Hispanic Studies Professors Collaborate in the 72nd Annual Kentucky Foreign Language Conference

Several faculty members of the Department of Hispanic Studies participated in the 72nd Annual Kentucky Foreign Language Conference on April 11-13, 2019 in Lexington, Kentucky:

Professors Raúl Carrillo Arciniega, Mark P. Del Mastro, Susan Divine and Daniel Delgado were panelists in the 3rd annual “Strategies for Academic Journal Publishing” session hosted by Hispanic Studies Review

Dr. Antonio Pérez-Núñez presented his study “Developing Intercultural Competence through Online Face-to-Face Interaction with Native Speakers.”

Dr. Mark P. Del Mastro organized, chaired and presented in the 17th annual General Informative Session of the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society and the 2nd annual Sigma Delta Pi Graduate Research Symposium.

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…

Hispanic Studies’ Professors Participate in 100th AATSP Conference in Spain

At the Centennial Conference of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP) in Salamanca, Spain on June 25-28, 2018, Professors Mark P. Del Mastro, Susan Divine and Devon Hanahan had active roles in various sessions:

On Monday, June 25, Professors Divine and Hanahan co-presented “High impact practices during study abroad: Portfolios of Trujillo, Spain” during a 75-minute session.  This presentation was based on Divine’s and Hanahan’s experiences co-directing CofC’s Maymester program in Trujillo for two consecutive summers in 2017 and 2018.

Dr. Del Mastro organized and chaired the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society’s Best Practices and Informative Session that featured the presentations of student leaders from four different universities from across the U.S.   He also hosted the reception for Sigma Delta Pi members and guests and directed the event’s presentation of various awards and recognitions, to include the initiation of Dr. Frank Nuessel of the University of Louisville into the Order of Don Quijote.  Del Mastro also presented reports to the AATSP’s Board of Directors in his role as AATSP Finance Committee Chair and Executive Director of Sigma Delta Pi, which is a partner of the AATSP.

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.