On April 24, 2022, Anais Holgado Lage and Nadia Cervantes Pérez participated at the National Conference for Intercultural Competence at the University of Notre Dame. Their presentation titled “Integrating Intercultural Competence in Spanish Language Courses: Knowledge, Empathy and Respect Towards Indigenous Communities” focused on the way in which their courses have been redesigned with an emphasis on intercultural competence, specifically relating to the history and present situation of Indigenous communities throughout the American continent. They explained how their teaching incorporates materials that deviate from the traditional and more distant view of Indigenous peoples as “others” to bring first-person accounts to class discussions. These materials explore issues such as colonialism, neocolonialism, displacement, representation, language, and identity. The goal is to share the voice of some members of those communities directly with students and to encourage them to examine their own attitudes and preconceptions.
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