Dr. Lisa Calvin

Dr. Lisa Calvin
Chair & Assc Professor
Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics, Department of
Arts and Sciences, College of
RO A-152
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812-237-2363

Education

  • Ph.D. - Language Pedagogy, Indiana University - 1999
  • M.A. - Spanish, Indiana University - 1989
  • B.S. - English/Education, Taylor University - 1984

Dr. Calvin has taught Spanish to all ages, ranging from gifted and talented elementary students to graduate students. When she completed her B.S. in Education from Taylor University in Upland, IN, she was certified to teach Spanish, English, and sociology. She began her teaching career by teaching high school and junior high Spanish and English in Walton, IN. She went on to complete two degrees from Indiana University-Bloomington, an M.A.T. in Spanish and a Ph.D. in Language Education. For her doctoral dissertation Professor Calvin conducted an ethnographic case study, entitled " Culture Within and Around: Language Learning Stories of Adults in a Cross-Cultural, Instructional Immersion Setting." Experiencing other cultures is a passion for Dr. Calvin. She has worked with the Mexican-American migrant community in Marion, IN, taught adult ESL students at Indiana University, taught English composition at the Universitat de Barcelona, Spain, studied in Valencia, Madrid, and Santiago de Compostela Spain, conducted research in Wales, taught bilingual education aboard a ship which visited Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and the Caribbean, and has taken student groups to Puerto Rico and Spain. During her sabbatical in 2006 she conducted ethnographic research about yerba mate in Argentina, from Patagonia to the Bolivian border. For her most recent sabbatical she walked and gathered data along the last 95-miles of the Camino de Santiago in northwestern Spain, and traveled to Barcelona and Bilbao to photograph Spanish graffiti for her research.

Dr. Calvin coordinated the department's graduate teaching assistants for over a decade, supervises student teachers, and acts as the departmental liaison to the College of Education. She represented International Studies on the board of the Interdisciplinary Studies Program for two years. She served for two years as the treasurer of the Indiana Foreign Language Teachers Association and presents regularly at state and national conferences.  Her service to the profession includes acting as a frequent reviewer and focus group participant in discussions about introductory-level Spanish textbooks. She acted as a consultant to Evaluation Systems-Pearson in their development of a national exam for Spanish teachers. As an advocate of experiential learning combined with community service, she guided her students (Span 311) in translations for exhibits at the Indianapolis Art Center’s Day of the Dead celebration from 2008-2011 (see photo above). She joined the ISU faculty in 1999 after teaching at a private, liberal arts college in North Carolina.

 

Language Teaching Methods (LLL490/LLL590/LLL690)
Beginning Spanish I & II (101 & 102)
Intermediate Spanish I (201)
Readings in Spanish (303)
Spanish and Spanish American Culture (311)
Studies in Spanish: Practicum in the Elementary School (394)
Instructional Problems in the Teaching of Spanish in the Secondary School (462/562)
Spanish Phonetics (404/504)
Spanish American Culture (415/515)
Contemporary Spanish Culture: A Cinematic Approach (406/506)
High School Summer Honors Program (199)
Internship in LLL (LLL409)

“The Road beneath the Milky Way: Where Medieval Legends Meet Modern-Day Rituals and Pilgrims.” Image of the Road: Conference Proceedings of the Society for the Interdisciplinary Study of Social Imagery. (peer reviewed, national conference) (2012)

Co-translator, from Spanish into English of the novel, Good Hair, Bad Hair, Ex-Libris (Pelo Bueno, Pelo Malo) by Carmen Montañez. (2012)

“Three R’s of Dynamic Foreign Language Teaching.” Conference Proceedings. International Conference on the Dynamics in Second/Foreign Language Teaching in the 21st Century, Pibulsongkram Rajabhat University, Phitsanulok, Thailand (2010)

Speaking a New Language: An Innovative Program Promotes Discussions in Diversity with Foreign Language Learners. Book chapter in M. Ouellett (Ed.) Teaching Inclusively: Faculty Development and Diversity. New Forums Press. (2006)

"Graffiti, The Ultimate Realia: Meeting the Standards through an Unconventional Culture Lesson." Hispania (September 2005).

"Speaking a New Language: An Innovative Program Promotes Discussions in Diversity with Foreign Language Learners." In M. Ouellett (Ed.) Teaching Inclusively: Faculty Development and Diversity. (New Forums Press, 2005)

Book review of Camino oral: Fonética, fonología y práctica de los sonidos del español by R. Teschner. Hispania (Sept. 2004).

"Not your Parents' Language Class: Curriculum Revision to Support Multicultural and General Education Requirements." Foreign Language Annals (Spring 2004). with N. Ann Rider.

"Language Learning and Cultural Adjustment: Information and Implications for ESL/Foreign Language Teachers," Teamwork in Foreign Languages: Selected Papers from the 2001 Central States Conference, eds. Larbi Oukada and Alan Garfinkel,Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. (2001)

“Life Lessons Learned along the Camino de Santiago,” Women’s organization, Terre Haute, IN (2013)

“Architectural Icons, ‘Giants,’ and Stories of Route 66: A Travelogue in the Spirit of John Steinbeck,” Plainfield Public Library, Plainfield, IN (2013)

"Patagonia, Las Malvinas and Antarctica," Madison, IN (2013)

"Route 66 for Kids: 'Animals,' Eats and Icons," Girls, Inc., Madison, IN (2012)