Through the Lens of Professor Scott Bennett

With a love for photography and writing about his travels, Scott Bennett, Point Loma Nazarene University professor of Spanish, has traveled in Latin America to tell the stories of local people with his camera. Now in San Diego, his storytelling hasn’t stopped – he passes on his knowledge and experience to his students. 

With a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Spanish from San Diego State University (SDSU) and a doctoral degree in Hispanic Languages and Literatures from the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), Bennett joined PLNU as an assistant professor of Spanish in 2007.

He worked as an assistant professor until 2012 when he became an associate professor. In 2019, he took on the role of Languages Section Chair and finally in 2021, he became a professor of Spanish. 

But his teaching experience didn’t begin at PLNU. In August of 1995 through June of 1997, while Bennett was pursuing his master’s degree, he was a teaching assistant at SDSU and then at UCSB where he received the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Outstanding Teaching Assistant award in 2001. 

His passion for Latin America pours into how he teaches because he values portraying the region as the beautiful place it is, he said. 

“[I don’t want to just] show … Latin America’s violence, poverty, social problems, gangs, kidnappings,” Bennett said. “While all those things are part of it, Latin America is very beautiful and has the most amazing people who are genuine and kind, and [it has the] most amazing food in the world, the coolest celebrations – it’s a world of contrast.” 

Bennett teaches 10 classes ranging from elementary to advanced Spanish, grammar and reading, conversation and composition, to Latin American and Mexican American culture. 

When he’s not in the classroom, he’s taking photographs and traveling.

Bennett’s love for photography started in high school when he took a photography class. He said getting to see the world through other photographers’ lenses is what captured his attention. He was blown away by National Geographic, and he followed the photographers on social media to track their journeys, which sparked his interest in travel photography.

He started photographing Latin America and Central America during his travels there. He said he wanted to document the people, their celebrations and show the reality of the towns he visited. Photography is about being spontaneous, he said, “I’d call it documentary photography.”

Not only did he grow his passion for photography in Latin America, but he also found his future wife in Guatemala City. 

He and his wife volunteered in Campinas, Brazil with an organization called Hope Unlimited for Children that offers shelter, food, vocational training and spiritual care for kids who were court ordered or recommended by a social worker to their program.

He took photos in the Morro de Providência neighborhood in 2014, and then went back in 2017 to lead a workshop with 100cameras. When he took photos for that program, he also worked on a project with a French artist, JR, in Rio’s favela community. There, they did a photo workshop with the youth and JR’s nonprofit community center in Rio de Janeiro where they created the “Casa Amarela,” a house at the top of the favela for art workshops.

After working with JR, Bennett used his other talent of writing to talk about JR’s work in Tecate, Mexico. He wrote an article about how his work raised questions about immigration. 

“I have mainly [published] articles on Latin American literature, a few things on street art [and] some essays in the Union Tribune of San Diego.” 

Bennett also worked with the Inside Out Project at the U.S.-Mexico border titled “Inside Out Tijuana.” 

He uses his photos and talent in writing to portray his view of the world through his lens. He writes about what he photographed to showcase the meaning behind the photos.

Bennett won first place in the Scott Kelby 8th Annual Worldwide PhotoWalk competition in Little Italy, San Diego, in October of 2015. His website documents his photos, travel and writing pieces.

Bennett’s work was showcased in Rituales y Panteones, on Friday on Nov. 1, an art exhibit that displays 45 images in black and white, and focuses on El Día de Muertos, he said.

His photography is published in many different books, art exhibits and magazines including “Global Images for a Global Crisis,” “Nazarene Compassionate Magazine” and exhibits in Tijuana called Los Desenterrados: IV Festival Todos los Muertos and Paisanos / 100 Artistas x Vizcaíno.

What sets Bennett apart from other photographers is his focus on Latin America. He said he was inspired by his studies of the U.S.-Mexico border.

“When I started studying the United States-Mexico border, I started seeking out the visual reality of the region, following photo journalists on Instagram, studying and looking at their work,” he said.  “I often show these photos in class, it can help … share cultural reality, sometimes it’s shocking and harsh.”

Bennett said he enjoys exposing his students to Latin American photography and encouraging them to explore the world for themselves. 

Professor Margarita Pintado Burgos, Bennett’s colleague in the Spanish Department and Spanish professor said she shares his love for Latin American literature and culture with him. 

“Professor Bennett’s whole life revolves around the study of the language and culture of the Spanish-speaking world,” she said. “[He] is also a guitar player, and he uses this talent in his language classes. He is the whole package.”

Bennett believes in the importance of destroying the negative views people have of Latin America.

“As a Spanish teacher, I try to break down the stereotypes of the border being misunderstood,” Bennett said. “Go to Mexico – get out and [don’t] just listen to the news.”

Hailey Swanda, a third-year business administration major, took Bennett’s Spanish 1 and 2 classes where she learned to break preconceived notions she had. 

Swanda said, “He always had really positive stories to share in hopes to break stereotypes in our heads about Latin America. He was also really encouraging of cultural engagement assignments and gave us lots of opportunities to get familiar with other cultures so we could experience it ourselves.”

Bennett’s reason for pushing students to learn Spanish, literature and culture is because, “Spanish isn’t going away – learn it, embrace it,” he said.

Sabina Hantelmann, a third-year biology chemistry major, also took his Spanish 1 and 2 classes and said she was inspired by his passion for Latin American culture.

“Professor Bennett shows his love for Latin America by teaching his students about the culture,” Hantelmann said via text message. “He also integrates Latin music into the class and encourages his students to go to certain events that highlight the culture.”

Bennett is loved by his students and thought highly of by his colleagues, Pintado Burgos said. 

“His students are lucky to have him in the classroom because he is a knowledgeable and creative teacher who can talk about culture while sharing his insights as a photographer and film enthusiast, so his students get a greater perspective,” Pintado Burgos said.