Michelle Geoffrion-Vinci | Photo by Adam Atkinson
What is the focus of your research?
I am a specialist in contemporary literature of Spain and language teaching methodologies. I research Spanish women writers from the 19th century to the present, Spanish for heritage speakers, and digitally mediated language-learning. My publications include: On the Edge of the River Sar: A Feminist Translation (Teaneck, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2014), about 19th-century Spanish writer Rosalía de Castro (1837-1885), and ¡Sí se puede! [Yes, You Can!] (Boston: Cengage, 2009), a textbook I co-authored with Prof. María Carreira (California State University Long Beach) for heritage speakers of Spanish. My latest project is The Angle of Horror by Cristina Fernández Cubas (Fairleigh Dickinson UP), a short story collection I edited and translated in collaboration with Prof. Jessica Folkart (Virginia Tech), slated to be published later this year.
What will you be teaching in the fall?
This fall, I will be teaching SPAN 211: Advanced Spanish and SPAN 435: Identity and Popular Culture in Spain.
What does receiving an endowed chair mean to you, and how does this endowed position further your teaching and/or research?
When I was awarded this endowed position last spring, [former] Provost John Meier kindly described me as, “A dedicated, creative, and engaging educator [who] brings a students-first approach to her teaching … and is a valued adviser to her students and colleagues alike.”
Most importantly, this endowment makes it easier for me to achieve impactful published scholarship and to forge meaningful connections with colleagues in my fields of research so that I can bring what I learn back to my classroom and my students. This academic year, it will support my upcoming trip to Oxford University, where I have been invited to participate in a symposium on the pedagogies of feminist translation and a translation slam. It will also offset some of the costs associated with my latest book project.
Read more about faculty members newly named to endowed positions.
