Faculty Profiles
Majd Al-Mallah

Professor of Arabic
Curriculum Vitale
Majd Al-Mallah CV
Publications
In the Shadows of the Master: Al-Mutanabbi’s Legacy and the Quest for the Center in Fatimid and Andalusian Poetry. Berkshire: Berkshire Academic Press, 2012.
Dictionary of Literary Biography: Twentieth-Century Arab Writers. Edited by Majd Al-Mallah and Coeli Fitzpatrick. Detroit, Gale Group, 2009.
Research
- classical Arabic poetry
- Arabic women authors in al-Andalus
- modern Arabic fiction
Donovan Anderson

Associate Professor of German
Meghan Cai

Associate Professor of Chinese
Curriculum Vitae
Curriculum Vitae
Degrees
Ph.D., East Asian Languages and Civilizations (Chinese), 2016
Arizona State University-Tempe, School of International Letters and Cultures (SILC)
M.A., Chinese Literature, 2004
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of East Asian Languages and Literature
B.A. Honors, in Chinese Language and Literature, 1998
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Publications
Jason Emil Herlands and Meghan Cai. “Reading Groups to Foster Independent Readers of Japanese and Chinese Fiction.” Education About Asia 24.1 (Spring 2019).
Meghan Cai, trans. Wang Jingtao. “A Sweet Kiss After Wine”; in Metamorphoses: A Journal of Literary Translation. Double Issue (2018).
Meghan Cai, trans. Li Chaowei. “The Tale of the Supernatural Marriage at Dongting”. Translation and critical study in Tang Dynasty Tales: A Guided Reader, vol. 2. Edited by William H. Nienhauser, Jr. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing, 2016.
Meghan Cai and Qian Liu, trans. Sima Qian. “Memoir Number 31" in Ssu-ma Ch’ien. Grand Scribe’s Records: The Memoirs of Han China, Part I, vol. 8. Edited by William H. Nienhauser, Jr. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2008, pp. 45–62.
Research
- Pre-modern Chinese literature
- Tang-Song dynasty narrative literature, especially miscellany (biji)
- Identity building and social and familial networks among intellectuals in Southern Song transition period
- Readership and reception of miscellany in the Song dynasty
Anne Caillaud

Associate Professor of French
Curriculum Vitae
Curriculum Vitae
Degrees
Ph. D., French Medieval Literature (1992)
Michigan State University
M.A., French Literature (1987)
Michigan State University
Maîtrise, English language/American Civilization (1983)
Université Charles V - Paris VII
Research
- Women Studies and Medieval Courtly Narratives
- Satirical Medieval Literature (the fabliaux)
- French Cinema and Culture
Rebeca Castellanos

Associate Professor of Spanish
Curriculum Vitae
Curriculum Vitae
Degrees
Ph.D.
University of Texas at Austin
M.A.
Florida International University
David Eick

Professor of French
Curriculum Vitae
Curriculum Vitae
Degrees
Ph.D., French (2004)
University of Iowa
M.A., French (1993)
University of Iowa
B.A., English/French (1989)
Central College
Research
- Seventeenth and Eighteenth-century French literature and culture, the Enlightenment and Counter-Enlightenment
- Metalexicography
- Game-based learning
Carmen Fernandez-Florez

Assistant Professor of Spanish
Curriculum Vitae
Curriculum Vitae
Degrees
Ph.D., Hispanic Linguistics (2019)
The University of Arizona
M.A., Secondary Language Education (May 2018)
UNED (Madrid, Spain)
M.A., Foreign Language Pedagogy (2014)
The University of Utah
Research
- Sociolinguistics
- Spanish in Contact
- Second And Heritage Language Acquisition
- Foreign Language Pedagogy
Maria Fidalgo-Eick

Associate Professor of Spanish
Curriculum Vitae
Curriculum Vitae
Degrees
Ph.D. in Spanish Language Acquisition (2001)
University of Iowa
M.A. in Spanish (1993)
University of Iowa
B.A. in English (1990)
University of Granada (Spain)
Research
- Applied Linguistics
- Second Language Acquisition
Mayra Fortes Gonzalez

Associate Professor of Spanish
Curriculum Vitae
Curriculum Vitae
Degrees
Ph.D., Hispanic Literatures
Vanderbilt University
M.A., Hispanic Literatures
Vanderbilt University
Research
- Contemporary literature and film in Mexico
- Youth cultures and representation in contemporary literature and visual culture in Mexico (60s-70s)
- U.S--Mexico relations and cultural exchanges
Laura Fox

Assistant Professor of Spanish (Linguistics)
Curriculum Vitae
Curriculum Vitae
Degrees
M.A. in Hispanic Linguistics
Indiana University
B.A.
The College of Wooster
Elizabeth Gansen

Associate Professor of Spanish
Degrees
Ph.D., Spanish Literature (2015)
Yale University
M.S., Library and Information Sciences (2009)
University of Illinois
B.A., Comparative and World Literature and Spanish with honors (2007)
University of Illinois
Publications
Monographs
Natural Designs: Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo and the Invention of New World Nature.
In Press, University of Pennsylvania Press.
Articles
“Con la garganta abierta: La retórica en la lucha por la Amazonía en Un viejo que leía novelas de amor.” Revista Iberoamericana, Vol. LXXXV, No. 266, January-March 2019, pp. 153-166.
“Framing the Indies: The Renaissance Aesthetics of Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo (1478-1557).” Colonial Latin American Review. Vol. 28, 2019, pp. 130-151.
“‘Written in the Memory of the Living’: The Boundaries of History in Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo’s Sumario and Historia general.” Revista de Estudios Hispánicos. Vol. 53, No. 3, 2019, pp. 1015-1036.
“El agua y la inmortalidad poética en las églogas de Garcilaso de la Vega.” Hipogrifo. Vol. 8, No. 1, 2020, pp. 411-424.
Research
- New World natural histories
- Renaissance visual culture
- Early modern scientific culture
Jason Herlands

Associate Professor of Japanese
Curriculum Vitae
Curriculum Vitae
Degrees
Ph.D.
University of Michigan
Regina Koehler
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Associate Professor of German
Curriculum Vitae
Curriculum Vitae
Degrees
Ph.D. in Germanic Linguistics (2001)
University of Wisconsin - Madison
Research
- Interconnection of historical social interaction/change and language change in German
- Linguistics (any language): general linguistics, sociolinguistics, historical linguistics and historical sociolinguistics
Yan Liang

Professor of Chinese
Curriculum Vitae
Curriculum Vitae
Bret Linford

Associate Professor of Spanish
Curriculum Vitae
Curriculum Vitae
Degrees
Ph.D., Hispanic Linguistics, June 2016
Indiana University
M.A., Hispanic Linguistics, May 2011
Indiana University
M.A., Spanish Language and Literatures, May 2009
University of Montana
Research
- Second Language Acquisition
- Sociolinguistics
- Phonetics/Phonology
- Variable Morpho-syntax
Janel Pettes-Guikema

Department Chair
Professor of French
Degrees
Ph.D., French & Foreign Language Acquisition (2004)
The Pennsylvania State University
M.A., French Language & Literature (1996)
Bowling Green State University
Research
- Multi/Digital Literacies in Foreign Language Learning
- Game-Based Learning for Foreign Languages
- Social Justice in Foreign Language Education
Gabriela Pozzi

Professor of Spanish
Curriculum Vitae
Curriculum Vitae
Degrees
Ph.D., Spanish Literature
University of Pennsylvania
M.A., Spanish Literature
University of Pennsylvania
Research
- 19th-21st century Spanish peninsular narrative fiction, especially that written by women
- fiction, film, poetry, memoirs, photography, graphic novels about the Spanish Civil War
Jeremy Robinson
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Associate Professor of Japanese
Curriculum Vitae
Curriculum Vitae
Degrees
Ph.D., Japanese Literature
University of Michigan
M.A., Japanese Literature
University of Colorado
B.A., Japanese Language and Literature
B.A., Chinese Language and Literature
University of Colorado
Research
- Premodern Japanese poetry and poetic theory
- Premodern hybrid text/image works
- Traditional Japanese Theater
- Japanese humor
- Japanese folklore and the supernatural
Medar Serrata

Professor of Spanish
Curriculum Vitae
Curriculum Vitae
Research
- Exploring the connections between literature, cultural history, visual culture, collective memory in the Hispanic Caribbean
Michael Vrooman

Associate Professor of Spanish
Keith Watts

Professor of Spanish
Curriculum Vitae
Curriculum Vitae
Degrees
Ph.D., Romance Linguistics
University of New Mexico
M.A., Spanish
University of Virginia
Diane Wright

Professor of Spanish
Jason Yancey

Associate Professor of Spanish
Curriculum Vitae
Curriculum Vitae
Lourdes (Huei Lan) Yen

Assistant Professor of Spanish