Viterbo professor addresses human rights in Mexico

"My spiritual home is in Mexico, I will always be drawn back,” Diana Elena Moran told Lumen. Moran’s abuelita (grandmother) buried her umbligo (umbilical cord) which is considered sacred; in Mexico to be sure that Moran would always be a part of Mexico. Moran’s grandmother is Mexican and Tarahumara/Huichol Indian, an indigenous people. “My abuelita buried my umbligo in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico so that I would always be connected to the land,” Moran explained.

Moran is an adjunct instructor at Viterbo and has taught English 103/104, Women Writers, Non-Western Literature (Writers of Protest and Human Rights), Young Adult Literature, and Spanish 101. Next semester, Moran will also teach Multicultural Literature. Moran is also the new adviser for Student Organization Advocating Human Rights (SOAHR) at Viterbo.

Moran has also taught at the UW-Madison, UW-La Crosse, University of Iowa-Iowa City, University of Texas-El Paso, Texas A&M International-Laredo, El Paso Community College, and UW-Whitewater. Moran also taught at UACJ-Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, where she taught Indigenous Education and Culture and Gender in the Americas, Wisconsin Center for Educational Research, and Madison Metro School District.

Moran received her teaching degree in secondary education in English and Spanish from UW-La Crosse, a master’s in Curriculum and Instruction Multicultural Bilingual Education with a focus on native and Chicano studies from UW-Madison, and an ABD (meaning she has to finish writing her dissertation) in Education Curriculum and Instruction with a minor in English from UW-Madison. Having these degrees means she can teach in three areas: education, English, and other language programs.

With a fellowship to UW-Madison, Moran was alone and realized it was hard. She met Dr. Nellie McKay in English/African American studies. “She kept telling me it was critical that I go out and teach Multicultural Women’s Literature, especially to teachers, so they could get the word out,” Moran said.

“I worked my last few years at UT-El Paso teaching mostly graduate classes with Mentoring Master Teachers in Literacy/Literature/Bi-literacy. Having teachers become empowered as labor activists and knowing the history of literacy teachers who came before them; to be proud to be a teacher and teaching are social change.”

Moran’s dissertation was on women’s testimonials and bearing witness to their lives. “I began to go out to the community and just listen to women and families talk about their lives,” Moran said. She looked at “issues of poverty, sexual and domestic violence, the murders of women and girls in Ciudad Juarez, and about issues of literacy, labor and immigration rights.”

The effects of these accounts on Moran made it hard for her to work on her dissertation. “I had a hard time working on the ‘academic’ and the theoretical, when change needed to happen,” Moran said. “I felt an urgency to create the change to help make a difference. I became involved and sort of took breaks from the ‘academic life’ as I no longer knew my role in the institution. I considered myself a teacher as it is my passion.”

Though Moran still has to finish her dissertation, she is trying to save enough money to go back to UW-Madison because it will open more professional doors for her. The recession has been hard on her family. “We came with nothing and are starting over,” Moran said. “Being an adjunct is hard as the pay is low and I need full-time work.”