Ms. María Luisa ParraHarvard University

María Luisa Parra Velasco is Senior Preceptor of several courses of Spanish and undergraduate academic adviser for Spanish, Latin American and Latino studies at the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures at Harvard University. She holds a M.A. in Psychology from UNAM and a Ph.D. in Hispanic Linguistics from El Colegio de México. In recent years, her work has focused on the development of best pedagogical practices for teaching Spanish as heritage language. She coordinates an ongoing seminar and professional development workshops for high school and college teachers in the Boston area interested in the field. Dr. Parra has also work as research coordinator for programs supporting Latino families and children transitioning from home to school (Tufts University) and is the founder of the "Multilingual Family Resource Center".