Graduate Student
ASPIRE Fellow 2022-2023
Biography
Luis David Gaytán-Soto is a 1st generation Mexican-American graduate student who was born in Southern California but lived in Villa de Alvarez, Colima, Mexico, between the ages of 7 and 11. As a McNair Scholar, Luis graduated from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (CPP) majoring in Spanish with minors in history and philosophy. That same year, Luis joined UIUC to pursue graduate studies in Hispanic Linguistics. Luis has also served as a peer mentor to 4 students from his alma mater and 1 from UCLA. In his spare time he enjoys playing the diatonic accordion.
Research Interests
- Instructed Language Acquisition
- Second Language Acquisition
- Spanish Heritage Speakers
- Spanish in the U.S.
Education
- M.A. (In Progress) in Hispanic Linguistics, The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)
- B.A. (Cum Laude) in Spanish Linguistics and Literature with minors in History and Philosophy. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (CPP), 2018-2022
Awards and Honors
- Fellowships
- Teach For America IGNITE Fellowship: $2,200
- Chancellors Doctoral Incentive Program Fellow (California State University System)
- ASPIRE Illinois Masters Fellowship (UIUC): $20,000
- Summer Pre-Doctoral Institute Summer Research Fellowship (UIUC): $4,500
- Teach For America IGNITE Fellowship: $1,200
- Conference Travel Fellowship (CPP): $600
- Summer Research Opportunities Program Fellowship (Northwestern University): $5,000
- Scholarships
- NAACP Scholarship: $5,000
- Latino Faculty Staff Student Associaton Leadership Scholarship: $1,000
- McNair Scholars GRE Scholarship: $200
- Cecil B. Brown Memorial Endowed Scholarship: $6,000
- Department of English and Modern Languages Scholarship: $500
- Stipends
- McNair Scholars Stipend: $600
- McNair Scholars Travel Stipend: $400
- McNair Scholars Research Stipend: $400
- Political Science Research Assistant Stipend: $500
- Award(s)
- Research Distinction Award
Courses Taught
- LAS 292: Global Perspectives in Cross-Cultural Contexts (Spring 2023)
- LAS 291: Global Perspectives for Inter-Cultural Learning (Fall 2022)