Dr. Latasha Eley (LLC ’15) has accepted a position with the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education in Washington, DC. As an Education Research Specialist, she will coordinate research projects and conduct data analysis for the purpose of improving access to higher education and ensuring academic success for students with disabilities and underrepresented students. She will also make funding and policy recommendations regarding the renewal of grants and ongoing projects at colleges and universities serving the aforementioned student populations.

Please join us in congratulating her on this important work! She can be reached at leley1@umbc.edu

We are proud to share Shani’s latest academic and professional contributions during the 2015 Physician Assistant Education Forum that took place in Washington D.C. on November 10-11, 2015.

In this forum, Shani served as the project lead for an inaugural leadership development workshop for minority faculty. She also co-presented the session Strategies for Targeted Recruitment: Diversifying Applicants to Meet Workforce Demands. Finally, Shani helped to coordinate a grassroots community service outreach effort with over 30 PAs recruiting to schools over DC reaching over 150 students.

Congratulations Shani!

The Language, Literacy & Culture PhD Program is pleased to announce that Dr. Isabel Moreno-Lopez was promoted to Full Professor of Spanish and Latin American Studies at Goucher College. Dr. Moreno-Lopez graduated from the LLC Program in 2002 (she was in the first cohort of the program and was the second student to graduate from it).

Dr. Moreno-Lopez´ teaching interests include critical pedagogy, peninsular and Latin American literature, queer studies and translation and Interpretation. Her research focuses on classroom assessment and the intersection of experiential learning with language courses through technology, community-based learning and study abroad experiences.

Her recent publications include Critical Activities in the Spanish Classroom: A Qualitative Study (NECTFL Review, 2015), Quantitative Study Comparing Network-based Language Teaching (NBTL) to Traditional Spanish Classes (Revista de Educación, 2013) and Outcomes of an Interdisciplinary Study Abroad Course: Learning Spanish and Multicultural Education Concurrently (Intercultural Education, 2012).  Dr. Moreno-Lopez often presents at national and international conferences. On July 10th, 2015 she co-presented research with her department colleagues entitled “Think Outside the Classroom: Innovative Ways of Enhancing Foreign Language Learning” at the Twenty-Second International Conference on Learning at CEU San Pablo University  in Madrid, Spain.