Once a UNC Charlotte student and currently a senior lecturer in the Department of Languages and Culture Studies, Susana Cisneros ’09 M.A. often rides the light rail between campus and home. In this one small area, people from different walks of life huddle to reach their same destinations in pursuit of their individual journeys.
Cisneros came to United States to seek her own path. After completing a law degree in Argentina in 2004, she decided to earn a master's degree in Spanish with a concentration in translation and translation studies. She, like many other Spanish-speaking migrants, barely spoke English.
“I hardly knew English, so I spent two years learning the language to be more competitive academically,” said Cisneros. “Because English was my second language, I came across as aggressive and thought about all the layers of stereotypes that went along with it.”
In those two years, she worked as a teacher's assistant, receiving support from her fellow educators. As she started the master's degree process, these teachers not only helped her learn English but they wrote letters of recommendation for her application to Graduate School.
After joining the University in 2007, Cisneros has advanced to become a senior lecturer, teaching elementary, intermediate and advanced Spanish courses. She continues to help students remain in touch with their roots and culture. For her, it’s more than teaching a language; it’s about immersing them in experiences outside of the classroom.
This effort resulted in a collaboration with her students called, "More than a Train Ride."
The goal was simple, yet close to her heart; ensure Spanish-speaking people could enjoy Charlotte and navigate the light rail in Spanish by creating a website with a detailed guide.
“My family is from Argentina,” explained Cisneros. “They would visit, but it’s difficult for them to explore and learn the history of the city because they don’t know the language.”
Cisneros credits her students for bringing the project to life. In class, they discussed how to create community and what impact they can make. Out of this discussion, "More than a Train Ride" was born.
“We focus on what the community is, not just the fun places to visit in Charlotte,” said Cisneros. “It goes beyond that. It’s about the history of each station in terms of how the city came together.”
Creating a site in Spanish detailing the light rail, its stations, attractions or history associated with the areas was quite a task. Students wrote the entire site in Spanish. It was then sent to an Argentine University for final translation. A team from bioinformatics helped build the site, coding it to translate from English to Spanish and vice versa.
“Since I’m not a native English speaker, I asked Matthew, my communication consultant, to edit the English version, and I edited the Spanish one,” said Cisneros. "And then we had the programmers, Dennis and his team from bioinformatics.”
Cisneros credits her students for taking it beyond the classroom. While she encouraged her students to explore and immerse themselves in the language, it was ultimately their choice. When it comes to the light rail project, the students took pictures for the website, they explored the history of the stations and their areas, meeting new people along the way. They brought Cisneros' vision to life.
“It was so hard to paint the picture for my students and make them buy into the product from something that was just an idea,” said Cisneros. “And seeing More than a Train Ride come to life is so nice.”
Through the project, students experienced a view of what Charlotte looks like when its history and sites are more accessible to Spanish-speaking people. Many students still keep in touch with Cisneros, and it’s no wonder why. She continues to impact her students, the University and the community by bringing all three of these groups together.
In September, she received the Higher Education Teacher of the Year Award from LaNoticia at the 25th Latin American Excelente Awards.
“The last 15 years of teaching here at Charlotte have been a unique experience,” said Cisneros. “I learn so much from my students, administrators and colleagues. It makes me extremely happy to know that the community has benefited as well. As a Niner, I want to keep bridging the community with the University.”
And that’s exactly what Cisneros does, one train ride at a time.