Hispanic Studies’ Student Focus: April 2019

A double major in Spanish and International Studies with a minor in Linguistics (’19), Jenna McLaughlin is also a member of the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society, the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, and she served as a Spanish Peer Teacher (2016), a CofC Spanish Tutor (2016-17), Secretary for the Special Needs Peer Helper (2015), and Team Captain for Relay for Life (2015), among other activities.  In the spring of 2018 she studied abroad in Seville, Spain, and in 2016 she traveled to Honduras and Mexico to volunteer as a Spanish/English Interpreter with Torch Missions and Campus Church respectively.  Jenna also worked as a Spanish/English Medical Interpreter at Cahaba Valley Healthcare in Birmingham, AL in 2015.

In her own words:

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time as a Spanish Major at CofC. Spanish has always been one of my favorite subjects, and the professors here at the College really helped me refine my skills and feel completely prepared to study abroad in Seville, Spain. Studying abroad is an enjoyable, empowering, and enlightening experience that I would recommend to any younger student, especially those who are interested in learning about language and culture!

One of my favorite parts about being a Spanish major is the freedom it allows me in my post-grad plans. In these past four years as a Spanish major at College of Charleston, I have had the ability to cultivate a skill that I can take with me in all of my future occupations! Coming into college, I had no idea what I wanted to pursue as an occupation, so I’m really thankful that my Spanish major has provided me with the flexibility to take the skill of bilingualism into a variety of areas.

HISP Faculty Focus, November 2018: Dr. Susan Divine

Dr. Susan Divine

After completing B.A. degrees in both Spanish and Anthropology at Iowa State University, Professor Susan Divine earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in Spanish at the University of Arizona, and then spent four years as a faculty member at Westminster College (Fulton, MO) before joining the College of Charleston’s Department of Hispanic Studies in August 2013.  Both her prior teaching expertise and her ongoing research have enabled her pedagogical contributions at various levels at the College to include classes on Spanish language, conversation and composition, undergraduate courses on Hispanic culture and contemporary Spanish literature and film, the First Year Experience, and her collaboration with the M.Ed. in Languages program.

Complementing her teaching is Dr. Divine’s extensive research on 19th and 20th-century Spanish film, literature and cultural studies that has resulted in articles in leading peer-reviewed journals in her discipline, guest lectures, and numerous conference presentations in both regional and international venues.  On the editorial side of publishing, Professor Divine has earned her reputation as a seasoned editor and reviewer with current roles as Managing Editor for both Hispanic Studies Review and Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies, Invited Editor for Bulletin of Hispanic Studies, a previous appointment as Technical Editor for Letras Hispanas, and peer reviewer for multiple academic journals, among other related activities.

Despite the demands of her teaching and research, Dr. Divine has still managed numerous impactful service contributions campus-wide to include her work on the General Education and By-laws Committees, the Scholarship Selection Committee for Women and Gender Studies, and Student Action with Farmworkers (SAF), among other activities; and her contributions at the departmental level have been equally significant as Co-Adviser of the College’s award-winning chapter of the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society, Co-Director of the Maymester Program in Trujillo, Spain and Assessment Reader.

In Professor Divine’s own words:

Everyday I am grateful that I am at CofC and get to teach students who want to grow as Spanish-speakers and world citizens. From my roles on the college-wide General Education committee, to classroom instructor, to serving as co-faculty advisor to our national Hispanic Honor Society, Sigma Delta Pi, I am able to help students explore their passion, reach their potential, and celebrate the highest levels of their success. I love those classroom moments when students finally understand a difficult concept, or when they make valuable connections between ideas and practice. I am most honored to watch them grow from timid novice to confident speakers of Spanish while traveling through Spain on the Trujillo program. 

The Department of Hispanic Studies congratulates Dr. Susan Divine for her many impressive contributions to her department, the College, the broader profession, and for being selected for our November 2018 “Hispanic Studies Faculty Focus.”

Stay tuned for December 2018’s feature…

Dr. Carrillo Arciniega Enjoys Multiple Publications

Professor Raúl Carrillo Arciniega’s chapter “Instrucciones para existir en México” is set to be published in the book México en el tiempo de la rabia. Arte y literatura de la guerra, el dolor y la violencia, edited by Gustavo Ogarrio y Alejandro Zamora and to be released by York University (Canada)-UAEM y-UNAM.

In addition, a short story by Professor Carrillo Arciniega has been published in the book Testigos de ausencia with Editorial Artificios.

Dr. Divine’s Study to Appear in _Ecozon@: European Journal of Literature, Culture and Environment_

Professor Susan Divine’s article “The Nature of Anxiety: Precarious City Lives in La piqueta and La trabajadora” has been accepted  for publication in the journal Ecozon@: European Journal of Literature, Culture and Environment.

HISP Faculty Focus, October 2018: Professor E. Berenice Marquina Castillo

Prof. Berenice Marquina Castillo

A graduate herself from the College of Charleston with an M.Ed. in Spanish, Professor Marquina Castillo has taught every course in the Basic Spanish Language Program since she joined the Department of Hispanic Studies in August 2009.  A native of Mexico, she also earned her undergraduate degree in Hispanic Language and Literature at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, the same alma mater of renowned writers Carlos Fuentes, Octavio Paz and Elena Poniatowska, among others.  Besides sharing her first-hand cultural perspectives in the classroom, she has also bolstered her pedagogical skills through her participation in the College’s Professional Learning Club and her certification in Distance Education Readiness, which in turn has enabled her to teach online Spanish courses for the department.

Beyond the classroom, Professor Marquina Castillo has also served  the department and College in numerous capacities to include her role as a mentor for SPECTRA (Speedy Consolidation and Transition Program), member of the LCWA IT Advisory Group and Distance Education Committee, Co-Adviser of the Spanish Club, and a departmental mentor for new faculty, among other activities.

In her own words:

Being a part of the Hispanic Department has been a wonderful experience, I get to share my passion for the Spanish language with enthusiastic and inspiring students, and I am surrounded by talented and creative colleagues who constantly reinforce and fuel my interest in learning. I am fortunate to work with students as a mentor and advisor, but also, to learn and share knowledge with colleagues through committees and learning clubs.

The Department of Hispanic Studies congratulates Professor Marquina Castillo for her dedication to students, colleagues and programs at the College of Charleston, and for being selected for our October 2018 “Hispanic Studies Faculty Focus.”

Stay tuned for November 2018’s feature…

Hispanic Studies’ Student Focus, May 2018

Ana Camila Bailey, a double major in Spanish and Communication ’18, is a member of Global Scholars, Delta Gamma Sorority, and she is an Operations Assistant for the tech startup Casa.  She has also served the Department of Hispanic Studies as a Spanish conversation peer instructor, and she studied abroad twice: in Lisbon, Portugal in fall 2016, and in Córdoba, Argentina during the summer of 2017.  She also worked as a Marketing Intern for Bedkin and Sycer in 2017.

In Camila’s own words:

I attribute so much of my growth as a student to the Hispanic studies department at CofC. The Spanish major is made up of rigorous courses that focus on literature, language, and culture and has shaped my knowledge of the Hispanic world while improving my language and writing skills both in Spanish as well as English. The professors in the department push their students to go beyond merely learning the material, to instead develop a genuine understanding that can be applied to both past and present real world situations. My experience in the Hispanic studies department has re-inspired my love of the language and has given me the drive and confidence to continue this practice in future endeavors. 

Dr. Viñas-de-Puig Presents Research at 2017 Hispanic Linguistics Symposium

On October 27, 2017, Professor Ricard Viñas-de-Puig presented his single-authored paper “Evidence for a typology of epistemic modality in Spanish and Catalan: Restructuring clitic climbing,” and the co-authored paper (in collaboration with Dr. Stephen Fafulas, University of Mississippi) “Leísmo in monolingual and bilingual varieties of Spanish in the Peruvian Amazon” at the 2017 Hispanic Linguistics Symposium, held at Texas Tech University.

Dr. Weyers Presents at LASSO in New Mexico

Professor Joseph R. Weyers presented his study “Medellín cuenta con vos: Increasing prestige for a non-standard form” at the 46th Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Association of the Southwest (LASSO) at New Mexico State University, October 5-7, 2017.

Hispanic Studies Faculty Represent at 2017 MIFLC

Drs. Edward Chauca, Mark P. Del Mastro, Susan Divine, Vicki Garrett and Elizabeth Martínez-Gibson of the Department of Hispanic Studies all presented their various research and professional experiences during multiple academic sessions and panels during the 2017 Mountain Interstate Foreign Language Conference held at the University of North Carolina Wilmington on October 5-7.  For related details, see the official conference program.