MIAMI, May 28, 2020 – Miami Dade College’s (MDC) North Campus architecture professor, Jose R. Vazquez, has been awarded the prestigious Fulbright Garcia Robles Grant by the US-Mexico Commission for Educational and Cultural Exchange (COMEXUS). He will participate in the teaching project “American Architecture and its Silenced Stories” at Mexico’s Universidad de Guadalajara with a semester-long appointment in Spring 2021.
During his tenure in Mexico, Prof. Vazquez will impart a curriculum focused on cultural landscapes through the lens of the history and heritage of American architecture, as well as the transnational influences across the U.S. and Mexico. The curriculum also includes student research on the American Southwest and the impact of American modernism on Mexican architectural practices in the 20th century.
“The North Campus prides itself in providing opportunities for experiential learning, grounded in the community and aligned with our diverse students’ heritage,” said Dr. Malou C. Harrison, President of the North and Padron Campuses. “Professor Vazquez is a talented and engaging member of our faculty and a true inspiration to his students. We value his accomplishments and wish him well in all his future endeavors.”
At MDC, Prof. Vazquez’s work has focused on the heritage and preservation of historic cultural structures in the immediate community. His fieldwork project, “A Digital Humanities Teaching Project Documenting Cultural Landscapes in Miami Dade County, Florida” engages students in hands-on learning experiences by acquiring documentation, participating in undergraduate research, and applying action-based practices in their coursework. It links to the more recent project “Building Stories: Documenting Miami’s Vernacular Architecture and Cultural Landscapes,” made possible by his recent award through MDC’s 2020 President’s Innovation Fund.
Prof. Vazquez has more than 21 years of experience in architectural studies and has been the recipient of numerous grants and fellowships, including the Florida Department of State small matching grant on Historic preservation and community education (2013), the NMAHC Smithsonian fellowship (2017), the Global Architecture History Teaching Collaborative (GAHTC) M.I.T./ Andrew W. Mellon Foundation travelling fellowship to develop a teaching project on Caribbean architecture (2018), the 2018 Vernacular Architecture Forum -Orlando V. Ridout Fellowship, and the 2019 Vernacular Architecture Forum Access Award. The 2019 award included an accompanying publication titled “The Enduring Bricks of Philadelphia and the Silence of History.”
He is one of over 800 U.S. citizens who will teach, conduct research, and/or provide expertise abroad for the 2020-2021 academic year through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected based on academic and professional achievement, as well as record of service and demonstrated leadership in their respective fields. To learn more, visit https://www.cies.org/program/fulbright-us-scholar-program.