Serafín Coronel-Molina, Associate Professor in Literacy, Culture and Language Education, has won the 2021 Latino Distinguished Faculty Award from the Latino Faculty and Staff Council (LFASC) Latino Awards at IU in recognition of his outstanding service, teaching and mentorship to Latinos on campus.

Coronel-Molina said he was extremely happy and surprised to learn he was chosen to receive this prestigious award, saying as an Indigenous scholar, these awards have a profound significance to him.

“It has not been an easy journey to get here. To achieve what has been a life-long dream, I have had to pass through a labyrinth of profound and complex struggles in my life. To reach higher education, I have crossed many linguistic, cultural and geographical boundaries, all the while developing various dimensions of my identity,” he explained. “Few Quechua receive the opportunities I have had in my life. These opportunities have allowed me to broaden my horizon beyond the sphere of my ancient and vibrant cultural roots, while still keeping close ties to those roots.”

Coronel-Molina is invested in Indigenous and endangered language revitalization, and has been teaching this important field of study to Latino and non-Latino students at IU: “It is also very important to know that my teaching, mentorship and service to Latino students at IU had a positive impact on their career path and subsequent success in academia.”

While the main focus of his academic career is presently research, he also has extensive experience in teaching and learning, both domestically in the various institutions in which he studied and worked in his native country of Peru and internationally upon moving to the United States.

“Teaching for me is not just about imparting my knowledge of a subject to my students. It is also about helping them develop certain fundamental academic and life skills, such as effective and precise communication, critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration and active participation in today’s information economy,” he said.

Coronel-Molina was also recently honored with the Career Trajectory Award for his Contribution to Indigenous Languages and Cultures granted by the Quechua Program and the Association of Native Alumni at his alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania.