As Associate Director, Monica VanBladel oversees the Center’s public engagement programming, promoting the study and understanding of Latin America and the Caribbean among a variety of audiences (UWM affiliates, K-16 educators, other post-secondary institutions in the upper Midwest, and the Milwaukee community). Our core programs include a summer K-16 teacher institute, language pedagogy workshops for local educators, and a Latin American film festival every spring, in addition to frequent co-sponsorship of UWM events across disciplines.
Alongside public programming, Monica also supports the Center’s academic programs (the LACUSL major and two undergraduate certificates) and federal Title VI grant evaluation.
Monica is trained as a Latin Americanist and has taught literature, Spanish, Portuguese, and humanities at Reed College, Mt. Tamalpais College, and Stanford University. She has experience in community-engaged learning, language pedagogy and curriculum, first-year college curriculum, student advising, teacher training, and higher education in prison. Monica holds a Ph.D. in Iberian and Latin American Cultures from Stanford University and a B.A. in Spanish and philosophy from the University of Notre Dame.