Title
Executive Director, UC Faculty Enrichment Center & Associate Professor - Educator of Spanish
Department
Office of the Provost
Institution
University of Cincinnati
Education
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Ph.D., Romance Languages and Literatures: University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH, 2007 (Caribbean and Latin American Literature Spanish Literature 20th Century Cultural Studies: Food, Identity and Literature)
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Master of Arts in Spanish: University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH, 2004 (Spanish and Latin American Literature Teaching Spanish and Second Language)
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Bachelor of Arts in Humanities: University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, 2000 (Concentration in Comparative Literature Suma Cum Laude)
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Certificate in Media and Technology for Education: Harvard Graduate School of Education 2022
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Mindfulness for Educators Program, Fall 2017. Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, Massachussets
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Creativity & Design Thinking Certificate, 12 hours of instruction completed., Krause Center for Innovation, Foothill College, Los Altos Hills, California (USA)
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Certified High School Teacher of the Department of Education of Puerto Rico: University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, 2002 (Certification as Spanish High School Teacher Completed all 33-credits required on Fundamentals and Specialized topics in Education)
Research Interests
Biography
Dr. María I. Ortiz has a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities, with a mayor in Comparative Literature from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. Graduating Suma Cum Laude, she received the UPRM Donald Marshall Award as Outstanding Humanities Student. After being Certified as a Spanish High School Teacher of the Department of Education of Puerto Rico, she completed her graduate studies at the University of Cincinnati, receiving a Masters degree in Spanish, and in of 2007 her Philosophy Doctorate Ph.D on Romance Languages and Literatures.
Dr. Ortiz teaches Spanish as a second language at the UC Blue Ash College, with courses focused on culture, grammar, and communication. In 2023 she started her role as Executive Director of the UC Faculty Enrichment Center, after being Co-Director of the Learning and Teaching Center at UC Blue Ash. She was inducted to the University’s Academy of Fellows in Teaching & Learning (AFTL) as a distinguished member of the Class of 2021, and was recognized with the 2020 University of Cincinnati's Mrs. A.B. Dolly Cohen Award for Excellence in Teaching. She received the Excellence in Teaching Awardee for the 33rd Annual Celebration of Teaching 2020 of The Greater Cincinnati Collegiate Connection Consortium (GC3). Also, Dr. Ortiz was recognized with the 2017 UCBA Innovative Teaching Award for implementation of the integration of mindfulness practices and technology for teaching Spanish language.
In 2017, Dr. Ortiz led efforts to assist Puerto Rican college students with online courses after Hurricane Maria devastated the island. She worked with the University of Cincinnati's Provost Office and with colleagues nationwide to recruit and develop Sagrado Online Collaborative, a network of Spanish-speaking professors who remotely taught students through the Universidad del Sagrado Corazón in Puerto Rico. In another academic exchange, Dr. Ortiz shared her love for literature by teaching literature during the summer of 2019, as part of the expert faculty exchange at Xi’an International Studies University in Xi'an, China. Her research and publications include cultural studies perspective(s) and literary theory to analyze interactions between food, gastronomy, identity, Thirdspace, gender, performance and post colonial studies, as well as pedagogical strategies and activities for active learning classrooms.
Her service work is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and practices, providing acknowledgement and support for the intersectional needs of underrepresented groups. She volunteered for the Alzheimer’s Association in Cincinnati.
Homepages
Contact Information
Office of the Provost | University of Cincinnati
2911 Woodside Dr.
Langsam Library 545F – ML0033
Cincinnati, OH 45221
513-556-7314
