Day of the Dead Celebration: 2020 Day of the Dead Celebration

The Day of the Dead is an important celebration not only in Mexico but also in other parts of South America. Indigenous Pre-Columbian societies celebrated the dead before the arrival of the Spanish. After their arrival, the celebration was aligned with the Catholic celebrations of All Saints Day (November 1) and All Souls Day (November 2) creating a phenomenon which in anthropology is called religious syncretism. Every region or town celebrating the Day of the Dead does so in their own unique way. In recent times, due to the significant Spanish population in the United Sates, it also has become one of the most popular festivities for Hispanic and non-Hispanic communities in some states.

The Department of Modern Languages and Literatures sponsors the Día de los muertos cultural project for students enrolled in Span 101, Span 102, Span 201, and Span 202. In this week long celebration students learn about and discuss this Latin American festivity. 

The department supports and promotes the 21st Century Standards for Foreign Language Teaching. These standards have identified five goal areas known as the five C’s in foreign language education: communication, cultures, connections, comparisons, and communities. Having these in mind, Professor Mildred López developed a cultural project from which the students would benefit by experiencing the 5 C’s using the Day of the Dead celebration as a theme for this purpose.

This project aims to contribute to the University mission in promoting multicultural perspectives and awareness by converging the feeling of being embedded in a Latin American communal celebration with a rewarding experience of learning a new language in a relaxed and fun environment.