My Work Experience
in a nutshell
2001 - Present
Professor of Spanish and Hispanic Studies
Ph.D. from Cornell University
MA and BA from Univ. of Kansas
B.J. in Journalism from Univ. of Kansas
Also, taught at SUNY Fredonia, Middlebury College, and Cornell University
Faculty Mentor to the Posse Foundation
2010 - Present
Leadership in the Arts and Humanities
Co-director of 4Humanities
Director of NY6 Think Tank
Principal Investigator, Mellon Planning Grant “Our Shared Humanities”
Creator of The Arts and Humanities in the Twenty-first Century Workplace
2005 - Present
Key Leadership Positions
Director of Faculty Development (a one year position to develop an overarching campus assessment report)
Chair, of the Department of Modern Languages
Chair, Division of Arts & Humanities
Co-chair, Scholar Program Redesign Task Force
Director of Latin American & Caribbean Studies
Associate Director of Academic Programs
2014 / 2007
Leadership Training
Higher Education Resource Services (HERS) Wellesley Institute.
American Council on Education (ACE) Southern Regional LeadershipForum for Women Administrators
My Current Ongoing Projects
The Entrepreneurial Arts & Humanities is a forthcoming book project co-developed with Alain-Philippe Durand from the University of Arizona. In this book we will feature fresh and electrifying essays and interviews by individuals, groups, and collectives from around the world who, directly or indirectly, apply the knowledge and skills learned through arts and humanities disciplines to create change and economic or social value.
Arts & Humanities:
Don't Leave College Without Them
This guide expands students understanding of the professional opportunities through the Arts and humanities. This guide includes concrete examples about possible career options and opportunities through personal essays, student interviews, portraits of young professionals, information about career choices, facts and figures, and answers to some of your most commonly asked questions.
This project features blogs, extracts, and quotes meant to provide concrete examples and further dialogue about the applicability of the Arts and Humanities in all professional fields. On these pages readers will discover that deep and thoughtful learning in literature, art, classics, history, philosophy, languages, music, theatre, and more, has lasting and positive effects on a person’s professional future as well as on global economic competitiveness, civic engagement, ethical responsibility, innovation, exploration, knowledge building and understanding.
4Humanities:
Advocating for the Humanities
4Humanities is an advocacy initiative for the humanities focused on placing the value of the humanities before the public. We draw in particular on the expertise of the international digital humanities community. Digital methods now play a key role in showing why the humanities must be part of any vision of a future society. Advocacy viewpoints, projects, and research by 4Humanities and its local chapters use today’s means to shout out for the humanities
Who am I ?
I am a parent, partner and professor who is passionate about empowering our young.
What do I do?
I teach, mentor, and advocate for the importance of a balanced and holistic education through which students expand their thinking into new and creative directions.
What problem am I trying to solve?
Despite an ever-increasing need for more human-centered solutions, the Liberal Arts and the Arts and Humanities get a bad rap, and as a result fewer kids are enrolling in these programs.
What is my solution?
I am passionate about reimagining and refreshing, as well as assessing and designing new curricular programs that integrate and apply the arts and humanities across a wide variety of professional fields, in theory and in practice.
I build bridges between professional and academic communities to enhance communication and share mutually beneficial ideas and solutions.
I engage and empower students and young professionals to share their own understanding of what the arts and humanities are and how they can lead to more innovative, profitable and purposeful careers.
What makes my work different?
Like many, I want to show students and parents the wondrous world of the arts and humanities and the cross-disciplinary opportunities they afford. But I do so with an eye toward the future and the needs of the future workforce. I include the voices and visions of the next generation through a holistic approach to our work-lives and to the building of diverse and inclusive communities.
Why do I do what I do?
Because my dream was to be graphic designer or a set designer. But I had no mentor, no money, no understanding of what I could do with a degree in the arts. So I took a different path. Today, I want every young person—especially first generation students—to understand how they can turn passions into meaningful and creative careers.
And because I believe that to reimagine tomorrow, we need more education about global citizenship, intercultural communication and understanding, and tolerance of one another through constant self-reflection and authentic expression.
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Here's Some of What I Teach
in English and in Spanish
Students Call for Social Change
Challenging Times: Global Citizenship and Creative Engagements
Sustainable Living: Be Part of the Solution
How Does Social Justice Build a More Equitable International Education?
Arts and Humanities: Don't Leave College Without Them
Youth Culture and Protest in Spain
Social Innovation in Spain
Digital Storytelling & Electronic Literature of the Hispanic World
Students Call for Social Change
Below you can see the volumes we've published (available on Amazon, all proceeds donated)
Through a series of courses at Union College, and through independent projects, participants write and publish books and blogs to inspire the change they wish to see in their world.
The books in this series are sold on Amazon and all proceeds are donated to C.O.C.O.A House, an after-school mentoring program in Schenectady, NY. We keep the price of the books low ($9.50).
This initiative is driven by the belief that we need to hear the voices of today’s young people—who we are calling Generation Now. What is on their minds? What concerns them? What have they experienced? And what change do they wish to see in their lives? By spreading their words through the largest book distribution platform in the world, we hope to connect individuals of all ages and from all parts of the world, build community through personal stories that come from the heart, and, over time, build a movement meant to emphasize the importance of people-centered and fearlessly courageous change.
This effort is focused on the concept of the “everyday change maker.” The term—driven today by the Ashoka organization and Case Foundation—implies a sense of agency over one’s own life and the communities in which we live. “Everyday change making” comes from a deeply human and honest place of meaning-making and civic purpose that begins with us.
Publications Overview
Most recent only
MONOGRAPHS
Spanish Fiction in the Digital Age: Generation X Remixed
Palgrave Macmillan 2011
EDITED VOLUMES
Extraordinary Partnerships: How the Arts and Humanities are Transforming America
Lever Press, 202.
Advice from the Ocean: Unexpected Paths into Marine Conservation
co-edited with Leah Henseler
Oct. 2020
Routledge, 2012
Generation X Rocks: Contemporary Peninsular Fiction, Film, and Rock Culture
Hispanic Issues, 2007
Co-edited with Alejandro Herrero-Olaizola
Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies
Vol. 9, 2015
DIGITAL BOOK
Hybrid Storyspaces: Redefining the Critical Enterprise in Twenty-First Century Hispanic Literature
C-edited with Debra Castillo
Hispanic Issues Series, 2012
University of Minnesota's Digital Conservancy
JOURNAL ARTICLES
Finding Humanity: Social Change on Our Own Terms
The Scholar as Human: Research and Teaching for Public Impact.
Ed. Anna Sims Bartel and Debra A. Castillo.
Cornell University Press, 2020. Pgs. 129 - 142.
On the Fine Art of Being Portal:
Seeing a Greater Range of Possibilities for Higher Education
Leonardo’s Children: Stories on Creativity by Fine Arts Leaders that will Blow your Mind.
Co-edited by Aldemaro Romero Jr. and Steven J. Peters.
Publisher: International Council of Fine Arts Deans.
Taking the Future By the Horns:
Making Change Happen From The Ground Up.
Modern Languages Journal. Vol. 101. Issue 2. 436-39.I 2017.
The Future of Hispanic Studies: An Interactive Conversation with Journal Editors.
Co-edited with Benjamin Fraser.
Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies. Vol. 18, 2015. 135-180.
In/Authenticities: Movida Youth Culture in Motion
Towards a Cultural Archive of the Movida.
Edited by William Nichols and Rosi Song.
Ode to Trash: The Spam Poetics of Agustín Fernández Mallo.
Cuaderno Internacional de Estudios Humanísticos y Literatura.Vol. 16: Otoño 2011. 239-247
Spanish Mutant Fictioneers: Of Mutants, Mutated Fiction and Media Mutations
Ciberletras 24 (Dec. 2010)
NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
Social Change through Storytelling
with Kathleen Sinatra, Hayden Paneth, and Kate Osterholz
4Humanities, Feb. 17th, 2020
We Need More Men in the Humanities
Inside Higher Ed, Oct. 2, 2018
Want Your Kids to Have a Secure Future? Invest in a Liberal Arts Education
Co-authored with Tal Leeds
Colleges of Distinction, Mar. 15, 2017
Arts and Humanities: A Tale of Two Crises
Inside Higher Ed, Dec. 9th, 2016
Are the Arts and Humanities Worth Your Investment?: Making the Case for Our Shared Health and Wealth
HuffPost, March 25, 2016
The Millennial Perspective: What College Students Say About the Value of the Arts and Humanities
HuffPost, Oct. 23, 2015
Chinese Should Recognize True Value of Liberal Arts Education.
CCTV.com, Oct. 10th, 2015
To Data or Not to Data: Capturing a Humanities in Motion
Originally posted on the Academy Data Forum of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Oct. 2nd, 2015
Counting (on) Success: Does An Education in the Humanities Count in Today's Day and Age?
HuffPost, Aug. 24th, 2015
The Maker Movement and the Humanities: Giving Students a Larger Toolbox
Co-authored with John Rieffel, Dec. 18th, 2014
Minecraft Anyone?: Encouraging a New Generation of Computer Scientists and Humanists.
Huffpost, June 29, 2014
Generation X Goes Global
This website is dedicated to expanding scholarship and engagement with Generation X around the globe.
But, Who Am I really?
What Drives Me?
My passion? Develop change makers and empower the next generation. I love being part of positive change, making a difference in other people's lives and coming up with creative solutions. Want to brainstorm ideas? Count me in. I have many! Want to think big? I'm there.
Let's reimagine how we work, learn, live together. Let’s make it happen. I’m an optimist. A constant innovator. A do-er. I listen. I learn. I empower. I teach. I get things done. And I can work organically and strategically to accomplish big and impactful visions for 3-5-10 years down the road, one day at a time. Because when it comes to supporting our children, making their lives better, building more balanced, healthy, and meaningful environments, I would give everything.
With compassion, lots of love, support, and a good sense of humor and daily laughter (and yes, some play too), I wish to empower others to be all they wish to be.
Let’s Connect
If you'd like to contribute or collaborate, I'd like to hear from you.
If you need a consultant to evaluate and collaboratively redesign an arts and humanities program, please reach out.
If you are working to elevate the arts and humanities across communities and professional fields, I'm all ears.
Or, if you just feel like connecting, send me an e-mail.