Verónica Moraga Guerra

Verónica Moraga Guerra, a native of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, earned her bachelor's degree from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey and a master's degree in Social Service Administration from the University of Chicago.

Passionate about language acquisition and intercultural engagement, Verónica is committed to fostering meaningful connections both inside and outside the classroom. She is the founder and director of El Cafecito, a program that promotes cultural exchange between the Latine community and the University of Chicago community. In recognition of her contributions to diversity and inclusion, the University of Chicago honored her with the 2026 Diversity Leadership Award.

Her teaching and research interests center on the design and teaching of Language for Specific Purposes (LSP) courses. She developed Latinx and Spanish Language for Social Workers for the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, a course designed to equip future social workers with the linguistic and cultural competencies needed to engage effectively with diverse Spanish-speaking communities. She also co-designed Advanced Spanish through Latin American Food Culture, an advanced language course that explores Latin American cultures through food, identity, and social issues.

In addition to her teaching, Verónica is co-organizer of the Feria del Libro en Chicago in collaboration with EL BEISMAN, an independent Spanish-language literary organization dedicated to promoting Hispanic literature and culture in Chicago.

• 2021 “Backward Design for LSP: Domain Analysis as a Consistent Research Framework for a Necessarily Decentralized Field”, Global Business Languages Journal, vol. 21, pp. 71-91. Co-author. https://gbl.digital.library.gwu.edu/articles/volume_21/10_4079_gbl_v21_5.pdf