Spanish Graduate Programs - George Mason University

10/11/2024

NEXT WEEK! Our first speaker in George Mason's 2024-25 online lecture series in Spanish Heritage Language Education is Dr. Alicia Luque. Wednesday October 16, 4:30 pm (Eastern US time). Register to receive the Zoom link and/or get access to the video recording. You don't want to miss it!

See the rest of the line-up in the comments.

Wednesday, October 16, 2024 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM EDT: Click for registration link.

09/27/2024

¡Feliz !

Happy Teach Spanish Week 2024!

¿Cuántos años lleva enseñando español?



Fotos: Grupo de profesoras de español en la orientación docente de otoño y en el congreso de Innovations in Teaching and Learning (ITL) en George Mason (https://stearnscenter.gmu.edu/programs/annual-conference-itl/)

09/26/2024

*STUDENT SPOTLIGHT*

Kelly Rodas Hernández Advances Latinx Advocacy and Outreach Initiatives and Volunteers at the Virginia Latino Higher Education Network (VALHEN) STEM summer Academy held at George Mason

El semestre de la primavera 2024 Kelly tuvo la oportunidad de investigar sobre instituciones de servicio a la comunidad hispana (HSI institutions) en su trabajo como GPA en Latinx Adocacy & Outreach, aprendiendo sobre las cualificaciones para tal designación y los programas y esfuerzos que instituciones en el área están haciendo, especialmente la universidad de Marymount y el colegio comunitario del norte de Virginia, para promover asistencia latine en instituciones postsecundarias. Por medio de esta investigación pudo conectarse con personas y organizaciones que promueven esta meta.

A través de su trabajo como GPA, este verano participó en calidad de voluntaria en la Academia STEM de VALHEN que toma lugar en el campus de George Mason. La academia STEM del verano es gratis para estudiantes minorizades en el noveno y décimo grado del estado. En total casi 40 alumnes fueron reclutades y cada equipo de 8 fue retado a pensar en un problema global, ecológico o social, y formar una solución a él. Los dos grupos con las mejores presentaciones ganaron becas universitarias.

El trabajo de los voluntarios consistía en llevar a les estudiantes a conferencias universitarias y ayudarles a formar una presentación para dar frente a jueces. Más que todo, se trataba de encontrar voluntaries de comunidades minorizadas, estudiando en George Mason, para darles consejos, motivación, y para que ellos tuvieran una persona como elles a quien acudir con sus dudas.

During the Spring semester of 2024, Kelly had the opportunity to research Hispanic Serving Institutions as a GPA in Latinx Adocacy & Outreach, learning about the qualifications for this designation, alongside the programs and efforts that postsecondary institutions in the area are enacting, namely, Marymount University and Northern Virgina Community College, to promote latino student enrollment.

Through this research as a GPA, she was able to connect with individuals and organizations that promote this goal, and this summer she volunteered at the VALHEN STEM Academy that took place at George Mason’s campus.

The summer STEM Academy is free for minoritized students in 9th and 10th grade in Virginia. Almost 40 students were recruited and each group of 8 was challenged to think about a global, ecological, or social problem, and to propose a solution for it. The two groups with the best presentations would win university scholarhsips.

The volunteers were responsible for taking students to university conferences and helping them create a presentation to give in front of a panel of judges. Overall, there was an effort to find volunteers from minoritized communities studying at George Mason and give the high school students advice, motivation, as well as someone they could relate to and consult.

09/26/2024

*FACULTY SPOTLIGHT*

Spanish professor, Dr. Jennifer Leeman, receives 2024-2025 U.S. Fulbright Senior Scholar Award

Dr. Jennifer Leeman, professor of Spanish linguistics in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages at George Mason University, has been selected as a recipient of a 2024-2025 Fulbright Scholar Award. Leeman will spend the fall semester at the Universidad de Murcia in Spain, where she will lecture on topics in applied linguistics and sociolinguistics as well as aid in the supervision of doctoral students. She will also carry out a research project, an empirical study of language attitudes among international university students studying in Murcia, Spain.

Next Spring 2025, Dr. Leeman will offer FRLN 575 – Heritage Language Education (https://mcl.gmu.edu/courses/frln575), which is a required core course for the online graduate certificate in Spanish Heritage Language Education. The course provides a comprehensive overview of the field of heritage language education, Including consideration of the linguistic and sociocultural characteristics of heritage language students, empirical research on heritage language education, and a range of instructional approaches, including critical pedagogy.

08/26/2024

Don’t miss our 2024-25 Online Lecture Series sponsored by the graduate certificate in Spanish Heritage Language Education! We have three great speakers this year, and all virtual talks are free and open to the public. Register via the links provided on this page: https://spanish.gmu.edu/events/category/shle-online-lecture-series

08/22/2024

Mark your calendars (and register) for these three great talks in George Mason's 2024-25 Spanish Heritage Language Education online lecture series!

Free and open to the public. (Video recordings will be available for 30 days following the talk for all those who register)

The online lecture series, now in its fourth year, brings cutting-edge, critical scholarship to hundreds of in-service and pre-service language...

05/16/2024

¡Felicidades a nuestras estudiantes fenomenales que se graduaron este año! Nicole Durán, Suzanne Cox, Niulka Franco Marin, Carolina Santiago Cintrón y Melissa Yankowski - Qué gran honor y orgullo haber formado parte de su camino. ¡Que sigan los éxitos! 🎉👏🔥

03/12/2024

One week from today! Tuesday March 19 4:30-5:30 PM (Eastern) Register now to receive the Zoom link.

In the final talk of George Mason's online lecture series in Spanish Heritage Language Education, Dr. Cervantes-Soon will discuss the necessity to center a vision of critical solidarity in dual-language bilingual education (DLBE). Two-way immersion programs, a model of DLBE, integrate English-dominant students and speakers of a partner language in the same classroom with the goals of bilingualism and biliteracy, high academic achievement, and the development of sociocultural competence through content-based bilingual immersion. Due to the claimed benefits for all students, including the potential to promote equity, DLBE programs’ popularity has quickly become widespread. Unfortunately, research has made it increasingly clear that not all students in these programs reap the same benefits due to issues of racial, linguistic, and class inequalities found across educational contexts, ultimately leading to the reproduction of social injustices. Dr. Cervantes-Soon will build on her work on critical consciousness as the foundation for DLBE to argue that in order to build programs that are truly transformative, a vision of critical solidarity, rather than simply language, academic, and cross-cultural goals should serve as the visionary framework for DLBE.

All registrants will receive a link to a recording of the talk

Tuesday, March 19, 2024 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM EDT: Dr. Cervantes-Soon will discuss the necessity to center a vision of critical solidarity in...

03/09/2024

Learn more about our in-person and online MA programs and graduate certificate in Spanish Heritage Language Education at our virtual open house next Friday, March 15 (12-1pm)!

Register here: https://gmu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0rdeGvqDsuE9UZSL88O7031sn2I--rPlDI #/registration

03/08/2024

Join us for a virtual open house next Friday, March 15 (12-1pm)! Register here: https://gmu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0rdeGvqDsuE9UZSL88O7031sn2I--rPlDI #/registration

01/06/2024

I'm happy to announce the date for the final talk in George Mason's 2023-24 Spanish Heritage Language Education online lecture series: Dr. Claudia Cervantes-Soon will present "Beyond critical consciousness: Toward a vision of solidarity in dual language education" on Tuesday March 19 at 4:30 pm (Eastern).

The talk will be held via Zoom and it is open to the public. More information & (free) registration here: https://spanish.gmu.edu/events/14986.

11/05/2023

Our graduate certificate program in Spanish Heritage Language Education was proud to be a sponsor of the GWATFL conference this fall with local world language educators! Apply by Dec 1 to start in Spring 2024! Washington DC Association of World Language Teachers

10/31/2023

There is still time to register for the second talk in George Mason's online Spanish Heritage Language Education lecture series taking place TODAY, Tuesday, October 31 (4:30pm EST). Dr. Yvette Bürki will present "The value of heritage languages: Spanish at the Latin American School of Berne (Switzerland)". If you have not already registered, please do so through this link: https://gmu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAof-qgqj8vE9CANAUSc8zOKP-JTznV29c9 Dr. Bürki's lecture will also be recorded.

10/25/2023

Join us next Tuesday Oct 31 at 4:30 pm (Eastern USA) for a special treat 🎃: the second lecture in George Mason's Spanish Heritage Language Education online lecture series! We are delighted to host Dr. Yvette Bürki, who will present "The value of heritage languages: Spanish at the Latin American School of Berne (Switzerland)."

In this presentation, Dr. Bürki will present her findings from ethnographic research at the Escuela Latinoamericana de Berna (ELB). Her analysis of the multiple, sometimes contradictory types of value that various social actors assign to Spanish highlights the importance of HLs, not only for the ELB community but for Swiss society as a whole.

Abstract and registration: https://spanish.gmu.edu/events/14980?fbclid=IwAR3iGYiHnzcl9DmIWfobaWCDB_VKcI0OnzMyFfsZRTeYbCZ0J815ogMORnc

Tuesday, October 31, 2023 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM EDT: In this presentation, Dr. Bürki presents her findings from ethnographic research at the Escuela...

10/23/2023

Just a reminder that tomorrow, Tuesday (Oct 24) at 4:30 pm EST, Dr. Tracy Quan will give a lecture (in English) titled "Unpacking ethno- and raciolinguistic assumptions in Spanish language education: The case of Asian Latinxs" which explores raciolinguistic ideologies in Spanish teaching and is relevant for the teaching of all languages.

ABSTRACT
Spanish-speakers who identify as both Asian and Latinx/Hispanic in the U.S. context (“Asian Latinxs”) are often excluded from imaginaries of latinidad, Spanish speakerhood, and adjacent categories like Spanish heritage speaker, due to their perceived phenotype. Drawing on the case of Asian Latinxs, Dr. Quan explores how Spanish language pedagogy reproduces raciolinguistic ideologies that co-naturalize Latinx/Hispanic identity with Spanish and mestizaje. Such ideologies result in the invisibilization of Latinx/Hispanic communities falling outside of ethno- and raciolinguistic expectations, including Asian Latinxs, Afro-Latinxs, White-passing Latinxs, non Spanish-speaking Latinxs, and others. The goal of this talk is to urge researchers and practitioners to critically consider the racial, ethnic, and linguistic assumptions that underlie the field of Spanish language education and the resulting pedagogical implications.

REGISTER HERE: https://gmu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMrfuihqjstE9x_PbRR3LYXxq1oZP6tbMmb

10/16/2023

The first talk in George Mason's 2023-24 Spanish Heritage Language Education online lecture series is just one week from tomorrow!! Free and open to the public.

Unpacking ethno- and raciolinguistic assumptions in Spanish language education: The case of Asian Latinxs
DR. TRACY QUAN (UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO, BOULDER)
Tuesday, October 24, 2023 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM EDT

Hispanohablantes who identify as both Asian and Latinx/Hispanic in the U.S. context (“Asian Latinxs”) are often excluded from imaginaries of latinidad, Spanish speakerhood, and adjacent categories like Spanish heritage speaker, due to their perceived phenotype. Drawing on the case of Asian Latinxs, Dr. Quan explores how Spanish language pedagogy reproduces raciolinguistic ideologies that co-naturalize Latinx/Hispanic identity with Spanish and mestizaje. Such ideologies result in the invisibilization of Latinx/Hispanic communities falling outside of ethno- and raciolinguistic expectations, including Asian Latinxs, Afro-Latinxs, White-passing Latinxs, non Spanish-speaking Latinxs, and others. The goal of this talk is to urge researchers and practitioners to critically consider the racial, ethnic, and linguistic assumptions that underlie the field of Spanish language education and the resulting pedagogical implications.

Registration required:

Tuesday, October 24, 2023 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM EDT: In this presentation, Dr. Quan explores raciolinguistic ideologies that co-naturalize...

09/11/2023

Please share and circulate widely!

We are seeking to fill a full-time position for Instructional Assistant Professor of Spanish Linguistics in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages at George Mason University beginning in the Spring 2024 or Fall 2024 semester. George Mason is Virginia’s largest and most diverse public research university located 30 minutes outside of Washington D.C. Review of applications will begin October 15th and will subsequently be reviewed on a rolling basis.

See full job announcement and application details here:

Instructional Assistant Professor of Spanish Linguistics The George Mason University Department of Modern and Classical Languages welcomes applications for a full-time Instructional Assistant Professor of Spanish Linguistics, beginning in the Spring 2024 or Fall 2024 term. The initial contract is fo...

09/08/2023

SEPTEMBER FACULTY SPOTLIGHT! Read below to learn more about our wonderful colleague, Dr. Lisa Rabin!

How long have you worked at George Mason?

I have been fortunate to work at George Mason for 32 years, first hired ABD (all but dissertation) as an Instructor of Spanish in 1992 and becoming an Assistant Professor in 1993. I received tenure and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2000.

Please describe your field/area(s) of expertise and areas of research interest.

I teach and research in Film & Media Studies. My undergraduate and graduate courses include advanced ones on Latin American film, television and digital media; introductory courses in Spanish-language cultural and literary studies; and SPAN 212: Intermediate Spanish for Local and Global Contexts. I also regularly teach CULT 320: Globalization & Culture in the Cultural Studies Program, where I serve as Undergraduate Coordinator.

My current research concerns the intersections of media education and the rise of Area Studies in the mid-20th century US. I am excited about researching in particular ways in which Area Studies-aligned language education in the 1950s and 1960s was imbricated in media education mandates like the National Defense Education Act of 1958.

What is one of your most memorable moments at Mason/as an educator?

I am enormously grateful to my colleagues and students for supporting my development as a film and media studies scholar in the past 10 years. The most rewarding parts of my career have been my SPAN 212 students' deep engagement with our critical approaches to their language development, and seeing our graduate students pay forward critical approaches into their own classrooms and workplaces.

What is your biggest piece of advice for graduate students?

I think that it's important to be intentional about how advanced study in Spanish (like in any field) is based on learning and applying disciplinary approaches in our fields. I would have benefitted from doing this in my own training.

Please share something about the graduate course(s) you teach.

I was fortunate to be able to offer SPAN 512 | SPAN 574 this summer, in which I am learned a great deal from my graduate students! In the course, we focus on learning and applying critical approaches to a variety of historical and contemporary Latin American mass media, including the print culture of newspapers, serial novels, the Novel of the Land and comics; and the audiovisual media of radio dramas, industrial and revolutionary cinema, soundscapes and telenovelas. Students enrolled in SPAN 574 also developed hands-on strategies for integrating the popular culture of Latin American and US Latine mass media in the K-16 Spanish curriculum and bilingual, heritage Spanish and mixed (heritage and non-native) classrooms.