Spanish & Entrepreneurship at the University of Illinois

Lily Martínez is the Teaching Assistant for the course I am teaching this semester, "Spanish & Entrepreneurship." Outside of class, students do community service learning with non-profit, educational and civic organizations that serve local Latinos. In class, I teach the basics of social entrepreneurship, with a special emphasis on creating culturally-appropriate programming, marketing, branding, etc. In their reflections, students compare and contrast the theory of social entrepreneurship with the realities they observe in the community. Finally, students work in group projects to create something entrepreneurial, something of value to the community. Throughout the semester, Lily will blog about the course. Lily introduces herself in her first post below.

by Lily Martínez

Hello everyone! My name is Lily Martinez and I am a doctoral student in the Spanish Department. I focus on Mexican and Brazilian 20th century literature and I have a minor in Gender and Women’s Studies. As an undergraduate student, I obtained my B.A. in Secondary Education. This Spring 2010 semester, I will be working with Dr. Abbott and the students enrolled in the course “Spanish and Entrepreneurship”. Several semesters ago, I taught “Spanish in the Community” and I found the class objects and methods to be eclectic and innovative. Since I will be aiding the students in their projects with our community partners, I am looking forward to working with all of you! ¡Hasta pronto!