Courses & Professors
 

Courses....

  • Three courses offered: INTL 377Q (Politics and Society of Mexico), ENGL 377 (Travel Writing), and SPAN 201 (Intermediate Spanish) or SPAN 377. Students choose TWO courses for a total of 6 hours credit.
  • All students must complete at least SPAN 102 before going (two-thirds of the time housing in Mexico will be with Mexican families).
Spanish 201 : Intermediate Spanish This course provides a review of grammar and intensive reading and conversational practice, with emphasis on speaking, in Spanish. Or Spanish 377: Intensive Spanish This course offers intensive Spanish instruction in oral communication, civilization, culture, literature and language.

English 377: Travel Writing: People taking this course will read and write in three different genre: travel narratives, ethnography and fiction. To prepare a context for reading and writing about Mexico, students will read A Compact History of Mexico (El Colegio de México, 1995). Over the course of the semester, we will read and discuss three short novels, a travel narrative and an ethnography. The focus of the class, however, will be on several short pieces on Mexico that students will write and revise.

International Relations 377Q: Mexico: Politics and Society: An interdisciplinary study of Mexican politics and society with particular attention given to understanding the Mexican political system from the Revolution to present day, the complexities of U.S.-Mexico relations, the impact of NAFTA on Mexican economics and society, and an exploration of the successes and failures of development in Mexico.

 
Professors....

Kathleen L. Vlieger (Ph.D, Vanderbilt University) was born in Ohio and raised in Michigan.  She has been teaching all levels of Spanish language, composition and conversation, as well as Hispanic cultures and literatures at the university level for twelve years.  Prior to Lynchburg College, she taught at the University of Michigan, Albion College, Vanderbilt University, and the University of South Florida-St. Petersburg. She has lived and worked in various Spanish-speaking countries, including Mexico, Spain and Argentina.  Her research treats both Latin American and Peninsular literary topics, with a special interest in Golden Age and contemporary Spanish theatre.

 

She can be reached at vlieger_k@lynchburg.edu
 

 

 Robert C. Harding, (Ph.D. University of Miami) was born and raised in southern Indiana. Prior to arriving at Lynchburg, he taught for three years at Indiana University Southeast and the University of Louisville. He is currently the Chair of International Relations at Lynchburg College and teaches courses in international relations and political science. He has published various works of research on Latin American politics, including one book, Military Foundations of Panamanian Politics (Transaction Publishers, 2001) and another forthcoming from Greenwood Publishers. He is fluent in Spanish and has traveled, studied, and researched in many parts of the Spanish-speaking world. His pastimes include astronomy, racquetball, and cooking.

He can be reached at Harding_r@lynchburg.edu

Chidsey Dickson (Ph.D. English, University of Texas-Austin) was born in Maryland and raised in Houston, Texas. Before moving to Lynchburg, he taught and lived in California, Georgia and Tidewater Virginia. He has taught expository writing in colleges and universities for 15 years. Most recently, his research explores how teachers of writing present argumentation in first-year composition. His non-professional interests include camping, collecting (almost anything from the 1950’s and 1960’s, and then appealing junk of any vintage), and pick-up basketball. He lived in Mexico (Valle de Bravo) from 1989-1990 and speaks Spanish tolerably well.

He can be reached at dickson_c@lynchburg.edu