Born in Colombia, Mariana is finishing her MA in Applied Linguistics and TESOL at the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences. She obtained her BA in Foreign Language Teaching from Universidad del Valle in Colombia where she graduated with a National Recognition Award by the Ministry of Education for her outstanding performance. Following, she received a Fulbright scholarship at Bard College in New York. Returning to Colombia, she moved to Leticia where she worked as an English teacher inspiring her current research which earned her a second Fulbright scholarship. During her stay at Pitt, she has focused on English teaching as a tool for empowering the indigenous identity and revitalization of minority languages in the Colombian Amazon. The now Robert T. Henderson awardee discusses how turning to remote instruction due to the Covid-19 pandemic constituted a bigger challenge to teachers and administrators in Leticia, where connectivity was already an issue before the crisis. The session will explore how schools faced on-line education, the limited available tools and how the teacher’s population was affected by Covid-19. Moreover, speaker will describe what are the lessons and challenges to consider now that students and teachers are back to in-person classes.
