Martha Chew Sanchez
Assistant Professor of Global Studies

“The academic and structural support that St. Lawrence gives to faculty makes one’s professional life very fulfilling,” says Martha Chew Sanchez. “I also value very much the fact that I have the support and encouragement from my colleagues to carry out my teaching and research. This is something one does not get in every institution.”

Sanchez is working on a manuscript on the cultural expressions of Mexicans from Northern Mexico in Albuquerque and other parts of New Mexico, particularly the role of corridos, or ballads, in the cultural memory of migrant groups and the aesthetics of norteña music, a relatively new form from northern Mexico consisting of the accordion, 12-string Mexican guitar, drums, saxophone, bass and vocals. Her work is a continuation of her doctoral study at the University of New Mexico, which focused on intercultural communication, cultural studies and mass communication.

Chew Sanchez came to St. Lawrence in 2002, having lived in Mexico, England, Holland and Austria. She teaches a course on race, culture and identity which she says is a challenge because it “pushes students to question their own position in society,” and a course called La Frontera: Cultural Identities in the U.S./Mexico Border, which includes a trip to El Paso and Juarez, where students stay with Mexican host families and experience life in a sanctuary for migrants on the U.S. side. “Global studies is very real,” she says. “It deals with current processes.”