En la materia de Historia Universal II –semestre verano 2007– de la Universidad de Quintana Roo, se les pidió a los estudiantes de la licenciatura en humanidades la lectura de la novela histórica de Umberto Eco, El nombre de la rosa, con una finalidad didáctica: que conocieran una parte de la Edad Media y los aspectos socioculturales que llegaron a la Nueva España en el siglo XVI –como la filosofía escolástica, el castellano, el latín, la religión católica, entre otros–, ya que algunos alumnos, que provienen de medios urbanos y rurales, son hablantes del maya –así como sus abuelos–, y este conocimiento para ellos es nuevo, dado que no se los enseñaron en los otros niveles educativos en esta región del sur de Quintana Roo.

In the course of Universal History II at the University of Quintana Roo in the 7th semester of the bachelors program of Humanities during the summer of 2007 students were given to read the historical novel from Umberto Eco In the name of the rose. This was done with didactic purposes in order to introduce the students to the Middle Ages and to teach them which specific part of this era and culture arrived in the New Spain in the XVI century; i.e. scholastic philosophy, the Castilian language, the Latin language, and the Catholic religion among other cultural aspects. It is important to consider that many of our students come not only from urban areas but from rural ones as well and in many cases they have a Mayan background and many of them even speak the Mayan language. This is one of the most important aspects to be considered while teaching courses of this nature; for many students this will be their first time encountering with this sort of knowledge new to them since it is not taught in any previous educational levels in the State of Quintana Roo, Mexico.