2017). El término “multiliteracidades” abarca tanto la multimodalidad de los textos que nos rodean como la diversidad local y la conexión global (New London …

Unveiling Critical Language Awareness Through Tiktok: Fostering Community, Dialogue And Student Perspectives In The Spanish Heritage Language Classroom, Sarah Henderson

11th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language

“What are the students saying?” examines students’ reactions towards critical language awareness-laden media presented in the Spanish as a heritage language (SHL) classroom. Critical language awareness (CLA) emphasizes how “language practices are invested with power relations and ideological processes which people are often unaware of” (Fairclough, 1992, p.7). In the classroom, CLA manifests in ways that “helps students understand how language prejudice is intertwined with broader social hierarchies and power relations. Further, it seeks to promote students’ development of critical resources for resisting and challenging those hierarchies” (Leeman 2018, p. 348). The present classroom-based study furthers CLA research by advancing …

Mi Idioma, Mi Cultura: Understanding Linguistic Oppression And Promoting Cultural Pride, Jacquelin A. Camacho

11th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language

"Mi idioma, mi cultura”: a Heritage Spanish unit addressing language loss and cultural identity. This presentation unveils a unit tailored for suburban Chicago students, tackling language loss and Hispanic diaspora challenges. Through diverse methodologies, students explore historical and contemporary issues, fostering empathy and advocacy for linguistic diversity. Real-life narratives, interactive activities, and student-driven solutions intertwine to nurture cultural pride and preservation.

Los Hablantes De Lengua Heredada En Tiempos De La Cultura Snack, Marcela Fritzler

11th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language

Los hablantes de lengua heredada en tiempos de la cultura snack

Los formatos breves multimodales presentes en el ecosistema mediático brindan muestras de lengua auténticas, en un rico abanico de registros, que favorecen el desarrollo lingüístico de los hablantes de lengua de herencia. De allí que, su inclusión como recursos didácticos genera la posibilidad de crear actividades motivadoras y significativas para este colectivo de estudiantes.

Resumen

Diseñar un programa para hablantes de lengua de herencia requiere tener presente, ante todo, que constituyen un grupo heterogéneo que abarca desde hablantes nativos hasta hablantes de tercera generación y más, si fuera el …

Dynamics Of Power And Positionality: An Exploratory Study On Interaction Between Hl And L2 Learners, Anna Marrero-Rivera, Sarah Henderson

11th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language

No abstract provided.

Pedagogical Principles In Action: Open Educational Resources For The Teaching Of Spanish As A Heritage Language, Amy Aldrete

11th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language

"Pedagogical principles in action: Open educational resources for the teaching of Spanish as a heritage language"

Keywords: Spanish as a Heritage Language, OER, textbooks, frameworks

The emergence and expansion of Open Education Resources (OER) create new opportunities for stakeholders at all levels of education; they facilitate social inclusion and access to education, an essential human right, due to low production costs and availability (UNESCO, 2019; Farrow, 2016). In addition, OER allow teachers to share and edit teaching resources and to adapt them to the specific needs of their students (COERLL, 2021). In the area of Spanish as a Heritage Language …

Culturally Rich Language Teaching Through Comics And Translation: Practical Lessons For The Heritage Language Classroom, Jorge M. Espinoza

11th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language

Drawing from translation and sequential art theories as well as the author’s experience teaching Spanish through translation and comics, this presentation offers practical exercises teachers can use for their heritage and non-heritage students. Comics are helpful to deepen skills like proper use of register, tone, cognates, and cultural equivalents.

The Social Stratification Of Spanish Uptalk In The South Texas Border Town Of Laredo, Texas, Natalie Rangel

11th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language

The Social Stratification of Spanish uptalk in the South Texas Border Town of Laredo, Texas

This study explores the sociolinguistic role of uptalk (also known as high rising terminals) in the local Spanish of Laredo, Texas. It particularly focuses on the interrelationship between uptalk, area of residence, and the self-identification as a fresa. High rising terminals (HRTs) are known to be characteristic to fresas, a Mexican cultural group that refers to individuals who belong to privileged social classes, live expensive lifestyles, and speak Spanish distinctively (Chaparro, 2016; Cordova Abundis & Corona Zenil, 2002; Martínez Gómez, 2018; Urteaga & Ortega, …

La Producción De Narraciones Multimedia Como Principio Estructurador Del Diseño Curricular Del Español Como Lengua De Herencia, Alexandra Rodriguez Sabogal

11th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language

Basada en el diseño de la clase de “Español como lengua de herencia” (nivel avanzado), impartida en la primavera de 2021 y 2022, esta presentación analiza el proceso de producción de narraciones multimedia como principio estructurador para diseñar actividades pedagógicas que desarrollen competencias lingüísticas y culturales en el aula de clase. Además, se examina como, este proceso genera conciencia social en los aprendices, a partir del autodescubrimiento y de la reflexión crítica para encontrar soluciones a problemáticas sociales.

“Le Nom Es El Nombre Or The Last Name?” Translanguage Awareness In A French Class For Spanish Speakers, Robert Watson

11th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language

The presentation draws on personal experience teaching French with Spanish as co-language of instruction with majority-Hispanic classes as well as the emergence of a Spanish-centered approach to Romance language instruction at Hispanic-serving institutions primarily in California (Martinez 2014) and more recently in Texas.

Exploring the advantages and difficulties of using Spanish as a “gateway language” (Donato 2018) alongside French in A1-level classes, the presentation will share the experiences of students enrolled in these classes who fall under various categories, including Heritage speakers and bilinguals.

The presentation will use interviews conducted with current and former students to explore the concept of …

Photo Essays: Multimodal Competence In The Shl Classroom, Flavia Belpoliti

11th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language

No abstract provided.

Approaches Of Digital Pedagogies For The Appreciation And Preservation Of Local Trans And Multilingual Cultural Heritages, Stephanie Gonzalez, Sylvia Fernández Quintanilla, Glenn Martínez, Deeann Ivie

11th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language

In an effort to provide culturally and linguistically relevant Spanish as a Heritage Language (SHL) programs in the United States, several language programs have turned to creating digital language learning and teaching materials using various data sources, digital tools, methodologies, cultural practices, digital humanities platforms and projects, as well as Open Educational Resources (OER). This facilitates innovative knowledge production that preserves local translingual and multilingual cultural heritages and identities of Spanish HLLs from multiracial backgrounds in the US in analog and online spaces. Current initiatives in multilingual, decolonial, postcolonial Digital Humanities (DH) are pushing back against the aporias in the …

Sociolinguistic Justice En La Comunidad: A Community Engagement Project Between University Heritage Speakers And High School Students, Ana Sánchez Muñoz

11th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language

This paper presents a community engagement project that promotes social justice through language, by educating university HL speakers who, in turn, become teachers and mentors for high schoolers. The results show that students develop a better understanding of language diversity, ideologies, and attitudes as well as their own language practices.

Queering The Family In Zoraida Córdova’S Labyrinth Lost, Rebekah Rendon

Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)

Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova focuses on Alex Mortiz, a Mexican-American bruja and her journey to a fantastical otherworld to rescue her family. Alex begins to understand the love and unity that exists in her own blood family, while forging new relationships, thereby creating a found family, or queered family. The topic of this paper addresses queerness and found family dynamics in Labyrinth Lost. While many scholars have written on themes in fantasy and magical realism texts by Latino/a and Hispanic authors, these genres tend to be under-researched in literature for young adults. My argument analyzes Labyrinth Lost as emblematic …

Queen's Pride: A Queer Reading Of Star Wars Character Padmé Amidala, Madeleine Loewen

Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)

Ever since Luke Skywalker and Han Solo first appeared onscreen together in 1977, LGBTQ+ Star Wars fans have harnessed the power of queer reading to write themselves back into a galaxy far, far away, despite Lucasfilm’s long-term disapproval of such practices. Nonetheless, there exists little scholarly literature on queerness in the franchise, and even less on the potentially sapphic characters. Queen Padmé Amidala, first introduced onscreen in Episode I: The Phantom Menace, proves a surprising—but no less salient—queer figure in Star Wars. From her intimate relationships with her handmaidens, to her experimentation with gender performativity, to her quiet yet intense …

Queerness In Hirohiko Araki's Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Minna Nizam

Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)

This paper will explore Queerness in the series Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. The presentation/paper will dive deep into the queer aspects of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, examining tropes throughout the series and its LGBTQIA+ representation. We will be delving into queer protagonists, queer side characters, and LGBTQIA identities present throughout the anime/manga. We will explore the relationships each main character of the franchise has with side characters, to analyze queerness and queer subtext. Quotes and posts/comments made by the series creator, Hirohiko Araki will be used as evidence to prove that the series is in fact Queer with its LGBTQIA …

Queer Paths Toward Home: Kinship In Speculative Fiction, Audrey Heffers

Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)

How are we related? Queer(ed) families—typically framed through terms such as Found Family, Chosen Family, or Family of Choice—are more often formed by agency and voluntary participation than they are by legal or genetic connections. For the purposes of this paper, kin will be defined by affect, behavior, and declaration. The three fictional texts—Are You Listening? by Tillie Walden, Life of Melody by Mari Costa, and I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself by Marisa Crane—will serve as a basis to illustrate how kinship is defined, particularly in queer speculative narratives. Speculative fiction allows for particular metaphors of power. These metaphors …

The Gay Bat Of Gotham: Depictions Of Common Queer Stereotypes And Tropes In The Dc Comics Character Batwoman, Tim Lenz

Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)

Expansive superhero comic book universes can be thought of as collective, accretional works of Mythopoeia, generating modern mythologies of fantastical characters while also drawing inspiration from ancient myths of the primary world. The DC Comics’ character Batwoman was initially introduced in 1956 as a love interest of Batman/Bruce Wayne, in part to combat scandalous allegations of Batman’s homosexual tendencies towards his young male sidekick Robin. In 2006, writers Greg Rucka, Grant Morrison, Geoff Johns, and Mark Waid reinvented the Batwoman character for modern audiences as the alter ego of ‘Kate Kane,’ Bruce Wayne’s cousin, who was a lesbian of Jewish …

Introduction To Eleanor Arnason, Works & Reception, David Lenander

Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)

Eleanor is a guest of honor at next summer’ s Mythcon 53, and I’ve been reading her work for many years. I think her novel, and the associated short stories of Hwarhath Stories, provide a fine set of texts for your purpose. There are also queer aspects to many of Eleanor’s other books and stories, for instance in To the Resurrection Station, and some of her shorter fiction. I would certainly review the existing critical literature, and also present some critical comments and reflections on reception of Arnason’s work, and suggestions for further study.

Queering The Problem: Destabilizing Normative Tropes In Jonathan Stroud’S Lockwood And Co. , William Thompson

Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)

Holly Munro, the office assistant come agent in Jonathan Stroud’s young-adult series Lockwood and Co., is the sole character in the five books to hint at living in a queer relationship. Lockwood and Co. is a small agency in London, fighting against the Problem, the nightly recurrence of ghosts and specters. In The Empty Grave, the final book in the series, Holly and Lucy Carlyle are crouched in the kitchen at 35 Portland Row, waiting for an attack of a group of thugs on the house. Holly and Lucy are nervously exchanging confidences, and Holly makes the point that Antony …

Roundtable: Diversifying Our Mythopoeic Bookshelves, Grace Moone

Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)

2024 is a year in which we’ve all been encouraged to be intentional about reading diversely, and seeking out stories and authors whose perspective differs from our own. During this roundtable discussion, we’ll touch briefly on why diversifying our reading matters, discuss strategies for finding diverse books in mythopoeic genres, share some of our favorite book recommendations, and ask attendees to share some of theirs. This discussion will also be open during the upcoming meal break.

“Foul In Wisdom, Cruel In Strength”: Gendered Evil In Tolkien’S Legendarium, Alicia Fox-Lenz

Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)

In “The Feminine Principle in Tolkien,” Melanie Rawls creates a framework for reading masculine and feminine drives in the characters of Tolkien’s legendarium. Feminine characteristics are inward-facing, focused on the self and inner life, whereas masculine characteristics are outward-facing, focused on affecting the wider society. Shelob and Sauron are used as two examples of the negative expression of these gendered drives: Shelob being so inwardly focused she only devours, and Sauron being so outwardly focused he cares only for world domination. However, other than his outward focus, Sauron doesn’t neatly align with the other negative masculine traits — he is …

More To The Hobbit Than Meets The Eye: Locating The Feminine In Tolkien’S World, Pieter Conradie

Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)

Fantasy is finally learning to embrace its power to create and celebrate queerness. Works such as The Forever Sea by Joshua Philip Johnson and The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon feature queer leads, revealing creative capacities to imagine worlds where queerness is at the centre. But something mighty queer is already present in 1937 at the very dawn of modern fantasy. Following emerging interpretations of The Hobbit, I argue that the hero, Bilbo Baggins, exhibits significantly queer characteristics. In this deconstructive reading, Bilbo’s gender will first be reversed, arguing that his domesticity, intense emotional responses and his …

Keynote With Taylor Driggers - Cruising Faërie: Further Notes On Queering Faith In Fantasy Literature, Taylor Driggers

Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)

In Queering Faith in Fantasy Literature (2022), I argue that fantasy affords sexually marginalized people the ability to re-vision Christian theology in queer ways, thanks to its fixation on strange bodies, its longing for other worlds, and the ways in which both of these may reflect back on theological narratives of incarnation and salvation. Yet this project raises further questions that remain unresolved: namely, how might the framework of Christian theology constrain, as well as illuminate, queer imaginaries? If fantasy allows us to envision livable lives for ourselves as unruly bodies, just what forms of relating may those lives entail? …

Merging Worlds—Tarot As Ekphrasis For Creative And Reflective Writing, Jacob Budenz

Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)

Although ekphrasis is most commonly posited as a poetic tool—poetry responding to visual art—the practice of ekphrasis at its heart is a merging of worlds in which an artist of any medium interprets a work in a different medium. Likewise, a Tarot reader interprets imagery and symbolism through the medium of speech, applying old archetypes and images to unique, new problems or questions. In this workshop, I will present on the medium of ekphrasis as a poetic form using W.H. Auden’s poetic interpretation of Bruegel’s Landscape with the Fall of Icarus, itself an iconic work of mythopoeic ekphrasis. Then, I …

Speak Through The Drag—The Hidden (Trans-)/Woman In James Tiptree, Jr.’S ‘The Girl Who Was Plugged In’, Ziyang Zhang

Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)

In 1973, James Tiptree, Jr. (Alice Sheldon) published a sci-fi novella The Girl Who Was Plugged In and won the Hugo Award for Best Novella in 1974. Its male narrator is a time-traveller from a near-future America, where he works for a capitalist company GTX—Global Transmissions Corporation. The heroine "P. Burke [...] willingly allows her grotesque body to be confined in a hi-tech cabinet while her mind remotely operates the beautiful but soulless cloned body of Delphi" (Hollinger 133).

In my research, I apply a framework of trans-feminism in reading The Girl Who Was Plugged In to challenge the binary …

Panel: The Fair And The Perilous: Online Experiences Of A Queer-Focused Tolkien Podcast, Alicia Fox-Lenz, Leah Hagan, Tim Lenz, Grace Moone

Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)

The team behind Queer Lodgings: A Tolkien Podcast share the social media realities of producing content centered around LGBTQIA+ readings of Tolkien’s Legendarium. Discussion will include uplifting and diverse community events, backlash against the very idea of queer readings of Tolkien, targeted harassment campaigns involving large conservative media news outlets, and attempted erasure of well-documented historical instances of homophobia in Tolkien spaces. We aim to illuminate some of the darker corners of online fandom, and demonstrate the importance of accepting, tolerant spaces in which queer and diverse fans and scholars can share their personal interpretations of Tolkien’s worlds, characters, and …

Ancient Queer Bodies: The Gender Swapping Prophet, Basil Perkins

Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)

Through an intersectional approach which positions sexuality and gender in direct

relation to cultural imperialism (O’Sullivan, 2021; Lugones, 2020), I aim to discuss the origins of Tiresias. (S)he is ubiquitous in ancient mythology: showing up in classicized texts such as Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex and Homer’s Odyssey. Interestingly too, Tiresias has been received since antiquity in texts such as Poulenc’s Les Mamelles de Tirésias, Woolf’s Orlando, and MacLaughlin’s Wake, Siren. Each receptive work transforms Tiresias through fantastical contexts and different temporalities. I aim to queer Western notions of temporality, in reading the contemporary along with the ancient. The bulk of my …

"A Legacy Forced, Not Given": "Otherness" And Rape In The Morte Darthur And Tracy Deonn's Legendborn, Lindsay Church

Online Midwinter Seminar (OMS)

Arthurian narratives have traditionally worked to establish the collective memory of a shared past that has resulted in them regularly aligning with hegemonic ideologies. The continual retelling and adaptation of the Arthurian narrative can thus be recognized as consistently relying on and upholding a narrow understanding of who is accepted within the borders of Camelot and who is made Othered, and often monstrous, by those borders. However, there has been an increase in scholarship that has begun to read and write Arthurian literature from the ‘Other side’ in a way that asks readers to consider who the Arthurian mythos have …