New Realities Beyond the Classroom and the Teaching of Spanish in the 21st Century

Workshop on Fostering Collaborations and Exchanging Ideas within ACM Liberal Arts Colleges

• Beloit College: Oswaldo Voysest, Associate Professor of Spanish; Sylvia Lopez, Professor of Spanish; Amy Tibitts, Assistant Professor of Spanish
• Palmar Álvarez-Blanco, Assistant Professor of Spanish, Carleton College
• Galo Gonzáles, Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies, Macalester College
• Gizella Meneses, Assistant Professor of Spanish, Lake Forest College

This two-day workshop, to be held at Beloit College in Spring 2012, will bring together ACM faculty members in Spanish and staff working with resources related to Spanish with the aim of fostering and exchanging ideas, practices, and experiences that may help participants in their teaching of Spanish or in better supporting faculty at teaching. The workshop will be structured around four topics that continue to impact the teaching of Spanish: use of technology; the combination of community-based learning with regular course work; the integration of study abroad; and the greater urgency of determining clearer linguistic-related objectives in language classes.

The overall goals of the workshop are:

1. To discuss the current state of the teaching of Spanish in liberal arts education, specifically at ACM institutions
2. To work collaboratively on the four topics of the workshop in order to generate ideas that we can build upon for our teaching and service
3. To share information and resources that can perfect and enrich our teaching and service
4. To discuss effective means of meeting and addressing the challenges and fast-changing realities that may impact the teaching of Spanish
5. To learn how to best prepare students for their future personal and professional endeavors in regard to their learning of Spanish.