students

Teaching beyond the classroom; a night at the opera.

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If you are a teacher, you are not only teaching your subject matter: you are teaching your behavior, your attitude, your presentation. More importantly, you are teaching your whole field. So, if you are teaching a science, then you are teaching the whole scientific method. In my case, I am not only teaching language, but I am also teaching culture, diversity, and the humanities.

With this excuse, the Philosophy faculty and I recently arranged a field trip to the Palm Beach Opera’s Marriage of Figaro. It was fantastic. For most of the students (if not all), this was their first time at the opera, and they were pleasantly surprised. The key takeaway is that the students appreciate a new art form for them, understanding the beauty of art. Especially an art where the artist is the instrument, so no two can ever be the same!

Unlike, say, The Magic Flute, Mozart does not have any blockbuster songs in this opera, but the whole thing is very melodious and easy to enjoy. The story is funny but moralistic -this is the Enlightenment after all! So the students were never bored; they were able to enjoy the story and the music. Coincidentally, we had just studied the Enlightenment in class, reading Benito Jeronimo Feijoo, so to see the students making connections is extremely rewarding. Mission accomplished.

If you have a chance to have your students make connections outside the classroom, across different fields, let them rip! You are welcome.

Here are two of my favorites, Cecilia Bartoli and Renée Fleming, doing one of the more famous duets:

Go out, socialize, get involved, participate. A Bentley University event.

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Ah, the nice feeling of getting home after work, settling into your routine, going to the gym, writing your blog, getting on with your hobbies, whatever it might be. But occasionally it is nice to break out to your routine and do something different, push yourself outside of your comfort zone to meet new people, or reconnect with old classmates.

Last week, Bentley University, my alma mater, held an event in Fort Lauderdale. It is a traffic filled hour´s drive from Boynton Beach, but I pushed myself to go, not knowing who I was going to meet.

First off, I was surprised to see how much of a city Ft. Lauderdale is: big, tall buildings everywhere, not the cozy, cute, and quaint resort town, but an asphalt jungle! At any rate, apparently an older couple, Bentley alumni own the building where the event was held, and it was brand new and beautiful, if a little minimalist as is the horrible trend nowadays.

At any rate, I met parents of future students, alumni older and younger than me, and I reconnected with Annmarie, an old acquaintance, I chatted with a couple of alumni and recruiting folks as well as with President Brent Chrite, a sharp-as-a-tack fellow who spoke for a few, very intense and brilliant minutes!

The hors d’oeuvres were fantastic, the only glass of wine I had was nice, and the setting beautiful.

So, get out, push yourself outside of your comfort zone, even if it means suffering in traffic for an hour, who knows what you might learn and who you might meet! You are welcome.

Why a Ph.D.? (Revisited)

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After the first year of my doctorate program, and with a couple of weeks of distance to reflect and let it all sink in, it is time to come up with some road markers, some conclusions:

The program is everything I was expecting for and much, much more.

I have learnt so much, I have “discovered” Medieval and 18th C. Spanish Lit. – where have I been hiding for my whole life? Part of the secret to my discovery has been having Profs. Domínguez, and Gómez-Castellano as my teachers. They are the real deal: knowledgeable, patient, encouraging, understanding, I could not have wished for better role models.

My colleagues are also top, top shelf, both in the Masters and Ph.D. programs, in Spanish French and Italian: Sam, Ruben, Thomas, Anne, Emily, Miguel, Zully, Andrew, Rob, Sarah, Drew, Massi, K-N, Martina, Gloria, et cetera, et cetera.

The other side of the coin, my teaching experience has also been out of sight. I have taught three fantastic classes of Intermediate level Spanish language, 203. I have been very impressed with my students, a great, diverse, fun, brilliant mix. It has been a thrill teaching – even at 8:00 am. We had great discussions, games, learning moments, fun and end of the term breakfasts at Ye Olde Waffle Shoppe, where the students ordered their breakfasts in Spanish!

Beyond the in-house academic powerhouses, I have met people I never expected to meet: David Gies – Jedi Master of 18th Century Spanish Lit. (UVA) and Ana Rueda, the grande dame of 18th Century Spanish Lit. (UK) (who I even had the chance to pick up at the airport and have a drink before a lecture!). I also met novelist and journalist Rosa Montero and Spanish choreographer and ex-dancer Nacho Duato, not bad for a village. And speaking of dance, I saw The Alvin Ailey, Martha Graham and Marie Chouinard dance companies, the Monteverdi and Cleveland Orchestras, heard Verdi’s Aida, and over a dozen different takes on Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, et cetera, et cetera.

Yes, the first semester was mayhem, and yes the last week of the Spring semester was Hell, but all in all,Magnolias Ale and Ruben Sunrise going to class Sunrise going to class a very positive experience.