Category Archives: Hispanic Studies

Exciting events in Hispanic Studies

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Check out some of the exciting things that have been happening in Hispanic Studies!

Hispanic Studies’ Student Focus, November 2018

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James Riggs, a Biology major and a Portuguese and Brazilian Studies Minor (’19), is a First Year Experience Peer Facilitator and Team Leader, Treasurer of the Portuguese Club, Board Member for CougarCon, Vice President of the Catholic Student Association, Founding President of the Doctor Who Club, and accordionist for the College of Charleston Pep Band, among other activities.  His excellence in leadership earned him the college-wide New Student Leader Award in 2016, and for his exemplary performance in the Hispanic Studies’ Portuguese Program, he was awarded the Outstanding Student of Portuguese in 2017.

In James’ own words:

With her first language being Português, my mother was the first in her family born in the USA. Unfortunately, by the time of my interest in our culture, my mother and grandparents were no longer effectively using the language. One of the primary reasons that I chose to become a student at the College of Charleston was the offering of the Portuguese language. Despite being able to transfer my Spanish credits from the International Baccalaureate Program, I chose to instead investigate Portuguese. Dr. Luci and Professor José Moreira were most gracious to my desire to learn the variant spoken in Portugal, often pointing out when there were differences between the Brazilian and European dialects. I conducted Duolingo competitions with my colleagues; I have served as Secretary, President, and now Treasurer for the Portuguese Club, and I have worked as a Peer Facilitator for the Portuguese First Year Experience. I am now even able to conduct conversations with my grandparents, and recently my mother, over the telephone! The more I advanced through the courses, the more I wanted students to be able to minor in Portuguese. I started a petition to demonstrate that other students were also interested. After a long process, the Portuguese and Brazilian Studies minor is now available at the College! The Portuguese minor pairs well with my Biology major due to my focus in Entomology. With Portuguese in my arsenal, I will have the opportunity to explore and work with others in the field from around the world, especially in Brazil where the diversity of insects is exceedingly vast. While I have never gotten to partake in a study abroad, by having studied Portuguese at the College of Charleston I finally will have the opportunity, for I will be leaving the country for my first time to visit Portugal with my family in the summer of 2019!

HISP Faculty Focus, November 2018: Dr. Susan Divine

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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’ Student Focus, October 2018

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Sarah Dixon, a double major in Spanish and Public Health (’19) in the Honors College, is also an official College of Charleston Spanish tutor, peer facilitator, past Student Body Secretary (2017) and Job Coach (2016).  She has also served countless hours as a volunteer in various contexts to include serving the Associate Director of Research and Data Management and the College of Public Health at East Tennessee University (2018), and Angel Oak Family Medicine (2017) in Charleston.  In addition, she has studied abroad in Spain twice: in May 2016 with the College of Charleston’s program in Trujillo, and in spring 2018 with the Universidad de Pablo de Olavide in Seville.

In Sarah’s own words:

I am so grateful for the faculty in the Hispanic Studies department. Each professor I have had in this department has gone the extra mile for me and has pushed me to become who I am today. They encouraged me to study abroad, which I ended up doing twice, and they have supported me in the process of applying for a Fulbright Grant to teach English in Mexico, the Peace Corps, and graduate programs, all at the same time. My future is up in the air right now as I await the decisions from these different entities, but I know I have the support of my professors from the Hispanic Studies Department no matter what!

Dr. Del Mastro Participates in 2018 MIFLC

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Professor Mark P. Del Mastro had multiple roles at the 2018 Mountain Interstate Foreign Language Conference (MIFLC) held October 4-6 at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville:

  1. Organized and presented in panel on the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society.
  2. Organized, chaired and presented the second annual session on “Stop the Bleeding: Language Departments and the Dwindling Major”
  3. Participated in the MIFLC Executive Committee and Business Meetings in his role as Secretary-Treasurer of MIFLC.

Dr. Del Mastro (far right) with panelists of “Stop the Bleeding”

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

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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

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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…

Dr. Gómez’s Study to Appear in _Anales Galdosianos_

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Professor Michael Gómez’s article “Shedding Light on José Fernández Bremón’s ‘Un crimen científico’: Science and Science Fiction in Restoration Spain,” will be published in the December 2018 issue of the journal Anales Galdosianos.

Dr. Owens’ Essay Published in _Women in Colonial America, 1526 to 1806: Texts and Contexts_

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Professor Sarah E Owens’ study “Sor Ana’s Travel Excerpt from Mexico to Manila (Mexico and Manila, 1620)” has been published in the edition Women in Colonial Latin America, 1526 to 1806: Texts and Contexts with Hackett Publishing Company.