LFS | Faculty & Staff Directory

Instructor

Jorge Ata, was born in La Paz, Bolivia and raised in Puno, Peru. He developed his interest in Cross-cultural Studies, Latin American Studies, and International Studies at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. After graduating from George Maso... [More]

Instructor

Professor Lilian Baeza-Mendoza is a native of Chile, but she has spent most of her life in the US. She holds a BA from George Mason University and a MS from Georgetown University. During her years as an educator, she has focused on Golden Age Theater... [More]

Executive Director, Center for Teaching, Research and Learning

Professor Baron is interested in electronically-mediated communication, writing and technology, and the history of English. A former Guggenheim Fellow and Fulbright Fellow, she has published seven books. Always On: Language in an Online and Mobile Wo... [More]

Linguist in Residence

Prof. Barr holds a PhD in Linguistics from Harvard with concentrations in both Indo-European and psycholinguistics. Her research on morphology involves the relationship between language learning and language change, and she is always happy to hear of... [More]

Instructor

Instructor

Professor Berg has served as a faculty advisor for the Arabic Club and faculty supervisor for visiting Fulbright student teaching assistants for the past two years. His teaching and research interests include empirical research in applied linguistics... [More]

Instructor

Dr. Carmen Cacho has a PhD in Contemporary European Studies from the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom where she analyzed the effects of successive enlargements on the changing nature of the European Union’s external dimension. In addition, ... [More]

Instructor

Professor Cavaceppi teaches various levels of Italian at American University, including beginner, intermediate, and advanced conversation and composition courses. As the primary instructor at AU, he promotes Italian studies by fostering interest in i... [More]

Assistant Professor

Dr. Cerezo designs, evaluates, and implements audiovisual technology for second language learning. He is the author of Talking to Avatars, a computerized tutor that allows students to learn Spanish by interacting with pre-filmed actors. His empirical... [More]

Instructor

Dr. Usasi Chatterjee holds a PhD in French from McGill University. Her PhD thesis topic "Yves Bonnefoy et la phenomenologie du dire poetique" highlights her ongoing interest in French literature. Her interests also include literature and cinema of Qu... [More]

Instructor

Professor Daouk’s teaching interests include developing methods for American students to learn Arabic as a familiar, internal language to express themselves. His research involves a comparative study of melodrama and humor in American and Lebanese cu... [More]

Assistant Professor

Edward Dawley received his BS in French from Georgetown University, his master's in French from Howard University, and certificates of proficiency in interpretation and translation from French and Spanish into English from Georgetown University.

Professorial Lecturer

Ludy Grandas’ research interests include issues of national identity in Latin America and in the Hispanic communities in the U.S. Her teaching interests include the Studies of Culture in Latin America, the Studies of Culture in Hispanic populations i... [More]

Associate Professor Emerita

Professor Harris holds a PhD in French Literature and Government from Georgetown University. This dual focus informs her research and the courses she has created. These include French Politics, Contemporary French Society, Algerian Colonization and D... [More]

Instructor

Professor Hazimeh Glueck was an OPI Trainer and Text Typology Trainer for DLI faculty in Monterey and Maryland. She co-authored the OPI Handbook at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, CA from 1983-2005, and The Non OPI training Manual at DLI.... [More]

Associate Professor

Professor Consuelo Hernández teaches courses on 20th century Latin American Literature, Poetry, Central America, Colombia and Afro-Latin America. She has around 50 publications in prestigious journals. Professor Hernández has published ... [More]

Professorial Lecturer

Professor Maria Esther Ibantildeez-Holtermann teaches language and topic courses in Spanish at American University. She is fluent in German and Spanish and graduated from Reutlingen Business School (Germany) in international business. She was awarded... [More]

Associate Professor

Professor Israeli received her PhD in Slavic Linguistics from Yale University. Prior to coming to the United States she received a BA equivalent in Russian Language and Literature from Leningrad State University. A specialist in both Russian linguist... [More]

Instructor

Elizabeth Lang has taught at AU since 1991 and now coordinates the intermediate French program in LFS. Her primary interest is in political, economic, social and cultural issues in Francophone Africa, and international development. She does extensive... [More]

Instructor

Professor Kristi Velleman holds a BA from the University of Virginia and a MA in Spanish and Latin American Studies from American University.She began instructing Spanish at American during her graduate studies in 2003 and teaches Elementary and Inte... [More]

Instructor

Assistant Professor

Mokam’s research interests, which focus on contemporary Francophone writers from the Maghreb and sub-Saharan Africa, include issues of exile, migration, hybridity, transnational culture, and postcolonial condition. She teaches courses in French langu... [More]

Assistant Professor

Naaman’s research interests include Arabic language, literature, and culture in the medieval and Pre-Modern Islamic world and the intellectual history of this period.

Instructor

Department Chair, Philosophy and Religion

Professor Oliver's teaching and research on Latin America explore philosophical topics such as marginality, feminism, nepantlismo, and transfronterismo. She works on the Hispanic essay of ideas and Latin American narrative. She has lived in Mexico, A... [More]

Instructor

Professorial Lecturer

Professor Piniero was born in Puerto Rico and grew up in Mexico. She teaches Spanish Language courses: Elementary I and II, Intermediate I and II and, Conversation and Composition I and II, and has for almost 8 years at AU. She has served as Coordina... [More]

Instructor

Dr. Quirk has general research interests in German, English and French from Romanticism to the present. Within German he focuses on both the Age of Goethe and Modernism, with special emphasis given to Kleist, Nietzsche and Kafka. His present book pro... [More]

Foreign Language Pedagogy Project Leader

Professor Riley joined LFS in July 1997 as Coordinator of Foreign Language Pedagogy. She received her PhD in French from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with special certification in second language acquisition and teacher education. R... [More]

Associate Professor

A native speaker of French, Professor Rodamar's research interests include 16th- and 17th-century French literature, the history of ideas, international studies, and language teaching and methodology. Her publications include articles on Montaigne, i... [More]

Department Chair, Language and Foreign Studies

Olga Rojer’s teaching interests include modern German literature and film, literary translation, and Dutch Caribbean studies. Her recent research has emphasized the subaltern literature of the Caribbean Creole language Papiamentu and post colonial li... [More]

Instructor

Associate Professor

Author of The New Man in Cuba: Culture and Identity in the Revolution (2007), Serra's research and teaching dwells on the relationship between politics, aesthetics and ideology in Latin America, particularly during the era that started with the Cuban... [More]

Assistant Professor

Dr. Sheen received her PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Nottingham (UK). She holds an MA and EdM in Applied Linguistics from Teachers College, Columbia University. Her main research interest is instructed second language acquisition.... [More]

Senior Administrative Assistant

Susan received her BA in English from the University of Texas in Austin. A long-time resident of Montgomery County, she enjoys reading, watching old movies, and spending time with her husband, son, daughter, and grandsons, all of whom live in the Was... [More]

Instructor

Professorial Lecturer

Administrative Assistant

Isadora Vigier de Latour, originally from the Mauritius Islands earned her BA in International Studies with a concentration in Latin American Studies from Washington College, MD in 2006. During her undergraduate degree she studied abroad in Madrid an... [More]

Assistant Professor

Núria Vilanova has devoted her research to Latin American Literature and Cultural Studies, in particular the Andean region and the Mexican-US border. Her main interests are the impact of migration on cultural production and narratives of viole... [More]

Associate Professor

Professor Werth specializes in contemporary Latin American Theatre and Southern Cone Studies. Her areas of interest include performance, memory studies, documentary theatre, and film. Her book Theatre, Performance, and Memory Politics in Argentina ex... [More]

Assistant Professor

Noriko Kurosawa Williams, born and educated in Japan, has been engaged studying and teaching the Japanese language since she came to the U.S. three decades ago. Most recently her interest in using visual-image for learning Japanese led her to develop... [More]

Instructor

Dr. Xu has an extensive background as a linguist in both Chinese and Russian, with an emphasis in the areas of philosophy, literature, culture and communication.Possessing an impressive academic background, Dr Xu has degrees that include a PhD from t... [More]

Instructor

Assistant Professor

Xiaoquan Raphael Zhang received his PhD in Chinese and Comparative Literature from Washington University in St. Louis. His primary research field is literature and culture of late imperial China, in particular literati and family literature/culture o... [More]