GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Instead of flashcards, lectures, and tests, one GVSU professor created a creative way to teach his students about Latino history and culture with a new board game.
Santos Ramos is an associate professor of interdisciplinary studies at Grand Valley, where he teaches Latino and Latin American studies.
“I think we learn best in groups and in community as opposed to just memorizing information,” Ramos said.
Ramos says the journey started with doing genealogical research for his proud Mexican-Irish family.
“Then, I just kind of realized that there was a need for that to be happening on a larger scale across the Mexican and Latino community locally”, Ramos said.
So, over the years of teaching, he’s been developing a new way to teach his students–the Almost Lotería board game.
“Almost Lotería is a game I created to teach Latino history. It functions like bingo to a certain extent,” Ramos explained. “You can draw a card, and then if you have that card on your board as a player, then you put a bean on that space.”
Almost Lotería expands on the traditional Mexican game Lotería by adding more elements requiring social interaction.
“When a challenge card is drawn, the game stops, and all the players have to collaborate to make the game start again,” Ramos said.
The game features 54 original illustrations by Chicago artist Kayla Macedo, depicting different historical events, figures, and cultural concepts like the Mexican Revolution and the Chicano Movement.
“Then there’s references to local history,” Ramos said. “There’s the Calder Plaza recognizable art piece there, and then there’s Mexican dancers in the front. That’s just sort of paying homage to the fact that our communities have been here locally for many generations.”
The game instructions are printed in English and Spanish, but Ramos says it also incorporates four different indigenous languages as well. For example, ‘parakata’ is a Purépecha word for butterfly. The Purépecha are an Indigenous group from Michoacán, Mexico.
Ramos says this wouldn’t have been possible without a hand from the Hispanic Center of West Michigan and artistic help from Macedo. Ramos hopes Almost Lotería can be more than just a fun way to learn.
“I hope that this is a tool that other teachers or community leaders might be able to use in their own contexts to learn, but also to build community,” Ramos said.
The game is now available to buy in downtown Grand Rapids at Crows Hold on Division Ave. or online at Teach Cultura.
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