About Dr. Andrés
Dr. Benny Andrés is an Associate Professor in the History Department and Latin American Studies Program. He earned his B.A in History (with distinction) from San Diego State University and his Ph.D in History (also with distinction) from the University of New Mexico. His book, Power and Control in the Imperial Valley: Nature, Agribusiness, and Workers on the California Borderland, 1900-1940, was a Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year in 2015. He currently serves on the editorial board for the Journal of California History.
Dr. Andrés has given a number of talks at local universities and museums on Latino immigration and life in North Carolina.
Dr. Andrés enjoys traveling and has been to Spain, English, Canada, Mexico, and most U.S states. He looks forward to traveling next to Israel. He enjoys opening his home for parties, especially inviting family and friends over to grill. He also enjoys working out and cycling on his ancient mountain bike.
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Power and Control in the Imperial Valley by 
About Susana:
Susana Cisneros is a Senior Lecturer of Spanish and Affiliate Faculty of Latin American Studies. She teaches intermediate Spanish courses, is serving as an advisor for the Spanish Club C.E.P.A. and also leads the Virtulia Spanish Conversation hour. She was a 2020 UNC Charlotte Award for Teaching Excellence finalist.
Susana developed and implemented the course, Span 4410 Professional Internship in the Latino Community. She also developed a year-long seminar in collaboration with the Charlotte Teaching Institute: “Inside Latino Communities in Charlotte Today”. In 2018, Susana led a spring break study abroad course to Argentina.
Susana volunteers with the local organization Community in Schools, serving on their Newcomers Committee and was a mentor/advisor for the 2019 Difference Maker trip to D.C.
About Edwin:
Edwin Dávila is currently a Lecturer in Spanish. He holds an M.A. in Spanish from UNC Charlotte and is also a professional translator with a Translation Studies Graduate Certificate. He has a B.A. in Spanish Language and Culture from UNC Charlotte, an Associates Degree in Business Administration from the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico and a Business Spanish Certificate from UNC Charlotte.
Edwin has collaborated with the Latin American Coalition and other Latinx Cultural institutions in the Charlotte area.
Born in New York and raised in Puerto Rico, Edwin retired from the United States Air Force in 2006 after 22 years. He loves traveling (he's traveled throughout Europe and Latin America), photography, woodworking, fishing, and learning from other cultures in his travels.
About Dr. Fernández Sánchez:
Dr. Paloma Fernández Sánchez works as a Senior Lecturer in Spanish in the Department of Languages and Culture Studies and serves as the academic advisor for Spanish majors, minors, and certificates. Dr. Fernández Sánchez is affiliate faculty for the Latin American Studies program. She holds a Ph.D. in Spanish from Indiana University-Bloomington. She also holds an M.A. in Spanish from Loyola University Chicago, and an M.A. in North American Studies from the Universidad de Alcalá de Henares in Spain. She was a finalist for the CLAS Outstanding Teaching Award for full-time lecturer in 2019.
Dr. Fernández Sánchez is a member of the Latin American Leadership Future Search Education Committee and helped to put together the community forum, "The State of Latino Education in Mecklenburg County." She serves as an academic advisor to the Latinx Student Union at UNC Charlotte.
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About Dr. García León:
Dr. Javier García León is an Assistant Professor of Spanish in the Department of Languages and Culture Studies. He is associate editor of the Spanish Journal of Applied Linguistics and conducts interdisciplinary research in language, power, and representation. He has worked on Languages in Contact (Spanish and Creole Languages in the Caribbean) and on Linguistic Attitudes and Policies (Colombia). He also works on Critical Discourse Analysis, Queer Linguistics, and Latin American (LGBTQI+) Cultural and Media Studies. In particular, he examines the representation of transgender people in Latin American newspapers and audiovisual journalism from the last decade. At UNC Charlotte, Javier teaches courses on Spanish sociopragmatics, critical discourse analysis, and advanced grammar and composition.
In collaboration with another colleague from the Department of Languages and Culture Studies at UNC Charlotte, Dr. García León is working on academic and community events on Spanish as a Heritage Language. Their goal is to explore curricular and pedagogical issues of Heritage Language Learners when learning Spanish at UNC Charlotte.
Dr. García León speaks Spanish, English, French, Trinidadian English Creole, and is currently learning Portuguese. Besides languages, he also love traveling. He has been to 22 different countries, and is a dual citizen of Colombia and Canada.
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About Dr. V. Gil-Rivas:
Dr. Gil-Rivas is a Professor in the Department of Psychology. She centers her research on fostering the health and well-being of women, sexual and gender minorities, and marginalized and underserved populations. In particular, her program of research focuses on 1) the contribution of the social context (both proximal and distal) to the short- and long-term adjustment of individuals and communities exposed to major negative life events (e.g., trauma, illness, disasters) and chronic adversity (e.g., poverty, food insecurity, discrimination); and 2) the development, implementation, and evaluation of brief interventions to reduce disordered eating and promote healthy behaviors among marginalized populations.
Dr. Gil-Rivas is a member of the Migrants and Displaced Persons Task Force and Chair of the LGBTQ+ Task Forces of the Global Alliance for Behavioral Health and Social Justice.
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About Dr. Hoenes:
Dr. Eric Hoenes del Pinal (B.A. Boston University; Ph.D. University of California, San Diego) joined the UNC Charlotte faculty in 2013. Trained as a cultural and linguistic anthropologist, his approach to the study of religion is strongly ethnographic, with an emphasis on the role of language and non-verbal forms of communication in shaping human interaction. His research interests include the study of global Christianity, the politics of language and culture, and the ethnography of Latin America with special emphasis on indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica.
Dr. Hoenes does ongoing field research on indigenous identity and religion with Q'eqchi'-Mayas in Guatemala. He is an occasional commentator on Latin Americans and food in Charlotte and has published with the Southern Foodways Alliance's journal, Gravy.
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About Dr. Padilla-Falto:
Dr. Olga Padilla-Falto is a Lecturer in Spanish in the Department of Languages and Culture Studies at UNC-Charlotte. She is the Coordinator for Elementary Spanish classes. A native of Puerto Rico, she earned a doctorate degree in Applied Linguistics from Georgetown University. In 2007 she was awarded a Certificate for Teaching Excellence in the College of Arts and Sciences at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. She has taught Spanish at all levels. She enjoys working with students, mentoring future language teachers, and planning new curriculum. She is also interested in heritage language teaching, comprehensive input, hybrid classes, and language variation (dialectology).
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