October 18, 2019

Lina Martínez Hernández, PhD, an assistant teaching professor in the Department of Global Studies and Modern Languages, seeks to connect classroom to community and introduce students to Spanish-speaking and migrant groups.

Degree: PhD in Hispanic Studies, University of Pennsylvania
Research interests: Queerness and race in the Caribbean; Latinx communities in Philadelphia; Afro-Colombian and Afro-Latin American history and culture
Hometown: Bogotá, Colombia

What book, movie, show or podcast would you recommend?
Book: “Antes que Anochezca” by Reinaldo Arenas
Movie: “La Flor de mi Secreto” by Pedro Almodóvar
Podcast: Las Raras (from Chile)

What is your favorite food or restaurant?
Ikea meatballs and the free coffee

What is your favorite thing about Philadelphia?
That it seems very harsh from the outside, but Philly is sweet and tender once you get to know it. It has taken me 10 years!

Who inspires you?
Toni Morrison. I love her work. Makes me think of how to always see beyond myself and try to understand where the other person is coming from.

If you were to live in a different time period, which would you choose and why?
Colonial Latin America: Would have loved to be a nun living in the same convent as Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, a Mexican nun/writer from the 17th century.

Which current event/issue do you think students should know more about, and why?
My wish at Drexel is to connect students with Spanish-speaking and Caribbean migrant communities. I hope they can get to know them as people, to know about their capacities and their struggles.

What have you been working on recently?
I am part of Batalá Philadelphia, a collective of drummers playing Samba-Reggae from Salvador, Bahia in Brazil. I am working on being a better surdo player.

If you could relive a moment in your life, what would it be?
I want to go back to my last years in high school and the beginning of time in college when I was reading for the first time the authors that I now love. I used to lie in the grass in my mom’s backyard and read while my dog slept next to me.