Sierra Mendez

notes about teaching

I grew up Latina and White-passing in Central Texas, meaning I move in many worlds. I belong to all and none of them. My father taught his three redheaded children and one dark haired daughter who died too early to be proud to be Mexican while never speaking to us in Spanish. As someone between, I grew up amidst and perceiving difference—not in humans but in their neighborhoods, their wealth, the jobs they do, the ways they are spoken to, and how early they die. I have seen and experienced cultural and economic alienation from dominant White culture in Texas. I have also been included in it and asked to perpetuate it. A few years ago, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. We must respect and attune to the visibilized and invisibilized places student bodies are and occupy and to consistently strive to make more space for more kinds of life.

courses I’ve taught