Alumni News

FEATURED ALUM

Eduardo Caro , MA in Spanish, 2000

Eduardo Caro graduating from the University of Arizona After finishing his Ph.D. with honors in 2006, Dr. Eduardo Caro is currently teaching Spanish and Spanish/Latin American literature and cultures at a private college in Paradise Valley (Arizona) where he is, too, in charge of the ESL (English as a Second Language) Program. Dr. Caro also teaches Spanish/Latin American Literature and cultures at Arizona State University. He has taken students to MÈxico, Argentina, and Spain, where he has both served as director of the summer programs and taught courses in language, literature, and culture. He has published articles, book reviews, and film reviews in specialized literary and cultural journals as well as in encyclopedias. His doctoral dissertation, which explores the representations and impact of violences in contemporary colombian filmmaking, is currently being considered to be published as a book. In addition, for the past four years, Dr. Caro as served as the General Secretary of the International Association of Colombianists and continues to attend national and international conferences where he has presented some of his published and unpublished research essays.

ALUMNI UPDATES

Comparative Literature & Cultural Studies

Linda Brindeau-(MA in Comp Lit) after graduation, she moved to Chicago as a French instructor at McHenry County College. Was also a French teacher for a private company called Language Stars. In June of 2004, she was accepted at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and hopes to have her ABD status by the end of June. She is considering moving back to Europe at the end of this school year, possibly to Germany.
Kirsten Day-(MA in Comp Lit) taught last year at the Cannon School in Concord NC. While there, she taught Latin along with world literature and world religions. This past summer she taught super Latin here at the University of Arkansas. She is now at Creighton University in Omaha NE teaching Latin II, Greek Drama, and world literature.

CLASSICS

Click here for a detailed list of Classics students from 1985-2010.

French

Julia Bordeaux-(MA in Fren) currently lives in Austin, Texas. In her 5th year of the PhD program in French linguistics and anticipates graduating in Fall 2007. Had her first publication come out in collaboration with a professor and a fellow student on information structure of French "parce que."
Severine Cottrant-(MA in Fren) is living in Gagny, France. She says she is teaching English over the phone part time and is currently looking for another teaching job. She and Jeremy got married last year and they plan on coming back to the states.
Beatrice Dubuis-(MA in Fren) is also at Missouri Southern State University and is in her 2nd year. Teaching German & French.
Sarah Duchazeaubeneix-(MA in Fren) finds herself in Vietnam. She has been there for two years working in the hospitality area (PR & marketing). She is now working with AC Nielson-market research in communications.
David Tirman- (BA in Fren) graduated from the Department of Foreign Languages in 1978 with a BA in French. He also went on to earn a Bachelor of Architecture degree at the U of A in 1980. When he landed a position with the Walt Disney Company from 1990-1997 working at Euro Disney outside of Paris, he found that these French language skills were a great asset. He and his wife, Lorna, went on to live in France for nearly 4 years; their first daughter was even born in Paris. After his time with Euro Disney, French was again a beneficial skill in a position with an American firm based in Amsterdam that required travel throughout Europe. "When English didn't work," he says, "French oftentimes was the common link." Although David studied French at the University, he began his career after graduation as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines. There, he learned the Cebuano dialect spoken in the southern Philippines. "My experiences since leaving the U of A now 28 years ago have reinforced my sense of the importance of foreign language skills in our increasingly global economy." David currently resides near Lake Tahoe in Northern California and works with a firm that specializes in architectural redevelopment projects.
Seth Wilson-(MA in Fren) went across campus to work on a master's in computer science and completed the program in December 2004. Hired at Acxiom Corporation in Conway AR. Later transferred to Little Rock, which is where he is now living.

GERMAN

Dr. Elizabeth Bridges (MA German 1998) was appointed as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas for the 2008-2009 academic year. She has been hired as a Visiting Assistant Professor by Rhodes Colllege in Memphis, Tennessee for the 2009-2010 academic year.
Mr. James Covington (BA German, summa cum laude, 2008) is working in the M.A. translation program of Wycliff Bible Translators. He has been given an assignment to move to Sofia, Bulgaria for the fall of 2009 to live and work with a group of Roma speakers in order to learn their dialect.
Ms. Jessica Drymon (BA German 2002) earned her law degree from the University of Arkansas in the spring of 2009 and will sit for the bar exam.
Ms. Bri Hook, (BA German, cum laude, 2003; MA German 2007) accepted a new position teaching English as a second language at the Spring International Center at the University of Arkansas.

Ms. Sarah Bunton (BA German 2003, MA German 2005) received the Duden Award for excellent teaching, given to one teacher in the state each year by the Arkansas chapter of the American Association of Teachers of German. Ms. Bunton teaches at both Ramay Junior High School and Woodland Junior High School in Fayetteville.
Ms. Dale Keppler (BA German 2009) has been selected for the MAT program at the University of Arkansas and will begin her studies in the fall of 2009.
Mr. Daniel Ketcher (BA German 2007) completed his MA in Catholic Philosophy at St. MeinradÕs School of Theology. Upon completion of his studies, he was offered a full-tuition scholarship to the School of Law at the University of Arkansas and will begin his studies in the fall of 2009.
Mr. Brian Lee (BA German, International Relations, Economics, summa cum laude, 2008) completed his first year of study at the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna, studying with a Fulbright Grant. In the summer of 2009, he will be in Moscow studying Russian in conjunction with the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Ms. Megan Matty (BA German 2009) has been selected for the MAT program at the University of Arkansas and will begin her studies in the fall of 2009.
Ms. Laura Moix (BA German 2004, MA German 2006) received an outstanding mentor award from the Office of Postgraduate Fellowships for her work mentoring students as a counselor with the Study Abroad Office of the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
Ms. Jennifer Roller (BA German and Psychology 2007) has been accepted to the MA program in German at the University of Arkansas and will begin her studies in the fall of 2009.
Dr. Stephanie Ricker Schulte (BA German, summa cum laude, 1998) was awarded a national Honorable Mention Award in the 2009 Margaret A. Blanchard Doctoral Dissertation Prize competition by The American Journalism Historians Association. The jury noted the originality of her argument, the thoroughness of her research, and the clarity of her writing in her dissertation, "State Technology to State of Being: The Making of the Internet in Global Popular Culture." She is currently an Assistant Professor in Communication at the University of Arkansas.
Mr. Brett Sterling (BA German, summa cum laude, 2005) spent the academic year 2008-2009 in Berlin conducting research in the Berlin Stadtbibliothek (city archive) on his thesis regarding the Russian literary enclave in Berlin during the 1920s. He is a doctoral student in German at Vanderbilt University.
Ms. Sarah Tan (BA German, 2006, MA German 2008) received a position for the academic year 2008-2009 to teach German at Heritage High School in Rogers. Ms. Tan has decided to further pursue graduate studies and has been accepted to the doctoral program in German at the University of Washington, where she will begin in the fall of 2009.
Mr. Carl Wiltse (BA German and BS Mechanical Engineering, 2004, MA German 2006) has finished his first year of study and is continuing at the Dallas Theological Seminary.

Spanish

Daniel Arrieta-(MA in Span) has just arrived in Japan and is going to interviews with universities and international schools. Hopes to teach Spanish as instructor somewhere in Japan.
Adriana Bradford-(MA in Span) teaches at University of Minnesota and at St. Thomas in St. Paul Minnesota.
Heather Burgess-(MA in Span) married Jeramy Upton in 2003 and then moved to Jacksonville, NC. Heather taught at Coastal Carolina Community College for one year. They moved back to NWA and Heather is teaching Spanish at Fayetteville high school and Ramay Jr. high. She and Jeramy had a baby girl this past April and live in Lowell.
Eduardo Caro graduating
from the University of Arizona
Elena Cueva-(MA in Span) is here at the University of Arkansas working on her Ph.d.
Dorismel Diaz-(MA in Span) was accepted into the PhD program in Hispanic Literature at the University of Colorado-Boulder. He teaches Spanish and French. Working with the Boulder community through Alianza, which is an organization that seeks to connect Latino people of the region with Anglosaxons.
Wendy Dodge-(MA in Span) is in her fourth year at UCA-Conway in a Lecturer position.
Rachel Finney-(MA in Span) lives in Petersburg VA. She is an Associate Professor of Spanish at Richard Bland College of the College of William and Mary. She has been teaching there for 6 years and is now starting her 7th year. She is an active member of the FL teaching organization at the state, regional and national levels and will be making presentations at all 3 levels this year. Has taken many students on study abroad trips to Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Costa Rica, and is currently planning a trip to Peru in May of 2007.
Diana Gill-(MA in Span) is teaching at the Northwest Arkansas Community College and is living in Rogers, Arkansas.
Rita Guzman-(MA in Span) is in California teaching at University of LaVerne. She also teaches Spanish.
Ivan Iglesias-(MA in Span) is also at UCA-Conway. Coming from Hampden Sydney in Virginia.
James Kilpatrick-(MA in Span) is also at Missouri Southern State University starting his third year. He is working on is Ph.d from KU. He and his wife had triplets on September 7, 2006.
Gustavo Obeso-(MA in Span) lives in Bowling Green, KY and teaches at Western Kentucky University for the past 4 years. He teaches Spanish and is the coordinator for the Modern Language Department. He and is wife Mary are expecting their second child in April. Ian is looking forward to being a big brother.
Leslie Parker-(MA in Span) is in her 4th year at Missouri Southern State University at Joplin, Missouri. She teaches all levels of Spanish and is in charge of the study abroad programs for Spanish. Takes a group to Mexico during spring break and then again in the summer. Also an advisor to the Spanish Club.
Johana Perez-(MA in Span) lives in Campbellsville, KY. Johana is a Spanish instructor in Campbellsville University. She will also finish her MBA at Campbellsville. Johana has also taught Spanish at Kentucky Institute International Study Abroad Program in Costa Rica & Mexico. She is also in her second year of the Doctoral in Hispanic Studies at the University of Kentucky. Also a member of the Business & Professional Women in Kentucky and won the Young Careerist Award for spring 2006 term.
Jesús Pico-(MA in Span) is Lecturer in Spanish at Indiana University Kokomo where he has founded the "Voces del corazón" ("Voices of the Heart") Spanish Singing Festival. Students participating in the festival are encouraged to learn a contemporary song popular in a country where Spanish is the predominant language. They learn the words, perform the songs, and translate some of the lyrics as an introduction. As a result, the students strengthen their translation and pronunciation skills and learn more about Hispanic culture. Jesús has also volunteered with Ambassador for Children for two years, travelling to Malawi, Africa, El Salvador, Guatemala and recently took a group of 17 to Cartagena, Colombia. Pictures and more information at the links below:

http://ambassadorsforchildren.org/www2/

http://ambassadorsforchildren.org/www2/?action=Trips/details.php&trip_id=292
Susanne Taylor-(MA in Span) is at Hanover College in Indiana. She lives in La Grange, Kentucky. She is teaching mostly German and some Spanish. She was just granted Tenure and has been promoted to Associate Professor. Her son Christian is 12 years old and Alexandra is 7. Rick works in Louisville as a prosecutor and they stay busy with after school activities like violin, cello, piano along with some sports too.
Tizziana Valdivieso-(MA in Span) has been living between El Salvador and Costa Rica during the past 6 months. She is working freelance, mainly teaching and tutoring Spanish.

University of Arkansas