{"id":5948,"date":"2026-03-31T08:01:38","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T16:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/osuteaching\/?p=5948"},"modified":"2026-03-31T15:10:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T23:10:11","slug":"centering-community-in-the-classroom-experiential-approaches-in-ethnic-studies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/osuteaching\/2026\/03\/31\/centering-community-in-the-classroom-experiential-approaches-in-ethnic-studies\/","title":{"rendered":"Centering community in the classroom: Experiential approaches in ethnic studies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Jennifer A. Reimer Recio, OSU-Cascades<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What happens when students encounter course concepts through lived experience, dialogue, and shared space? This question guided my CTL mini-grant project, Embodied Perspectives: Integrating Scholar and Community Voices in Ethnic Studies<\/em>. With support from the OSU Center for Teaching and Learning<\/a>, I developed a speaker series across ES 201: Inventing Ethnic America and ES 211: Introduction to Chicana\/o\/x and Latina\/o\/x Studies that invites students to engage knowledge as lived, relational, and dynamic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project brings academic inquiry into conversation with community-based knowledge. Scholars, practitioners, and local leaders joined the classroom throughout the term, centering experiential learning while advancing commitments to social justice and community-engaged pedagogy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"OSU-C<\/a>
OSU-C student Jorja Levario practices shaping masa with guidance from Mayra Molina of Roots at Heart. Photo by Haley Nelson.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Designing for experiential learning<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Each speaker’s visit followed a clear pedagogical arc. Students prepared questions in advance, engaged in dialogue during sessions, and completed post-visit reflections that connected speaker insights with course readings. This structure encouraged active participation while supporting critical thinking, dialogue, and synthesis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In ES 211, speaker sessions aligned with weekly themes: media representation, education and advocacy, indigeneity and food sovereignty, and regional community histories. During a session on Latinx media, Dr. Christopher Rivera guided students through critical analysis of representation and public discourse. One student reflected that the session \u201chelped us work on our critical thinking [\u2026 ] and showed how important it is to question reactions rather than just accepting (sic<\/em>) them.\u201d Another described the session as opening \u201cdoorways to complex dialogue.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These encounters reinforced a key pedagogical principle: students learn more effectively when they engage with knowledge as dynamic, contested, and situated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Centering community expertise<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The series aimed to elevate community-based knowledge alongside academic scholarship. In a week focused on Central Oregon, students met with Catalina Sanchez Frank, Executive Director of the Latino Community Association<\/a>. Her visit grounded discussions of migration, advocacy, and regional inequities in lived experience. Students described the session as \u201can incredibly unique way to look at the current ways that the Latino community thrives and struggles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sessions on education featured leaders such as Emily Chavez Romero<\/a> (Juntos Coordinator) and Rutila Galvan-Rodriguez (Executive Director, Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion, High Desert Education Service District<\/a>), who spoke about access, belonging, and systemic barriers within Oregon\u2019s educational landscape. These conversations encouraged students to reflect on their own educational journeys while situating them within broader structures of power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The series also extended across terms. In ES 201, students engaged with Kat Abueg S\u00e1nchez, whose work in fair lending and consumer protection highlighted the relationship between policy, equity, and access. Black author and mental health advocate Lorna J. Hines <\/a>brought attention to trauma, healing, and community care, expanding the scope of what counts as knowledge in ethnic studies classrooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Student responses to Hines\u2019 visit highlight the impact of integrating personal narrative into course content. One student described the session as \u201cone of the most meaningful conversations we\u2019ve had this term,\u201d explaining that hearing historical context in Hines\u2019 voice made it feel \u201cmuch more real.\u201d Another reflected on her guiding question\u2014\u201cWhat does it mean to be me?\u201d\u2014and how it prompted deeper thinking about identity as shaped by history, discrimination, and community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Embodiment, memory, and cultural practice<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The most memorable sessions featured a hands-on workshop with Mayra Molina Santana and Chef Oscar Molina of Roots at Heart Nutrition<\/a>. Students explored the cultural and Indigenous significance of masa through the process of making tortillas together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"OSU-Cascades<\/a>
OSU-Cascades students and faculty gather around the comal with Chef Oscar Molina from Roots at Heart Nutrition during a tortilla-making session focused on the cultural and Indigenous significance of masa. Photo by Haley Nelson.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This session created space for sensory engagement, memory, and connection. As one student reflected:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe weren\u2019t just talking about a culture and its histories and issues but actively engaging with it […] I think that these sorts of events are the ones that can make powerful narrative changes. Our cultures aren\u2019t just a far-removed abstract idea, but neighbors who can positively contribute to the community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another student described how the experience sparked conversations about family traditions and cultural memory, creating a shared sense of connection across the classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moments like these expand what counts as knowledge. They invite students to learn through doing, sharing, and reflecting\u2014approaches that align with inclusive and community-engaged pedagogies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"OSU-Cascades<\/a>
OSU-Cascades student Gavin Bowen demonstrates a step in the tortilla-making process during an outdoor experiential learning activity. Photo by Haley Nelson.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Pedagogical takeaways<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A few takeaways emerged from this project:<\/p>\n\n\n\n