Ms Vanesa Sabala

Teaching Fellow

Spanish

Contact

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Personal statement

Personal Statement 

 

I have been a member of the Strathclyde Spanish teaching team since 2000. I began as a Teaching Assistant with only a couple hours of teaching each week, but year after year I have increased my hours becoming a permanent and valuable member of staff.

Since my appointment, I have been the first point of contact for students and have been integral the development of the courses and exams. 

I recall vividly one of the many moments where my dedication to teaching was affirmed. When I received feedback for my tutoring where a student said: ‘There has never been a class she has taught without inspiring levels of enthusiasm, benefiting not only myself but the entire class.’ The feedback not only brought me great joy but also helped me realise how important to me it is to cultivate genuine passion for the subject matter which I love so much. Witnessing the positive impact from my teaching drives me to improve my abilities as an educator at every possible turn and solidifies my belief in the truly powerful nature of passionate teaching. My efforts rewarded via my nominations for “Most Enthusiastic Tutor” and “Going the Extra Mile” at the Teaching Excellence awards, and in 2018 I won “Best in Hass Teaching Excellence Award.” as well as being shortlisted for the same award for 2023.

My current research interest lies in modern foreign languages (MFL) pedagogy and extends to language policy and strategy, which can be viewed as a continuation of the development of my pedagogical skillset and interests (from personal teaching experience and PG Certificate in Learning and Teaching). I am particularly interested in Decolonisation of the Spanish Language and have applied what I have learned to my classes, and when I assisted in designing the courses. As evidence of my knowledge, I delivered multiple talks on the decolonisation of Modern Languages – at the Teaching and Learning Experience Sharing (TLES) and at the University of Strathclyde for colleagues of other departments.

My multidisciplinary background in Sociology and in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education and professional experience in Translation and Interpretation also allows provides me with a breadth of potential research opportunities.  

Over the years I collaborated with different departments, and I did translation and interpretation work for several MOOC courses run by CELCIS; Celtic Football Club and Film Festivals. 

In 2019, I completed a PgCert in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education which allowed me to become Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.  

I am involved in the Anti-Racial group where we discuss multiple ways to improve the Humanities department’s racial awareness and inclusivity.  We tackle many contemporary issues, and it has been a truly insightful experience.

This past academic year I developed my scholarship in Decolonising of the Spanish language, and I presented Decolonising the curriculum: A case study at Strathclyde University at two conferences: Advance HE EDI conference and AULC Language Conference. I am particularly interest in developing my research related to Decolonising Modern Languages.  

This year I helped organise the re-launch of the Teaching and Scholarship seminars. The seminars are a space to share good practices, ideas and other material for Teaching and Scholarship members of staff. I organised one of the seminars where I introduced The Women Legacy project which led to a collaboration with the University and student placements in History and Translation. 

During first year student’s introductions, I introduce the UN Sustainable Development Goals in line with the University’s strategic plan.   

 Teaching Interests 

  • R4107/8 Spanish 1A/B (Coordinator) 
  • R4206/7 Spanish 2A/B (Coordinator) 
  • R4200 Independence And Isolation In Spain And Latin America (1 Module)
  • R4378/R4407 Translation Studies (Module on Audio-visual translation) 
  • R4502 Language Spoken Honours -Interpreting & Presentations 
  • R4901 Ibml5 Spanish: Intercultural Mediation 

 

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Professional Activities

SALT Teach Meet: Decolonising the languages curriculum
Speaker
30/4/2025
Inclusivity in the Spanish classroom
Speaker
16/7/2024
I am an inclusive educator, don't get me out of here.
Speaker
26/4/2024
Teaching and scholarship seminars of the department of Humanities
Organiser
23/10/2023
STEP - Becoming a Strathclyde Scholar (of teaching and learning)
Participant
16/6/2023
The importance of dialectal diversity of the Spanish language in our classroom materials by Carina Gambluch.
Participant
7/6/2023

More professional activities

Projects

The Prison Blueprint: How Colonial Incarceration Forged Modern Racial Injustice
Sanjurjo-Ramos, Jesus (Principal Investigator) Belton, Lloyd (CoPI) Moshfeghi, Yashar (Co-investigator) Izaguirre, Yaimara (Co-investigator) Thompson-Brown, Beverley (Co-investigator) Barcia, Manuel (Researcher) Bardes, John (Researcher) Basques, Messias (Researcher) GONZALEZ ARANA, Roberto (Researcher) Guyatt, Nicholas (Researcher) Gyollai, Daniel (Researcher) Jardine, Cara (Researcher) Mantilla Morales, Valeria Sofia (Researcher) Moss, Kellie (Researcher) Naranjo, Consuelo (Researcher) Piacentini, Laura (Researcher) Sabala, Vanesa (Researcher) Sarmiento Ramirez, Ismael (Researcher) Bhopal, Aneel Singh (Fellow) Surwillo, Lisa (Researcher) Weaver, Beth (Researcher)
This flagship project encompasses various initiatives to examine the historical origins of systemic racism and class discrimination in contemporary criminal justice systems by bringing together historians, computer scientists specialising in AI, criminologists, philosophers, and justice policy experts. Led by Dr Jesús Sanjurjo (University of Strathclyde) and Dr Lloyd Belton (University of Glasgow), our research is centred around the recent unearthing of a unique historical collection: Havana's Royal Prison Logbooks.

Spanning a century (1837-1937), these extraordinary manuscripts from one of the Atlantic's largest colonial prisons contain detailed records of thousands of men, women, and children, both free and enslaved. By connecting this rich historical data with contemporary policy, we aim to directly inform current debates on prison reform and the enduring legacies of racial injustice. The initiative is generously funded by the University of Strathclyde, the University of Glasgow, the British Library's Endangered Archives Programme, the UKRI-ESRC Impact Acceleration Account, and the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.

The project comprises the following research initiatives:

1. 'Using AI for Tracking Systemic Racism in Historical Carceral Systems', co-led by Dr Sanjurjo, Dr Moshfeghi, and Dr Belton, 1/02/25 → 31/07/25, funded by a University of Strathclyde's Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Research Grant, £2,000.00.

2. 'Havana’s Royal Prison Logbooks (1836-1898): Digitisation, Preservation and Dissemination', co-led by Dr Sanjurjo, Dr Moshfeghi, Dr Belton, and MSc. Izaguirre, 1/10/25 → Ongoing, funded by the British Library's Endangered Archives Programme (pilot), £15,000.00, https://eap.bl.uk/project/EAP1676

3. 'To contain the diffusion of pernicious ideas. The systematic imprisonment of Black sailors in Cuba and the United States, 1830-1850' ['Para contener la difusión de ideas perniciosas: Encarcelamiento sistemático de marineros negros en Cuba y Estados Unidos, 1830-1850'], co-led by Dr Belton, Dr Sanjurjo, MSc. Izaguirre, in partnership with Dr John Bardes, 1/05/25 → Ongoing, internally funded.

4. 'Using AI to Track Systemic Racism in Historical Carceral Systems', ESRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA), co-led by Dr Sanjurjo, Dr Moshfeghi, and Dr Belton in partnership with Beverley Thompson-Brown OBE, 01/11/25 → Ongoing, funded by an ESRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) Award, £14,769.96.

5. 'Historical Prison Systems in The Atlantic World and Their Impact on the Construction of Contemporary Penitentiary Models', I-LINK Programme of the CSIC and the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities Scheme, led by Prof Consuelo Naranjo, co-led by Prof Consuelo Naranjo (CSIC-Madrid) and Dr Sanjurjo, 1/01/2026 → Ongoing, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities' I-LINK Scheme, €30,000.00
01-Jan-2025
Women Legacy Project
Sabala, Vanesa (Principal Investigator)
The project is an extensive database about women and their contributions to society in terms of Literature, Science, and the Film and Arts industry. These contributions were often concealed or appropriated, making the Women’s legacy project not only significant for historical purposes but also highly relevant to modern society and tackling gender inequality.
07-Jan-2022
MOOC for Celcis and Future Learn
Sabala, Vanesa (Principal Investigator)
I was asked to translate into Spanish documents for different MOOCs that Celcis and FutureLearn produced related to Children, Children travelling unaccompanied and the impact of Covid-19.
I translated all the comments in Spanish on the course for the Moderator to reply.
The tittles of the MOOCs are:
• Getting are Right for All Children: Implementing the UN Guidelines for the Alternative Care
• Caring for Children Moving Alone: Protecting Unaccompanied and Separated Children
• Caring for Children Moving Alone: Protecting Unaccompanied and Separated Children during COVID-19 pandemic.

All the Moocs were produced by Celcis and Futurelearn endorsed by the UNHCR.
03-Jan-2018 - 30-Jan-2021

More projects

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Contact

Ms Vanesa Sabala
Teaching Fellow
Spanish

Email: vanesa.sabala@strath.ac.uk
Tel: 444 8211