SUNY Online Teaching Ambassador 2024: Adirondack – Adriana Umaña

Dr. Adriana Umaña is an Assistant Professor of World Languages, supervisor of the language tutoring center and liaison for the high school program at SUNY Adirondack where she teaches Spanish and French. She received her PhD in French Studies from Rice University.  Working in Spanish, French and English, her research interests include borders, diasporic cultures and the interplay of migration and identity. She joined SUNY Adirondack in 2018 and was recognized with the Junior Faculty President’s Excellence Award in Teaching (2023).  At SUNY Adirondack she developed a Spanish Micro-credential, adopted COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) in her Spanish curriculum, and designed the elementary Spanish online program.

Deeply committed to the values of diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice at SUNY, she sees her online courses as the natural extension of her teaching practice and philosophy.  The flexibility and expanded access given to nontraditional students allows her to share her passion for languages and cultures with a wide range of students while helping her stay current with new technologies and pedagogical approaches to second language acquisition.