Three Strategies for Teaching Early Modern Spain and Latin America to Today’s Students

One of the panels sponsored by the Sixteenth Century Journal at the Sixteenth Century Society and Conference in Albuquerque last October was entitled "Teaching Early Modern Spain & Latin America: Challenging Traditional Perspectives with Innovative Pedagogical Strategies." The panel was chaired by Elizabeth Lehfeldt (Cleveland State University), and included Abel Alves (Ball State University), Michael Ryan (University of New Mexico), and Margie Montanez (University of New Mexico). They addressed three innovative approaches in the classroom, which inspired a good discussion, and we offer their talks here. According to those who study such things, most of the college-age students who take our courses should be accounted as members of Generation Z, or Gen Z, with some millennial attending as well. As our classroom populations change, so does the requirement that professors reconsider their methods and approaches. When faced with criticism by others, typically their elders, these Gen Z and millennial are best served by academic study, especially a knowledge of history and a thorough understanding of historical method.