Vanesa Sabala

Vanesa Sabala is a Teaching Fellow (mapped to Lecturer rank) in the Department of Humanities at the University of Strathclyde's Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences, specializing in Spanish language instruction. She has been a core member of the Spanish teaching team since 2000, progressing from a Teaching Assistant to a permanent staff member responsible for course coordination, exam development, and serving as the primary student contact point. Her roles include coordinating Spanish 1A/B, Spanish 2A/B, Translation Studies, and Intercultural Mediation modules while integrating UN Sustainable Development Goals into curricula.

Her formal academic credentials include a PgCert in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (2019) from the University of Strathclyde, which earned her Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy. This builds upon her multidisciplinary foundation in Sociology and professional qualifications in Translation and Interpretation.

Dr. Sabala's research centers on decolonising the Spanish language curriculum through critical pedagogy and inclusive education frameworks. She actively implements decolonial approaches in course design and delivery, presenting her scholarship at Advance HE EDI and AULC Language Conferences. Her work extends to gender equality via the Women Legacy Project and anti-racism initiatives through the Humanities department's Anti-Racial group, where she examines systemic barriers in educational systems.

Her publications reveal an interdisciplinary trajectory connecting educational reform with cultural analysis. The 2022 decoloniality study pioneers critical approaches to language pedagogy, while her 1997 film scholarship analyzes sociological dimensions of Argentine cinema. Together they demonstrate consistent engagement with power structures in education and cultural representation across decades.

Her exceptional teaching has received institutional recognition:

• Best in Hass Teaching Excellence Award (2018)
• Shortlisted for Best in Hass Teaching Excellence Award (2023)
• Nominated for 'Most Enthusiastic Tutor' Teaching Excellence Award
• Nominated for 'Going the Extra Mile' Teaching Excellence Award
• Conference funding award (2023)
• Shortlisted for Best in Hass Teaching Excellence Award (2021/2022)

As an academic leader, she directs grant-funded initiatives including the Women Legacy Project (documenting erased female contributions to literature/science/film) and serves as Researcher on the ESRC/British Library-funded Prison Blueprint project examining colonial incarceration's legacy. She also led MOOC translation for UNHCR-endorsed courses on child migration with CELCIS and FutureLearn.

She co-organizes the department's Teaching and Scholarship seminars to disseminate pedagogical innovations and collaborates with the Anti-Racial group to implement inclusive practices across Humanities curricula, while mentoring colleagues through STEP programs and decolonisation workshops.