\u201cIt\u2019s the foundation of any historical work,\u201d according to the associate professor in the Department of History<\/a> at the University of Rochester<\/a>, who is one of this year\u2019s recipients for the Goergen Award for\u00a0Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. \u201cA decree, a quote, a petition from long ago\u2014how we interpret the primary source will always change depending on who is interpreting it, and when.\u201d<\/p>\n Sierra Silva\u2019s research centers on the experiences of Africans and their descendants in colonial Mexico, the Caribbean, and the Atlantic during the 16th through 18th centuries. His immersive teaching style allows students to put themselves in the time and place of the people they\u2019re studying.<\/p>\n \u201cI make them active participants in a given historical moment,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n In one example, his class was reading a petition from Spanish nobles to their monarch, requesting privileges and rights they wanted recognized. \u201cI asked my class to consider this petition from both sides, but to also imagine the parts that weren\u2019t drafted, the letter that wasn\u2019t sent,\u201d Sierra Silva says. \u201cWhen you start to imagine these possibilities, then history really becomes immersive.\u201d<\/p>\n And occasionally even uncomfortable. \u201cTrying to make sense of how a slave trader 500 years ago could justify selling a family, that\u2019s really difficult for students to step into that role,\u201d he says. \u201cSo I tell them, \u2018No, think of this in terms of a witness in the room when this bill of sale is being written. Be in the moment. The intent is not to recreate the trauma suffered by enslaved people of African, Asian, or Native descent in Mexico, but to have students understand how and why colonizers dehumanized members of their own societies. The next step is to understand how oppressed people overcame or resisted their enslavement.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, there\u2019s more than one way to bring the past into the present. For Sierra Silva\u2019s seminar course, The Other Atlantic, students learned how to prepare an indigenous Mayan drink made with cacao.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The history professor leads his class back in time to analyze events that shaped today\u2019s world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":672,"featured_media":538402,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[486,21422,19242,36892,16072],"class_list":["post-538322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-campus-community","tag-awards","tag-department-of-history","tag-global-engagement","tag-research","tag-school-of-arts-and-sciences"],"acf":{"external":"","hide_featured_image":false,"related":"show_related","style":[314562,287352,163962],"content_modules":[{"acf_fc_layout":"media_text","anchor":"","css_class":"","leadin":"","title":"Boundless Possibility: Just and Equitable Societies<\/h3>","subtitle":"","description":"Pablo Silva\u2019s research takes place in one of Rochester's areas of distinction, identified by\u00a0Boundless Possibility<\/em>, the University\u2019s 2030 strategic plan.","call_to_action":{"title":"Learn more about just and equitable societies","url":"https:\/\/boundless.rochester.edu\/strategic-plan\/research\/areas\/","target":""},"image":"","video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/GYRqpCNvpgk","layout":"layout_right","background_color":"#00205b"},{"acf_fc_layout":"text","anchor":"","css_class":"","title":"","content":"[caption id=\"attachment_538432\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"350\"]
![\"Pablo](\"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/inline-pablo-sierra-silva-1-420x630.jpg\")
Pablo Sierra Silva. (University of Rochester photo \/ J. Adam Fenster)[\/caption]\r\nFrom Mexico to Rochester, by way of Los Angeles<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nSierra Silva was born in Puebla, Mexico, but his family moved to Nashville and then back to Mexico when he was a child while his father pursued a graduate degree. The family eventually settled in southeastern Pennsylvania. Heading to Los Angeles to attend UCLA for graduate studies was a culture shock Sierra Silva welcomed.\r\n\r\n\u201cAs a Mexican coming from Philadelphia, you\u2019re an insignificant minority,\u201d he says. \u201cBut being in LA, where a huge population is Mexican, was an education in itself. It really excited me about Latin American history.\u201d\r\n\r\nHe met Molly Ball<\/a> on their first day of graduate school in 2006. The two eventually married and earned their doctorates in 2013. Sierra Silva was in the final year of his PhD program when he saw an opening for a history professor position at Rochester. He was struck by how comfortable he felt during the interview process and joined the University along with Ball, a lecturer in the department. They live in Rochester\u2019s South Wedge neighborhood with their three children.","background_color":"#ffffff","width":"width-medium"},{"acf_fc_layout":"text","anchor":"","css_class":"","title":"","content":"
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Mexico-Slavery-Freedom-A-Bilingual-Documentary-History-1520\u20131829-420x630.jpg\")
\r\nMexico, Slavery, Freedom: A Bilingual Documentary History, 1520\u20131829<\/em><\/h3>\r\nHistorian\u00a0Pablo Sierra Silva<\/a>\u00a0has\u00a0compiled, translated, and edited a documentary history about free and enslaved people who, over the span of three centuries, inhabited the vast viceroyalty of New Spain and the emerging nation state of Mexico. \u201cMy students were interested in writing research papers on African and Afro-Mexican populations, but they could not find the primary sources to do the work,\u201d says Sierra Silva.\r\n\r\nHis book offers original archival documents in Spanish and Portuguese alongside modern English translations, giving students and researchers a chance to study the Black diaspora in Mexico, as well as the entanglement of the nation's complex Native and Asian history with that of slavery. (Hackett Publishing Company, 2024<\/a>)\r\n\r\nRead more on the Department of History blog<\/a>","background_color":"#f4f4f4","width":"width-large"},{"acf_fc_layout":"card_grid","anchor":"","css_class":"","title":"","description":"
12 new courses\u2014with more to come<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nSince joining the University, Sierra Silva has created 12 history courses\u2014with more to come. \u201cI\u2019m a very curious person who doesn\u2019t like to repeat himself,\u201d he explains. One such course was a collaboration in 2017 with Associate Professor of Spanish Ryan Prendergast (a fellow Goergen Award winner<\/a> in 2019) called 1492 and Beyond: Identity, Culture, and Society in Colonial Latin America.\r\n\r\n\u201cI was struck by Pablo\u2019s clear sense of how he sought to engage students,\u201d Prendergast says. \u201cHe wanted to make sure students learned to think critically and to produce knowledge in terms of the temporal and cultural contexts in question. We made use of primary sources such as archival documents or contemporary maps and images whenever possible.\u201d\r\n\r\nAnother new course was History of Latin America through Soccer. He is passionate about the sport, and recognized that soccer is part of the culture in many countries. Sierra Silva even designed a \u201cwear your favorite jersey to class\u201d day for students. When students mentioned in recent years that it might be appropriate to include other parts of the world where soccer thrives, he amended the class to World History through Soccer (1867\u20132014). He\u2019s teaching it this fall, ahead of the World Cup in November.\r\n\r\nMore courses are coming, Sierra Silva says. \u201cI\u2019ve become very interested in the history of Haiti before the revolution,\u201d he says. \u201cSo presumably in a year or two I\u2019ll have a class on that era.\u201d\r\n\r\nSierra Silva says he hopes his students will always challenge what they read or see. \u201cDon\u2019t take any text or document at face value,\u201d he says. \u201cWhat is the source? Where are you getting this from? Challenge, always challenge.\u201d\r\n
What Pablo Sierra Silva\u2019s students are saying<\/strong><\/h3>","background_color":"#FFFFFF","width":"width-medium","columns":"1","cards":[{"card_title":"","card_text":"\u201cProfessor Sierra Silva taught me to find unique ways to retell the stories of disadvantaged people. His innovative way of teaching the stories of historically marginalized communities encourages students to represent these experiences through their own research and beyond into their careers.\u201d\r\n\u2014Cindy Molina \u201918<\/em><\/strong>","card_background_color":"#f4f4f4","card_hover_color":"transparent","card_link":"","card_hover_arrow":"","card_image":"","card_image_size":"","card_image_placement":"","card_image_hover_state":"hover_fade","card_image_link":""},{"card_title":"","card_text":"\u201cAs an introvert, I often felt imposter syndrome and was too timid to speak in class. However, Professor Sierra Silva helped me step out of my comfort zone and become confident in my abilities and contributions as a student. He\u2019s one of the most selfless professors I\u2019ve had the privilege to learn from. As a first-generation college student, his mentorship continues to play a significant role in my life.\u201d\r\n\u2014Sharline Rojo Reyes \u201920<\/em><\/strong>","card_background_color":"#f4f4f4","card_hover_color":"transparent","card_link":"","card_hover_arrow":"","card_image":"","card_image_size":"","card_image_placement":"","card_image_hover_state":"hover_fade","card_image_link":""},{"card_title":"","card_text":"\u201cHe encouraged us to keep learning, interacting with fields outside of what we are comfortable in, and improve on our skills. It is thanks to Sierra\u2019s leadership that I am now a double major in history and computer science with the intention to highlight the history of Afro-Latinos through technology. A person that is this committed to the advancement of their students is more than worthy of this recognition.\u201d\r\n\u2014Elvis Vasquez \u201923<\/em><\/strong>","card_background_color":"#f4f4f4","card_hover_color":"transparent","card_link":"","card_hover_arrow":"","card_image":"","card_image_size":"","card_image_placement":"","card_image_hover_state":"hover_fade","card_image_link":""}]},{"acf_fc_layout":"text","anchor":"","css_class":"","title":"","content":"Editor\u2019s note: This story was originally published on October 25, 2022. It has been updated and republished to reflect the release of Pablo Sierra Silva\u2019s <\/em>Mexico, Slavery, Freedom: A Bilingual Documentary History, 1520\u20131829 (Hackett Publishing Company, 2024).<\/em>","background_color":"#ffffff","width":"width-medium"}]},"yoast_head":"\n