Maricela Guerrero - Civil Engineering/Spanish

Name: Maricela Guerrero

Classification: sophomore

Hometown: Hamshire

Major/Minor: Civil engineering/Spanish

Research topic: A comparative study of conventual female life and convent architecture in Mexico in the 17^th century and the 21^th century

Synopsis of research: To earn an honors credit for her Spanish-American literature class, Guerrero undertook a comparative study of convent life and architecture in Mexico in the 17^th century and the 21^st century. Her primary window into the 17^th century was a study of the writings of Sor Juana Inés De La Cruz, an intellectual who entered the convent because it offered greater opportunity for study than did marriage, her only alternative as a 17^th-century woman. She learned about contemporary life by interviewing her aunt and another nun who live in a convent in Mexico but made a rare trip to Southeast Texas to try to raise money for their convent. Guerrero supplemented this information with research from other sources and combined it into an oral presentation for her class, other faculty members and guests.

Dates of research: Summer 2007 to November 2007

Presentations: Invited to present at the Hispanic Community Forum of Beaumont. Applied to present at the National Collegiate Honors Council in San Antonio in October 2008.

Faculty mentor: Dr. Catalina Castillon

Maricela Guerrero: “At first it was just for my Spanish literature class and for the honors program. Then as I started researching more and more, it caught my interest, and I really liked it. I couldn’t stop researching. I didn’t really know much about nuns. Now I do, and I think they should be respected women.”