Crafting Stories: Artistic Practice as Pedagogical Tool in the Latin American Studies Classroom

by Faith Blackhurst

 Artistic practice can function as a powerful pedagogical tool in the Latin American studies classroom, allowing students to engage with storytelling through workshops on cultural products such as libros cartoneros—handmade, low-cost books using repurposed cardboard—and arpilleras, colorful stitched textile scenes. These traditions, rooted in grassroots storytelling, political resistance, and cultural memory, offer students a hands-on approach to engaging with Latin American history and literature. By integrating creative practice with sociohistorical analysis, these workshops foster interdisciplinary dialogue, bridging art, history, and literature. Within an experiential learning framework, students reflect on their creative process and its cultural significance, deepening their understanding of storytelling as both a political and pedagogical act, as well as providing insight into how materiality influences narrative construction. This presentation promotes the potential of storytelling, as grounded in historically situated art practices, to deepen cultural literacy, enhance critical thinking, and foster meaningful engagement with Latin American cultural production.