Experiential Learning
The Spanish 415 Trip
On April 22nd Dr. Lisa Calvin, her Span415 (Spanish American Culture)
students, and French instructor Dr. Tony Macheak traveled to Indianapolis
for an experiential learning activity which complemented what the students
had been studying during the spring 2004 semester.
Hoosiers no longer need to go abroad to experience Hispanic culture,
as the drive through a Latino neighborhood in the state capital soon
confirmed. The group ordered meals in Spanish at La Frontera restaurant,
with a jukebox playing Mexican ranchero hits in the background. They
sampled new foods, including a milky white beverage called horchata,
and candies of sweet potato, colored coconut, and tamarind.
Students also experienced the linguistic confusion that can occur in
an immersion setting. When reading "sopes" on the menu, all involved
assumed that the typesetter at the printer did not know Spanish and
that the word "sopa" had been misspelled. This notion was confirmed
when huge, steaming bowls of soups passed by our table to the table
next to ours. The server expressed surprise when a student ordered both
"soup" and a main dish, but it was the student who was surprised when
two main courses with large portions arrived.
At the "Chicano Now/Chicano Visions" exhibit at the Indiana State Museum,
students participated in various hands-on experiences. They danced to
various Latino rhythms, rode in a "low-rider" car "juiced" with hydraulics,
and viewed a home altar for the rituals of the Day of the Dead. The
altar formed part of the living room, the display being organized as
if walking through a Chicano home. Signs invited students to open the
oven door and kitchen cabinets to view Hispanic food products. They
snapped photos of
artifacts of famous Hispanics, such as the spacesuit of astronaut Ellen
Ochoa, musical items belonging to award winner Carlos Santana, and the
signed boxing gloves of Oscar de la Hoya. A walk-in, surround style
video theater provided an insightful perspective of the complexity of
the Chicano identity through interviews with Chicanos.
For his class project, student Matt Miller had prepared a teaching unit
about Chicanos for his future high school pupils and was enthusiastic
about the additional content that he learned from the exhibit. He took
more than 50 photos to integrate into the PowerPoint lesson for his
teaching unit.
In the "Chicano Visions" art exhibit, students were quick to recognize
the art of Carmen Lomas Garza and renditions of Frida Kahlo. Students
who had taken Spanish 303 explained to their peers the cultural significance
of the "Llorona" legend and the dangerous yet amusing homeopathic treatment
captured by the Lomas Garza. A work about the Zoot Suit Riots provided
an opportunity for an impromptu lesson about this historical event.
In addition to the obvious talent of the artists, the collectible value
of Chicano art was validated as students noticed that the works were
on loan from recognized names in entertainment such as Cheech Marín,
Nicolas Cage and
Dennis Hopper. Climbing into the university van, students Steven Jamison,
Nicolle Jordan, Matt Miller, Traci Swaim, Sarah Taylor, Nicole Thomas,
and Nate Tompkins deemed the trip "muy bien" and then hummed along with
a new appreciation of culture as Tompkins cued his cell phone to the
tune of 1970¹s song "Low Rider."
By Lisa M. Calvin, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Spanish
Languages, Literatures and Linguistics
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