Efrén López

One week into the Fall

2021 semester, Efrén

López, the new assistant professor of comparative literature specializing in

ChicanX literature at SDSU Imperial Valley, beams when he speaks about his students and the courses he is

teaching here.

“I feel like my dream has come true,” he said. “It was always my goal, my dream, to teach at a Cal State school. It is an exciting time to be here.”

Fresh from completing his Ph.D. at UCLA, López said he felt drawn to SDSU Imperial Valley, in part, because it feels like his early collegiate home.

That may seem an odd comment from a Los Angeles County native who completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Cal State Los Angeles. However, not everything in Los Angeles is Dis

neyland.

“It is actually a relatively small campus,” López said. “I received a lot of one-on-one attention. I never felt anonymous there. That can really help a student grow.”

He senses the same spirit at SDSU Imperial Valley. “Everybody knows everybody. It felt like home.”

López, the first in his family to graduate from college, hopes he, too, will inspire his students. “I want to show them that a graduate degree, including a Ph.D. is not that far away. It’s very reachable.”

He also is eager to kindle in students the passion he feels for literature. This semester he is teaching a writing and criticism course and one focusing on literary theory. In the future, he also will teach Chicanx literature courses.

López’s dissertation focused on 19th and 20th Century Latino literature, which he calls, “writing that spoke truth to power and thought about freedom.”

“I can’t wait to bring it to students,” he said.

Literature, he said, is an important field of study, not just

for its beauty of entertainment, but rather because it provides a depth of understanding about the human spirit.

“I think literature can connect us to one another,” he said. “Literature can be a bridge to the commonality among people.”

In addition to teaching, López is excited about moving to the Valley. He also is enthusiastic about learning about the region’s history and ultimately putting together some programs about what he learns that would be open to the public.