Author Archives: Mark Del Mastro

Jessica Latham, Spanish ’12, Receives 2018 SCFLTA Teacher of the Year Award

Jessica Latham, Spanish ’12, has been awarded the 2018 Teacher of the Year Award by the South Carolina Foreign Language Teachers’ Association.  Jessica graduated magna cum laude from the College of Charleston with a major in Spanish and minors in both Secondary Education and Russian Studies.  She was also a Fulbright Scholar at Moscow State University in the summer of 2014, and she earned her M.A. in Applied Linguistics from the University of Massachusetts Boston in 2016.  Currently, she is a faculty member of both Spanish and Russian languages at Lexington High School (Lexington, SC / Lexington School District One) where she teaches Spanish 1, 2, 3 and 3 honors, and Russian 1 honors, 2 honors, and 3 honors.  Beyond the classroom, she is Lexington High School’s Sponsor of the Russian Club and the SLAVA International Honors Society, among other distinguished professional activities.

HISP Faculty Focus, February 2018: Professor Allison Zaubi

Professor Allison Zaubi

An Adjunct Lecturer in the Department of Hispanic Studies for nearly a decade, Professor Allison Zaubi is also a double graduate of the College of Charleston with both B.A. and M.Ed. degrees.  Her passion and dedication in the classroom have distinguished her as a persistent student-favorite, and she also thrives as one of the department’s highly successful SNAP (Students Needing Access Parity) Spanish instructors.  Such outstanding teaching earned her the school-wide Adjunct Professor Award in 2012. In her own words:

Although there are many wonderful aspects to being involved in Hispanic Studies and most of all, teaching both SNAP and non-SNAP Spanish at College of Charleston, I continuously find myself most fulfilled every day in the classroom. Turning the lesson over to the variety of different learners I encounter and watching them exchange meaningful ideas in Spanish is truly the most rewarding part of my position at College of Charleston. Honestly, its magical and I thrive on it professionally!

Professor Zaubi’s notable contributions also go beyond the class through her work as past Coordinator of SNAP Services and member of the Basic Spanish Language Program Steering Committee, the Basic Languages Textbook Adoption Committee and current Mentor to newly-hired faculty, among other activities.

She has also given generously to the community as a volunteer teacher of English in the Fields to Families program, and an interpreter/translator for Hispanics with multiple charitable organizations in the Charleston area.

The Department of Hispanic Studies congratulates Professor Allison Zaubi for her many contributions to the College of Charleston and its Spanish program, and for being selected for our February 2018  “Hispanic Studies Faculty Focus.”

Stay tuned for March 2018’s feature…

HISP Faculty Focus, January 2018: Professor Daniel Delgado Díaz

Professor Daniel Delgado, Hispanic Studies

Since he joined the College of Charleston’s faculty as Instructor of Spanish in August 2011, Professor Delgado has not only distinguished himself as an enthusiastic and innovative language instructor in the Department of Hispanic Studies, but his many contributions at various levels reflect his tireless and generous approach to Cougar Nation: Former Director of the Study Abroad Program in Trujillo, Spain; current Editor of the department’s newsletter HispaNews; Past Director of the LCWA World Cultures Fair; current Art Editor and Webmaster of Hispanic Studies Review; former Faculty Senator; Chair of the Casa Hispana Committee; and countless committees at both the departmental and school-wide levels, among other activities.  In addition, Professor Delgado is an accomplished and very talented photographer (see Daniel Delgado Photography) who consistently lends his skills to the visual recordings of the various departmental events that take place during the academic year. Many of his photographs can be seen on the department’s official Facebook page, hallways on first floor of the JC Long Building, and on official College of Charleston webpages.

Now a Senior Instructor, Professor Delgado reflects on his role in the Department of Hispanic Studies:

I love working in our department, where we are like a big family who care about the success of our students. Besides teaching, I have had the opportunity to lead study abroad programs, create the Hispanic Latino Graduation Ceremony, and help with Hispanic Studies Review (our international peer review journal), among many other things. I feel grateful to work in such a dynamic department!

And Hispanic Studies is grateful for Professor Daniel Delgado Díaz, our inaugural feature for January 2018 of the new “Hispanic Studies Faculty Focus” page.

Stay tuned for February 2018’s feature…

Hispanic Studies Launches Inaugural Advisory Board

The inaugural meeting of the newly formed Hispanic Studies Advisory Board was held at 3:00pm on December 7 in the President’s Board Room of Randolph Hall and began with an address by the College of Charleston President Glenn McConnell.  Board members will assist the Department of Hispanic Studies with funding objectives, recruitment and extra-curricular program development.

Dr. Weyers’ Essay to Appear in Fall 2018 Issue of _Southern Journal of Linguistics_

Professor Joseph Weyers’ study “Quechua in the linguistic landscape of Cusco, Peru: Showcasing culture and boosting pride” has been accepted for publication in the fall 2018 issue of the  Southern Journal of Linguistics.

Dr. Del Mastro Named Secretary-Treasurer of MIFLC

Professor Mark P. Del Mastro of the Department of Hispanic Studies has been appointed Secretary-Treasurer of the Mountain Interstate Foreign Language Conference (MIFLC) effective January 1, 2018, which makes the College of Charleston the new legal seat of the organization.  Founded in 1951 and with an annual conference each October, MIFLC is is an organization of teachers, scholars, and graduate students dedicated to the advancement of literary, linguistic, and pedagogical scholarship in foreign languages.  The College of Charleston hosted past MIFLC conferences in 2003 and 2015, and Dr. Del Mastro is past President of the same organization.

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.