Teaching

“María is the best TF I have had while at Harvard, not because my other TFs were bad, but because María was just so good. I was absolutely astounded every week by the sheer breadth of her knowledge, her quick wit and clear intelligence, her amazing sense of humor that made us all so engaged in the section, her ability to create a comfortable and engaging environment where everyone could speak their minds and ask questions, and so on. I can genuinely say that I've never looked forward to any section as much as I always looked forward to hers every week. I learned an incredible amount from her firsthand stories and clear explanations of confusing material. She brought this class to life for me and everybody else in an incredibly unique and skilled way. I am so thoroughly grateful that I have had the luck to have her as a TF and she was a huge part of what made me love this class as much as I did!"

“Maria was an excellent TF who did an amazing job at taking pretty complex topics and making them understandable. She made sections extremely interesting and useful every week, and she often used them to help us practice the ways of thinking that are useful for writing the papers in the course. She is clearly very passionate about the subject matter, and she found a number of really educational ways of helping us see how the course' s content is applicable to everyday life and what we read in the news.”

“María is probably the best TF I've had in the Gov department thus far! She is extremely funny, intelligent, and dedicated to making the material engaging for us through real–world examples and funny teaching devices. She always communicated to us that she had high expectations, but was very willing to clarify what was asked of us, and gave very thorough and actionable feedback on the essays.”

“Amazing complementary knowledge to what we are reading in a particular week.  Maria's classes always encourage an independence in thinking and encourages us to interpret sources critically. I feel like I've really understood what political science is about through her detailed breakdown of political logic”

“María is enthusiastic, relatable, and such an intelligent and professional TF. Maria teaches you how to think critically about the topics you are learning and works on more than your analytical skills in section. We practice writing, articulating, and a lot more. Hands down amazing TF. Maria is also super encouraging, whatever ideas you have, she will encourage you like no other to see them through.”

“María was FANTASTIC and I cannot praise her enough!! She's incredibly nice and encouraging and supportive, while also so well–informed on the subject matter. It's clear she knows what she's talking about, and the way she leads section is so engaging and informative. I loved the way she brought in examples from CDMX, AMLO, etc. from her own background and integrated them into the course material”

"Maria has been the best TF I’ve had throughout my time at Harvard. Not only is she extremely knowledgeable, being able to answer any question you throw her way, but she pushes you to think deeper into every issue, making you grow tremendously as a student and thinker. It also helps that she’s very friendly and welcoming, so you will never feel dumb for asking a question. I’m extremely happy to have been part of her section, and for any Spanish speakers, you will get so much with her as a section leader."

"María was simply the best TF. As the semester went on I felt more comfortable talking to her about my worries with the class and she would always be present and listen and have amazing comments to make whenever I brought her my paper ideas. She turned our section into a little community because her teaching would make everyone participate and engaje with one another (create presentations on the spot, have little debates...). I still remember the day I got a twix chocolate bar because of our presentation on democratic erosion. My memories from this class are way more special because María was a part of it. She is not only amazing and clearly knows a lot about political science, but also shows a lot of pride in being latin american."