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    Professor of Spanish & Hispanic Studies
    Union College
    Dept. of Modern Languages & Literatures
    Schenectady, NY 12308
    E-mail: henselec@union.edu

    Christine Henseler's work on Generation X 
    was featured on 
    
The Washington Post's Leadership List.

Christine Henseler earned a Bachelor of Science in Journalism degree in Advertising, a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters in Spanish Literature and Culture from the University of Kansas, and a Ph.D. in Hispanic Literature from Cornell University. As of July 1st, 2013 she will be serving as the Chair of the Department of Modern Languages & Literatures at Union College and well as the chair of the Arts & Humanities Division. She is also directing a Mellon Planning grant tiled "Our Shared Humanities." In the past, she has worked as Associate Director of Academic Programs and as Director of Latin American and Caribbean Studies at Union College. She is on the Editorial board of The Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies, on the Editorial Advisory Board of the new Canada Journal of Popular Culture, she is the Faculty Advisor to the Univ. of Texas at Austin, graduate student run literary magazine Pterodáctilo, and she has reviewed scholarly articles for countless journals in Spanish and Hispanic literature and culture. She is also a Member of the 4Humanities Collective, she is on the MLA Executive Delegate Assembly, and she has organized several international conferences.

Prof. Henseler's work centers on contemporary Spanish literature and technology, media studies, and youth culture, in particular Generation X. She has published numerous books and articles, including Contemporary Spanish Women's Narrative and the Publishing Industry (2003) and Generation X Rocks: Contemporary Peninsular Fiction, Film, and Rock Culture (2007). Her latest publications include Spanish Fiction in the Digital Age: Generation X Remixed (Palgrave/Macmillan, 2011) and a highly collaborative volume titled Generation X Goes Global: Mapping A Youth Culture in Motion (Routledge, 2012), which includes a growing and interactive companion website. In 2013 she also published an online project, published by Hispanic Issues, titled Hybrid Storyspaces: Redefining the Critical Enterprise in Twenty-First Century Hispanic Literature, a volume co-edited with Debra A. Castillo (Cornell University) on the interdisciplinary dynamics between Hispanic literature and technology. Most recently, Prof. Henseler is working on an online collaborative project titled The Arts & humanities in the Workplace, a site meant to provide concrete examples of the value of the arts and humanities in everyday life and work.

Prof. Henseler teaches classes in Spanish on contemporary Spanish language, literature, culture and technology. In English, she teaches courses on Generation X and the Millennials, on media culture and literacy and remix culture. She team-teaches with faculty in the Computer Science Department on topics pertaining to new media, social networking and computer games. She has also developed several multidisciplinary courses taught by faculty across campus, including the Humanities Super Seminar and Entrepreneurship and Digital Media. Prof. Henseler is fluent in Spanish, German and English.

Prof. Henseler's professional interests center around four main axis points: strengthening, innovating, and advocating for the Humanities (Union College was recently awarded a Mellon Planning Grant that she directs), bridging communication between disciplines, mentoring both students and faculty members through developmental workshops and other initiatives, and using new media technologies to invigorate and innovate academic disciplines.

Education
1995 – 1999               Ph.D. Cornell University
1993 – 1995               M.A. University of Kansas. Hispanic Literature
1989 – 1993               B.A. University of Kansas. Major in Spanish Literature and Culture (with Honors), Minor in History of Art
1989 – 1993               B.S. University of Kansas. Major in Journalism, Advertising (with Distinction)


Administrative Work
  • Chair, Department of Modern Languages & Literatures. Union College (2013-2016).
  • Director. Mellon Planning Grant. "Our Shared Humanities." Union College (2013-2014).
Includes hiring Humanities Consultant, supervising four teams of faculty from across campus, organizing a THATCamp on "The Humanities + Engineering," working with the directors of ITS and the Library, gathering information on faculty interests and needs related to the strengthening and advocacy of humanistic studies across campus as well as digital scholarship, organizing faculty speakers and forums, and identifying connection points and larger campus-wide ideas for a future Mellon implementation grant.
  • Chair of the Humanities Division at Union College (2013-2016)
Represent the interests of the faculty in the Humanities at Union College. Participate in Faculty Executive Committee (FEC) and Planning & Priorities (P&P) meetings. 
  • Chair, Spanish Program (2009-2013)
Supervise 5-6 faculty. Chair and organize weekly meetings, yearly course schedules, catalog copy, advise students; serve as liason to administration, chair and participate in searches, and so on
  • Faculty Mentor to the Posse Foundation, Union College (2007-2011)
Holistically advised 11 students from the inner urban Boston area. For two years had weekly team meetings and every two weeks individual meetings, as well as other functions and workshops.
  • Director of Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program (LACS) (2006-2009)
Supervised all LACS students from their first introductory classes to their senior thesis and oral defenses. Mainstreamed many of the requirements and thesis work done by students. Developed the marketing presence of the program. Served as liason between faculty and Deans,
  • Associate Director of Academic Programs (2005-2007)
Directly worked with the Dean of Studies to promote and develop Union's First Year Writing Program and Sophomore Research Seminars.

Cross-Disciplinary and Collaborative Initiatives:
  • Mellon Planning Grant "Our Shared Humanities"
  • 4Humanities: Advocating for the Humanities
  • Humanities in Action Lab
  • Humanities Super Seminar
  • Liberal Arts in Action

Editorial / Consulting Work
  • External Program Reviewer of the Foreign Language and Literature Department, Skidmore College (2007) and the Department of Hispanic Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, Goucher College (2012)
  • Member of the Editorial Board. The Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies. 2007-Present
  • Member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the new Canadian Journal of Popular Culture. 2012-Present
  • Journal Article Reviewer for: Hispanic Review, The Journal of Spanish Cultural Studies, The Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies, Letras Femeninas. 
  • Faculty Advisor to Pterodáctilo, a graduate student journal located in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Texas, Austin.
  • Web Consultant for the Asociación Internacional de Literatura y Cine Españoles Siglo XXI (ALCES XXI)

Select Other 
  • Member of 4Humanities: Advocacy for the Humanities. Director of “Humanities in Action Lab” and “Humanities, Plain and Simple.”  2010-present.
  • Member of the MLA Delegated Assembly (2013-2015)
  • Division Executive Delegate Committee on “Teaching as a Profession.” 2008-2013. Division Secretary, 2010, Division Chair, 2011.       
  • Co-Organizer of the International Conference, “Hybrid Storyspaces: Redefining the Critical Enterprise in Twenty-First Century Hispanic Literature.” Cornell University, April 29-May 1, 2010. With Debra Castillo. <http://sites.google.com/site/hybridstoryspaces>
  • Co-Chair of Committee Redesigning the Union College Scholars Program. (2012-13)

IN THE NEWS

Dec. 22, 2012. New Blog reference by Agustín Fernández Mallo: Libros que me han gustado este año. 

Nov. 11th, 2011. Blog reference by Agustín Fernández Mallo of Spanish Fiction in the Digital Age: Generation X Remixed.

Lausanne, April, 2011- Congreso "Nueva Narrativa Española" "Todo lo que usted quiso saber sobre el congreso mutante en Lausanne y nunca se atrevió a preguntar" ~ EL BLOG DE MIGUEL ESPIGADO



28 y 29 de abril, 2011. Coloquio Internacional ~ Programa  "Nueva Narrativa Española." 

March 11, 2011: "Conversación con Jorge Carrión sobre Teleshakespeare"~ WEB DE JORGE CARRION

"Valente + Mejorando lo present + Entrevista + Fotos de Cornell"
("Hybrid Spaces" conference, Cornell University April 20-May 1, 2010)
 ~ EL BLOG DE AGUSTIN FERNÁNDEZ MALLO
Photo used under Creative Commons from maf04