As a current executive committee member of the MLA forum on Book History, Print Cultures, and Lexicography, Serrano helped to organize two panels: “Just Words: Lexicography, Reference Works, and Social Justice,” and “The Book Lab: Material Culture, Digital Humanities, and Book History.”
She also participated in a pedagogical roundtable on “Teaching Latin American Hispanophone Works to Today’s Students,” sponsored by MLA Office of Scholarly Communication. As a member of the panel, Serrano mentioned that as a Latina, Colombian immigrant, early modernist/colonialist, and first-generation student, she relishes the opportunity to inspire intellectual curiosity and passion toward Latin American literature and culture.
Serrano said that using and developing interdisciplinary and digital humanities pedagogical activities fosters a student-centered classroom. This can help students actively engage with one another and learn about the socio-political lens of writers like Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, and Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala.
She said she also believes that digital tools and group digital assignments can facilitate students to be producers of knowledge and not just digital consumers. “More importantly,” she said, “digital tools offer an opportunity to introduce Latin American literature to today’s digital natives and enhance their appreciation and understanding of Latin American literature and culture in these uncharted times.”
