Positions
I have been at Kansas State University since 1974. Since 1995 I have been Director, International and Area Studies, College of Arts & Sciences. I served as department head in Modern Languages from 1988 to 1995. I began my college teaching career at Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond), where I was an Assistant Professor prior to joining the faculty at K-State.
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Publications and Research
My research interests and publications focus on three main areas: Peruvian literature, Latin American and Spanish fiction, and most recently, Translation Studies. Although primarily a Peruvianist, one of my first publications was a critical book, co-written with Luis González-del-Valle on Spanish novelist Luis Romero (Luis Romero. New York: Twayne (World Author Series), 1979), and I have co-edited a volume of critical essays on Nobel-Prize writer Gabriel García Márquez (with Nora Vera-Godwin. Critical Perspectives on Gabriel García Márquez. Lincoln, NE: Society of Spanish and Spanish-American Studies, 1986. 159) My interest in translation stems from work done in preparation for teaching a class on literature in translation (Latin American Literature in English Translation: An Annotated Bibliography. New York: New York University Pr./Center for Inter-American Relations, 1976. ["Latin American Literature in English: 1975-1978," supplement to Review 24 (April 1979)].
In the 1980s my research was primarily on Peruvian themes, first on the work of indigenista José María Arguedas, and later on the novels of Manuel Scorza. The extent to which Scorza may be properly seen as a the legitimate heir to Arguedas is the subject of considerable debate. I have tried to contribute to the critical dialog on this subject. At the same I am interested in Atusparia, a major figure in the short-lived Indian rebellion at Ancash late in the nineteenth century. I believe that the recreation in the late twentieth century of the historical Atusparia in various literary genres had much to do with the struggle in Peruvian society to achieve racial and cultural harmony.
My classes on translation have inspired me to explore themes for conference papers on different aspects of translation practice and theory. My most recent work is a study of professional ethics as viewed by regional and national translator/interpreter organizations in the United States, and their counterparts in several regions of the world. I am involved with the translation of municipal websites, and I am a member of a work group on the Kansas State campus that has interest in research and applications of human language technology.
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Administrative Experience
In 1995 I accepted the appointment as Director, International and Area Studies, College of Arts and Sciences. This includes responsibility for the Secondary Major in International Studies and the Secondary Major in Latin American Studies. The appointment allowed me to return to my interest in international and area studies after serving as Head of the Department of Modern Languages for seven years (1988-95). As a newly appointed faculty member I represented K-State as Associate Director of Tri-University Center of Latin American Studies (1976-79) and then as Director of the Latin American Studies Secondary Major from 1980 until 1990. In the mid-1990s I was fortunate to have the opportunity to be the "principal investigator" of a FIPSE (Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education, U.S. Department of Education) grant in support of international community service for our students.
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National or University Committees and Recent Service Activities
- Member, Committee to Rewrite the Code of Ethics and Business Practices, American Translators Association
- Vice-President, Mid-America Chapter of the American Translators Association (MICATA)
- Member, Review Committee, Applications for Study in South America, Institute of International Education; [Fulbright-Hays Program and other awards offered by foreign governments, universities and private donors), 2001-2002, 2002-2003, and 2003-2004 competitions.
- Chairperson, CITAC (Computing and Instructional Technology Advisory Council), Former Chairperson (1997-1999)
- Chairperson, Language Learning Center Advisory Committee (Dept. Of Modern Languages)
- Member, International Activities Council [acting chair, Spring 1996] from the 1980s until 2007.
- Member, International Community Development Network, 1980s-2005
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Translation and Interpretation
I learned years ago that language professors are not the only people who have a love for the intricacies of communication between one language system and another. In the 1980s I joined the Mid-America Chapter of the American Translators Association (MICATA), and I have served many years as an officer (President, Vice-President, and Secretary), and a member of the Board of Directors. I am currently Vice-President of MICATA. I have been since 1981 accredited (Spanish-English) as an Active Member of the American Translators Association. My interest in translation as a profession led me to create a new course in 1983, "Introduction to Spanish Translation." In 2006 I added a new introductory course, Spanish Translation: Concepts and Practices, and modified the former course as "Advanced Spanish Translation." Both courses focus on Spanish-English, and English-Spanish/ Occasional assignments in district courts have keep me in touch with the special needs and requirements of courtroom interpreting. A summer as simultaneous interpreter for the KSU Grain Storage and Marketing Short Course, Food and Feed Grain Institute (1980) and the experience of being translator and interpreter for a US-AID mission (Ecuador, 1976) made me appreciative of the wonderful work that interpreters better than I are called on to do. Although I rarely have time, I enjoy translating literature. I have published two translations, including "Mogollón," trans. of "El equipito de Mogollón," in Que te coma el tigre, by Augusto Higa Oshiro [in Between Fire and Love: Contemporary Peruvian Writing. Ed. Lynn A. Darroch. Portland, Oregon: Mississippi Mud Pr., 1980. 47-51]. I have translated one unpublished drama ["Last Judgment," trans. of Juicio final, by José de Jesús Martínez [1962]).
My involvement in MICATA led me to work with that Kansas City-based group to organize and direct three symposia on translation at Kansas State University, from 1986 to 1996, and I recovered enough from those experiences to do another in 2004.
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Other Professional Experience
I was an alternate representative on the University Press of Kansas Editorial Committee, and I then completed two years (1998-2000) as a regular member, one of two K-State members of the committee. I am Associate Editor, Studies in Twentieth Century Literature and have been since the journal was founded at KSU in 1975 [co-responsibility for subscriptions and circulation, 1982-1988]. I was Assistant Editor, Journal of Spanish Studies: Twentieth Century, from 1975 until 1981.
It was my privilege to be selected to participate in the first ACTFL Oral Proficiency Testing Project for College Teachers of French and Spanish (Houston, 1982). That experience gave me the opportunity to act as a consultant to a project field study of Educational Testing Service, and prepared me to organize and coordinate an oral proficiency testing workshop at K-State, 1985). As a member of the Kansas Foreign Language Association, I was director of the fall conference of the KFLA in October 1992.
One of my most rewarding professional experiences was being named External Reviewer and Chair, Academic Program Review for the Department of Modern Languages, University of Nebraska at Kearney, March, 1996. It was an intense two days that challenged my skills in evaluating programs and building consensus.
I was on sabbatical leave in Lima, Peru for more than half of the Spring Semester, 1997. The experience allowed me to return to Peru after living in Lima as an undergraduate student more than thirty years earlier. In 2006 I went to Paraguay to interview Paraguayan novelist and filmmaker José Eduardo Alcázar.
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Presentations
My wife Susan and I attended the famous Oruro carnaval (the Bolivian version of the pre-Lenten carnival or Mardi Gras) in February of both 1996 and 1997. Our shared presentation at Vernon Larson International Luncheon Series, Office of International Programs, Kansas State University. "Carnaval at 12,000 Feet: Oruro, Bolivia, 1996." May 7, 1996, was well received. On February 22, 1996, at the invitation of the Deans of Agriculture, I conducted a workshop on "The Use of Computers in the Teaching of Foreign Languages," at the Centro de Enseñanza y Traducción de Idiomas (CETI) [Center for Teaching and Translating Languages], Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, La Paz, Bolivia. "The Use of Computers in the Teaching of Foreign Languages" [workshop]. February 22, 1996. The previous day I lectured to students and faculty at the Facultad de Agronomía (College of Agriculture), Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, La Paz, Bolivia. My topic was "De la historia, estructura y gobernación de la universidad norteamericana" [On the history, structure, and governance of American universities].
More recently, I have given presentations to high school, community colleges, and civic groups as part of the Presidential Lecture Series. Current presentations are: "'Letters from Lima' and Other Cross-Cultural Reflections by a Gringo in South America," "Translating Culture: A Playful Look at the Pitfalls of Communication through Translation," and "The International Imperative: Making the Case for Foreign Languages and International Studies for Kansas Students in the 21st Century."
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Honors and Recognition
In the spring of 2000 I was selected by students for honorary membership in the K-State Chapter of Sigma Iota Rho, the National Honor Society for International Studies. It is indeed a privilege to be among the first two K-State faculty members to be recognized as honorary members of this organization. In 2004 I was honored by the William Stamey Award for Advising in the College of Arts and Sciences. The following year I was the recipient of the International Educator Award, an annual award sponsored by the Office of International Programs and presented by President Wefald. The annual award was initiated in 2003.
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Professional Associations and Affiliations
- American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese
- American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages
- American Translators Association (active and accredited member)
- Kansas Foreign Language Association
- Kansas-Paraguay Partners
- Latin American Studies Association
- Midwest Association for Latin American Studies
- Mid-America Chapter of the ATA (MICATA)
- Modern Language Association
- Association for Machine Translation in the Americas
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