Homeroom: Creating space for dialogue — Exploring Krista Cortes’ vibrant office at Penn’s La Casa Latina
Krista Cortes, director of Penn’s La Casa Latina, has a knack for blending her academic insights with the pulse of student life. Her educational journey from Penn GSE to earning a Ph.D. at UC Berkeley informs her deep commitment to inclusion, especially concerning Afro-Latinidad within the Latine community at Penn.
Her office is not just a workspace but a cultural showcase, adorned with Orisha prints reflecting her Santería faith, Puerto Rican streetscapes, and comic books. It’s also a place of comfort and familiarity for students, thanks to a snack closet stocked with items like Valentina hot sauce, Tajin chili-lime seasoning, and adobo seasoning — reminders of home that invite students into deeper engagement with the space.
“I want us to really think about the multiplicity within our understanding of Latinidades. … How we do that in our interactions with students? How we do that in the ways that our space is designed?” she explained. Cortes extends this philosophy into her classroom at GSE, where she teaches Applied Linguistics in Education, integrating these themes of cultural integration and identity exploration into her curriculum.
Read more about Cortes’ collections in the Fall/Winter 2023 edition of the Penn GSE Magazine.
