In the course, students learned performance techniques in Spanish-speaking and Latinx communities, demonstrating the array of Latin-American stories through music, visual arts, and performance. They were tasked to prepare short, original, collectively-created plays for this public presentation as their final projects. With handcrafted sets matched to a prompt of self expression, students created an array of stories, all personal and unique. The event closed with a light display dedicated to the late Professor Castillo of two flickering lamps conversing in morse code.
Professor Debra Castillo, a Stephen H. Weiss presidential fellow and Emerson Hinchliff Professor of Hispanic Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, passed on Oct. 5, 2025. She began teaching at Cornell in 1985 and became actively engaged in community, creating “Teatrotaller” in 1993 from her course on Hispanic theater production. She was also involved with groups including the Latino Civic Association of Tompkins County and No Más Lágrimas, which helps supply food and other basic needs.
The course’s mentorship was continued under Yessica Martinez, a poet and educator originally from Medellin, Colombia in the department of Literatures in English. She graduated from Princeton University with degrees in Comparative Literature and Latin American studies and is a 2018 Paul and Daisy Soros Fellow. The students credited Martinez with making their tribute to Professor Castillo possible through their performances.
