Escritor/Escritora/Escritorx/Writer: from the root word scratch, carve, or tear. A person engaged in writing books, articles, stories, etc., especially as an occupation or profession; an author or journalist; or a clerk, scribe, or the like. Or someone who commits their thoughts, ideas, etc., to writing.
Promotor/Promotora/Promotorx/Promotor: a person or thing that promotes, furthers, or encourages; a person who initiates or takes part in organizing or developing a project, etc.; someone who tries to encourage something to happen or develop.
Vision and Goals
Escritores Promotores is a program that helps all students to excel academically and personally. We believe that all students are writers, scholars, and storytellers, and we strive to affirm that all students bring skills, knowledges, languages, and assets from their homes/communities. Today is the beginning of tomorrow’s tomorrow–we shape the future today by understanding the past–all simultaneously.
We help and engage students with faculty and the course requirements effectively. We offer "out of class" experiences for students to safely ask questions about the assignments or exams in an open-minded, non-judgemental environment. We are an “idea space” to help students add meaning to their educational experiences by respectfully dialoguing with students about their ideas or thoughts about how they will address their topics.
Specifically, to engage students so that they academically heal from past educational encounters, Escritores Promotores creates a community of faculty, undergraduates, and graduate students and
- We help students to “undrown” (desahogar*) by listening and being present
- Builds community and a safe space for students to partake in critical problem-solving through in-person office hours
- Provides graduate-undergraduate mentorship to discuss topics such as grad school, career options, student involvement opportunities, first-gen student experiences, navigating the university and undergraduate research opportunities
- Serves as a validating space for students by seeing them on a holistic level
Faculty support:
- assignments to align with Area F, Ethnic Studies, Chicanx/Latinx Studies, Race/Ethnicity learning outcomes, and goals. The Escritores Promotores team developed a significant resource list of readings to help faculty and students with the Area F student learning outcomes.
Student support:
- Students receive validating and healing interactions with graduate students and librarians on topics related to their GE, major, and minor courses. Students who attend our workshops have gained more academic confidence for student success. Here are some examples of topics the Escritores Promotores team can discuss with students:
- an introduction to humanities approaches (theories, analyses, methods)
- guidance on how to embed themes of social justice into all assignments, including those that do not require it (decolonial, indigeneity, abolition, racial utopias, people of color futurisms, queer/gendered/sexual liberation, freedom dreams, etc.)
- instruction on how to use storytelling as a tool/technique to reach broad audiences beyond the university and experts and ways to incorporate technology (Adobe, Canva, Microsoft Office, Grammarly, social media platforms, etc.)
- One-on-one and group research consultations with Ashley Yniguez, Chicanx Resource Center Collection Lead Graduate Student Assistant, on assignments, projects, and research papers and an introduction to resources/materials within the Chicanx Resource Center Collection that pertain to their interests.
