Senior Lecturer Receives Disability Resource Center Outstanding Faculty Award

Congratulations to Dr. Nuño Castellanos Díez, Senior Lecturer of Spanish, for earning the Disability Resource Center Outstanding Faculty Award. The prize was awarded in October 2022 for the excellent teaching and learning accommodations he provides to his students with special needs. He shares his language teaching philosophy:

If learning a language is in most cases demanding for the student, for a person with a disability it can be a strenuous journey.  

As teaching professionals, I believe that we must make available to our students all the resources at our disposal so that they can achieve their goals despite obstacles. Throughout the years, I have realized that the best and most appreciated thing for students with any type of disability is to be treated like anyone else in the classroom. And that is precisely what I try to do in my classes because I am convinced that it works. 

It was an honor for me to receive this recognition because it brings me personal, professional, and simply human joy to witness how the everyday work we do with students with special needs has a positive impact on their college experiences.  

Inclusive practices take a village, and I am fortunate to be in a community both at the departmental and college-wide levels that supports these practices, moving us in the direction of achieving our institutional mission to become a really diverse place. In the end, these practices simply make our societies better places to live. 

Kudos to Dr. Castellanos!