After learning how to incorporate documentary filmmaking into his teaching, Paul A. Schroeder Rodríguez worked with students in his Spanish 345 course, “Puerto Rico: Diaspora Nation,” to conduct oral histories of Puerto Ricans in and around Holyoke, Mass., a city that’s home to the largest population of Puerto Ricans, per capita, in the continental United States. Then, over spring break, the class went to Puerto Rico to interview family members of the Holyoke subjects. Students turned the resulting footage into a 22-minute documentary film. On the pages that follow, the professor explains how the project came to be, five students describe the trip and some of the interview subjects share their perspective.
2018: Summer “One of the Most Rewarding Experiences in My Life”
The professor (third from right) and his students in Puerto Rico. The course attracted not only Spanish and Latinx majors but also those majoring in math, psychology, economics, film and media studies and other disciplines.
Why He Taught the Course
In this first-person narrative, Paul A. Schroeder Rodriguez, professor of Spanish, explains why he taught the course.
The Student View
Five students in Professor Rodriguez's course discuss what it was like to part of this experience.
The People in the Film
As a culminating project, the class created a 22-minute documentary film, Puerto Rico Pa’lante. It alternates between Spanish and English, with subtitles in both languages.
The Storm Wasn't Over
Students delivered hot meals from Valentine Dining Hall to Puerto Rican refugees living nearby—and incorporated that effort into their coursework.