Summer Language Institute for Spanish Teachers

SLI Faculty 

SLI Director

Dr. Anne Connor - Southern Oregon University

Anne Connor received her PhD in Spanish from Vanderbilt University and is Associate Professor of Spanish at Southern Oregon University, where she currently directs the Summer Language Institute. She teaches intermediate through advanced Spanish courses and is particularly interested in Contemporary Latin American Literature, U.S. Latino Literature and Culture, Women Writers of Latin America, and Music and Culture of Latin America.  Email: connora@sou.edu

Winter Session: On-Line Course

Dr. Dennie Hoopingarner

Dennie Hoopingarner has been teaching our online Technology in the Classroom course for the past five years.  He has also served as Director of the Language Learning Center and Associate Director for Technology Implementation at the Center for Language Education And Research at Michigan State University. Hoopingarner earned his M.Ed in Secondary and Adult Education at Grand Valley State University, and his PhD in Linguistics at Michigan State University. He has been teaching at the college level since 1994. Previous to returning to the United States, he taught English and Chinese in the Republic of China. Hoopingarner has created numerous software programs for language teaching, applying technology and linguistic and learning theory to create innovative applications for language learning.  Email: dhoopingarner@gmail.com

Summer 2013 - Session 1 

Dr. Susan Hildebrandt - Illinois State University

Susan Hildebrandt is an Assistant Professor of Applied Linguistics and the Coordinator of Teacher Education in the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at Illinois State University. She earned her PhD in Foreign Language and ESL Education from the University of Iowa, and was subsequently awarded the 2008 ACTFL-MLJ Emma Marie Birkmaier Award for Doctoral Dissertation. Before her graduate studies, she taught Spanish at the elementary, middle, and high school levels for six years. Her research concerns second language teacher education and professionalization, assessment and evaluation, educational policy, and students with disabilities in the foreign language classroom. Email: shildeb@ilstu.edu

Dr. Adriana Gordillo - Minnesota State University, Mankato

Adriana Gordillo has a B.A in History from the Universidad del Valle in her native Cali, Colombia; an M.A. in Spanish from the University of Cincinnati, and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. She currently works as an Assistant Professor in the Department of World Languages at Minnesota State University, Mankato. Her research and teaching interests include twentieth and twenty-first century Hispanic American narratives, with an emphasis on neo-baroque aesthetics, myth, memory, and ecocritical thinking, as well as Specter theory readings. Her work has focused mainly on the texts of Mexican author Carlos Fuentes. She works as an associate editor for Hispanic Issues/Hispanic Issues Onlinebook series. Email: adriana.gordillo@mnsu.edu

Dr. Joshua J. Thoms - Utah State University

Joshua J. Thoms received his PhD in Second Language Acquisition from the University of Iowa and is currently Assistant Professor of Spanish and Applied Linguistics at Utah State University. He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on foreign language teaching methodology, theories of second language acquisition, applied linguistic research methods, and computer assisted language learning. His research interests include the role of classroom discourse in second language (L2) learning in Spanish language and literature classrooms, the effects of technology on L2 teaching and learning, and issues related to graduate student TA professional development. Recent publications include a state-of-the-art review of the literature on classroom discourse (Foreign Language Annals, 2012) and a co-edited AAUSC volume entitled Hybrid language teaching and learning: Exploring theoretical, pedagogical and curricular issues (Heinle Cengage, 2012). Email: joshua.thoms@usu.edu

Dr. Ariel Zatarain Tumbaga - Southern Oregon University     

Ariel Zatarain Tumbaga received his M.A. in Spanish literature, focusing on the Novel of the Mexican Revolution, at UCSD and his PhD in Hispanic Languages and Literature at UCLA, where he concentrated in 20th Century Mexican and Chicana/o Literature and Culture. His current research centers on the representation of the Yaqui nation in Mexican and Chicana/o literature, as well as Mexican and Latin American concepts of race; this is the topic of his forthcoming article “Arraigamiento: Contesting Hegemonies in Alfredo Véa Jr.’s La Maravilla” in Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies.  He is Assistant Professor of Spanish at Southern Oregon University.   Email: tumbagaa@sou.edu

Summer 2012 - Session 2

Dr. Craig Bergeson - Weber State University

Craig Bergeson received his MA from the University of Nevada, Reno and his PhD from the University of Colorado, Boulder. He is Professor of Spanish at Weber State University.  He has  developed courses that build language proficiency through the integration of various disciplines, such as art, film, history, literature, music, and photography. His research interests include methods of teaching literature and culture, contemporary Spanish narrative, and time in narrative literature.  Email: CBERGESON@weber.edu

Dr. Kelly Conroy - Northern Illinois University

Kelly Conroy is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Spanish at Northern Illinois University. She earned her PhD in Foreign Language Education at the University of Texas at Austin.  She teaches courses on Spanish linguistics and teaching methodologies.  Her research interests include student teacher development, teacher talk/target language use, language policy, and second language acquisition. Email: kconroy@niu.edu 

Dr. Rafael Orozco - Louisiana State University

Rafael Orozco, a native of Colombia, earned his Ph.D. in linguistics at New York University. He is an Assistant Professor of Spanish Linguistics at Louisiana State University where he teaches courses in Spanish Linguistics including Language Variation in the Spanish-Speaking World and Spanish in the United States.  His teaching and research interests include Spanish Sociolinguistics, Colombian Spanish, Caribbean Spanish, Spanish in the United States, and Spanish in Contact with English.  He is coeditor of the volumes Lenguaje, arte y revoluciones ayer y hoy: New Approaches to Hispanic Linguistic, Literary, and Cultural Studies (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2011), and Colombian Varieties of Spanish (Iberoamericana, 2012). His work has been published in journals such as Revista Internacional de Lingüística Iberoamericana (RILI), Spanish in Context,and Lingüística, as well as in several edited collections.  Email: rorozc1@lsu.edu

Carlos Jasso - Universidad de Guanajuato

Carlos Jasso is from the state of Guanajuato, Mexico. He earned his Bachelor's Degree in Spanish (University of Guanajuato) and received his Master's Degree in Teacher Training of Teachers of Spanish as a Foreign Language (University of Barcelona). Since 1995, he is professor of Mexican and Latin American Literature for foreign students at the Language Department in the University of Guanajuato. He is co-author of the Bachelor's Degree in Teaching Spanish as a Second Language and responsible for the subjects of Language Theory, Research Methods, and Mexican Literature in the Context of Teaching Spanish as a Second Language. He has worked in a diversity of educational institutions offering courses, workshops, and presentations on literature and teacher training. He is currently doing research on second language readers of literary texts.  Email: jasssoc@gmail.com

Faculty from previous years

Dr. Catherine M. Barrette - Wayne State University

Catherine M. Barrette is Associate Professor of Spanish and Director of Spanish Basic Courses at Wayne State University. She earned her PhD in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching from the University of Arizona, specializing in pedagogy and program administration. At Wayne State she teaches courses in Spanish language and applied linguistics at the undergraduate and graduate levels. With three co-authors she developed an introductory college textbook (Impresiones, Prentice Hall, 2004) that employs a task-based approach to language and culture. Furthermore, she is co-editor of a volume in the AAUSC series in Language Program Direction on language program articulation (Language Program Articulation: Developing a Theoretical Foundation, Heinle & Heinle, 2005), and has published research on language program articulation, teacher training, assessment, and instructional technology. Email: aa1471@wayne.edu

Dr. Tom Mathews - Weber State University

Tom Mathews received his MA from Middlebury College in Madrid, Spain, and then completed a PhD in Linguistics at the University of Delaware. He has been teaching at the secondary and university level for 30 years. He is a professor of Spanish at Weber State University where he teaches all levels of language and courses in Spanish linguistics and advanced grammar as well as methods courses for future teachers. Tom has published articles on language teaching and assessment in Foreign Language Annals, Hispania and Connections, among other places. He has been president of the Southwest Conference on Language Teaching and is currently the Executive Director of the Utah Foreign Language Association. Email: tmathews@weber.edu

Dr. Eduardo Olid Guerrero - Muhlenberg College

Eduardo Olid Guerrero is Assistant Professor at Muhlenberg College.  He holds a PhD from the University of California, Davis.  His current research interests include early modern relationships between England and Spain, Golden Age drama in translation, teaching early modern Spanish literature through performance, and Miguel de Cervantes' works on the 21st century U.S stage. Email: eolid@muhlenberg.edu

Katie Stafford - UC Davis

Katie Stafford currently teaches Advanced Grammar at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. She also directs the UC Davis study abroad program in Madrid.  She loves to travel, and has lived in Spain and Colombia. After earning a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and English at the University of California, Davis, Katie spent several years teaching high school Spanish in the Bay Area in California. She earned her Masters at Stanford University, and then returned to UC Davis, where she is completing her PhD.  Her dissertation, “Narrating War in Peace and Democracy: The Spanish Civil War in the Transition and Today,” examines how narrative of various prominent  cultural products has evolved during democracy.  Email: kostafford@ucdavis.edu

Dr. Ana Oskoz - University of Maryland Baltimore County

Ana Oskoz is Associate Professor at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. She completed a BA in Spanish language and literature at the University of Deusto, Spain. While in the United States, Ana studied at the University of Iowa where she received her MA and PhD in Foreign Language Education.  Her most recent research focuses on the use of Web 2.0 tools, such as wikis and blogs, for L2 writing development and (inter)cultural communication. Email: aoskoz@umbc.edu

Dr. María Paz Moreno - University of Cincinnati

María Paz Moreno is a native of Spain. She received her Licenciatura in Spanish Philology from the University of Alicante and later earned her PhD in Spanish Literature from Ohio State University.  She is currently an Associate Professor of Spanish at the University of Cincinnati, where she teaches literature, language and film courses.  Her research focuses on Spanish contemporary poetry, the work of women writers, and the cultural importance of gastronomical literature.  As a poet, she has published six books and has been included in a number of anthologies.  She is the Spanish Editor for the academic journal Cincinnati Romance Review. Email: morenom@uc.edu

Dr. Scott Rex - Southern Oregon University

Scott Rex holds a PhD in Spanish Linguistics from the University of California at Davis and is currently Associate Professor of Spanish at Southern Oregon University, where he directs Foreign Languages and Literatures as well as the foreign language teacher education program. Previously, he directed the Self-Instructional Language Program at the University of South Alabama and developed linguistics courses for education students. He has worked in teacher training and preparation at Sacramento State University and the University of South Alabama. His research interests include theoretical syntax and second language acquisition.  Email: rexs@sou.edu

Dr. Francisco Cabello - Concordia College

Francisco Cabello is a native of Seville, Spain.  He holds a BA in Modern Philology from the University of Seville, an  MA in English from Claremont Graduate University, and was awarded his PhD in Spanish from the University of California at Davis. He is the author of the popular book Total Physical Response in the First Year with versions in Spanish, English and French.  His research interests include the use of theater in language classes. Email:cabello@cord.edu

Dr. Ramsey Tracy - Trinity College

Ramsey Tracy received her PhD in Spanish from Tulane University and is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Hispanic Studies at Trinity College. She administers courses in Mexican and Caribbean Literature and Cultural Studies as well as intermediate through advanced Spanish. Her current research centers around19th and 20th century social movements, their artistic and musical representations, and their popular memory among indigenous and peasant communities in Central Mexico and the Mayan speaking Yucatan. Email: ramsey.tracy@trincoll.edu

 Dr. Cynthia Kauffeld - Macalester College

Cynthia Kauffeld received her PhD in Spanish Philology/Linguistics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is Assistant Professor of Hispanic Studies at Macalester College. She teaches language courses of all levels and introductory and advanced courses in Hispanic linguistics such as Introduction to Hispanic Linguistics, History of the Language, and Spanish Dialectology. Her research interests include Andalusian Spanish, colonial Spanish, paleography and dialectology. Email: kauffeld@macalester.edu

Dr. Judith Liskin-Gasparro - University of Iowa

Judith Liskin-Gasparro received her PhD in Foreign Language Education from the University of Texas at Austin and is Associate Professor of Spanish at the University of Iowa, where she also co-directs an interdisciplinary doctoral program in Second Language Acquisition. She teaches courses in teaching methods, second language acquisition, and Spanish language and applied linguistics, and until recently she was the director of the elementary and intermediate Spanish program. She is particularly interested in foreign language proficiency assessment, program evaluation and outcomes assessment, and the teaching materials (she is a co-author of two recent textbooks). Email: judith-liskin-gasparro@uiowa.edu

Dr. Troy Crawford - Universidad de Guanajuato

Troy Crawford, BA (Southern Oregon University), MBA (University of Guanajuato), MS (University of Guanajuato), MA (University of London), PhD (University of Kent, Canterbury) teaches courses on discourse analysis, techniques for teaching reading, writing, and grammar, and qualitative research methods. He has published articles in the area of second language writing and co-authored Close-up (Reading Comprehension). He is an Oral Examiner for University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate and an Expert Translator for the Guanajuato State Supreme Court. He currently works in the educational planning department at the University of Guanajuato.  Email: crawford@quijote.ugto.mx

Dr. Mariche García Bayonas - University of North Carolina-Greensboro

Mariche García Bayonas, a native of Spain, holds a PhD in Spanish Linguistics from Indiana University. She is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in linguistics. Her areas of research are phonetics/phonology, sociolinguistics and second language acquisition.  Email: Megarcia@uncg.edu

Dr. Sonia Kania - University of Texas at Arlington

Sonia Kania received her PhD in Spanish from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is Assistant Professor of Spanish at the University of Texas at Arlington. She was director of the Department of Modern Languages' Summer Study Abroad Program in Valladolid, Spain for three years and is currently a research fellow at UT Arlington's Center for Greater Southwestern Studies and the History of Cartography. She teaches advanced and graduate courses in Spanish language and linguistics and is particularly interested in the History of the Spanish Language, Spanish Dialectology, and the Origins of American Spanish. Her research focuses on Colonial Mexican and New Mexican Spanish. Email:skania@uta.edu 

Dr. Enrique Marquez- Florida Gulf Coast University

Enrique Marquez holds his PhD in Spanish from the University of Miami (1979).  He also earned his MA in Linguistics from Université de Paris III-Sorbonne (1982); and his DEA in Linguistics, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales de Paris (1985). He has taught at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. Currently, he is Associate Professor of Spanish and French at Florida Gulf Coast University, where he leads the Foreign Language Program and is in charge of teaching Spanish, French, and cinema courses. He has published numerous academic books and articles, and presented papers at national and international forums. Email: emarquez@fgcu.edu

Dr. Gustavo Mejía - Central Connecticut State University

Gustavo Mejia holds a PhD from the University of Essex in England. He is currently Professor in the Department of Modern Languages at Central Connecticut State University. He has taught at several institutions of higher learning in different parts of the world, and has been Associate Director of the Middlebury College School of Spanish in Vermont. He also directed Middlebury College's Graduate School in Spain. Dr Mejia has also taught at the University of Natal Durban in South Africa and at the Universidad de los Andes and Universidad Nacional in his native Colombia. He coordinates the Summer Institute for Teachers of Spanish (SITS) at CCSU, and has participated in workshops on the Integration of Language and Culture through the use of technology. Dr. Mejia is the editor of several scholarly books and articles. He has also contributed to Spanish language textbooks, among which Mosaicos (5th Edition), and La escritura paso a paso (Prentice Hall). Email: MejiaG@mail.ccsu.edu

Dr. Mary O'Donnell - James Madison University

Mary E. O'Donnell earned a PhD in Second Language Acquisition specializing in program language direction from the University of Iowa. She also has an MA in Spanish literature from the University of Notre Dame.  Currently, she is teaching at James Madison University.  She has taught Foreign Language Teaching Methodology and Spanish for Medical Professionals-as she is a Registered Nurse. Recently, she was the Director of Intermediate Spanish at Purdue University where she trained, supervised, and mentored teaching faculty and graduate teaching assistants. Her areas of academic interest include foreign language (FL) assessment, teacher training and supervision, the use of technologies in FL classrooms, and reading and writing in a foreign language.  Email: odonneme@jmu.edu