Latino Surveying: A Journey into Research and Career-Readiness

In spring 2025, student and future Spanish teacher Aiden Irish had the opportunity to work at the Siena Research Institute (SRI) for an independent study with his faculty mentor Dr. Garcés (Professor of Spanish), fulfilling his curiosities about the opinions of Hispanics on pressing issues such as the economy, politics, and societal conflicts. Once a week, Aiden spent a few hours dialing and conducting surveys on behalf of SRI and other organizations trying to receive and organize answers from surveys for them to use in their studies.

Throughout his shifts, Aiden gained much experience conversing with Spanish speakers and collecting responses for organizations such as the New York Times, the New York State Department of Health, and more. However, for Aiden the focus of this experience was not only to collect data for these organizations, but also to listen and retrieve these opinions specifically from those of Latino origin. For too long, they’ve struggled to have their voices heard for many reasons, a couple of which include language barriers and ineligibility in certain polls. The Siena Research Institute, however, strives for equality and inclusion, and wants the opinions of everyone. They look for people such as Aiden who can speak Spanish to conduct polls and hear from the Latino population specifically.

One of Aiden’s most profound experiences was when he got to speak with a woman who lived in Rhode Island but was originally from the Dominican Republic. This specific survey looked for answers on the subject’s community and overall opinion on certain themes and issues within the community, such as the economy, politics, response to certain issues, and more. Aiden had a smooth and informative conversation with the woman and found that even through the phone he was able to understand the woman well and accurately record her answers. The woman found the economy to be in bad shape and expects in the future years for it to worsen due to recent government regulations. She hopes that this tariff war will end soon and that the economy will somehow become strong again.

Aiden utilized this experience to connect with his future plans to be a Spanish teacher. In his weekly diaries he wrote for his independent study, Aiden compared his experiences with the competencies of the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). Aiden would reflect on what he had learned or experiences and select which competency it mostly corresponded to, such as Communication, Equity and Inclusion, Professionalism, and more. For example, Aiden mentioned his adaptability to technology by learning how to switch the transcript’s language from English to Spanish to accurately ask questions. He then proceeded to use this to explain how important adaptability is in the classroom and how this experience will be useful in his career.

Overall, Aiden is very appreciative of this experience and the valuable lessons he has learned through the Siena Research Institute. He extends his gratitude to SRI for letting him conduct his independent study work there. Dr. Garcés enjoyed hearing all about what Aiden learned when they met regularly to converse in Spanish about his written reflections submitted as part of his work.

  • Written by Aiden Irish ’26, edited by Dr. Garcés

Celebrating the Achievements of the Class of 2025


On May 1, the Department of Modern Languages & Classics inducted our latest members into Alpha Mu Gamma, the National Collegiate Foreign Language Honor Society. Friends and family members were in attendance, and a reception followed the ceremony. We celebrated the impact that language study has had on the lives of all our students. Congratulations, Class of 2025!
2025 Alpha Mu Gamma inductees include:
French:
Myles Hogan
Kiara Pierristil
Italian:
Nicholas Caruso
Sebastian Caruso
Spanish:
Emma Clark
Jaime Cochran
Grace Gillin
Asavari Gowda
Emma Harkness
Alli Kerr
Jason Lazarz
Madison Tinker

In other department news, Dr. Garcés (Spanish) was the first reader for Julia Moor’s Honor’s Thesis, and Dr. Sham (Classics) was an additional reader along with Dr. Cooper (History). Her thesis was titled “A New Cage: the Constraint of Paul Poiret’s ‘Liberating’ 20th Century Haute Couture Fashions,” and she successfully defended it on April 28, 2025.

An Evening about Medical Spanish: Highlighting the Spanish Club’s Creativity

The Spanish Club at Siena University has held many events this academic year, including tertulias (informal student-led conversation groups) and different themed events. They culminated the semester with an event about Medical Spanish (SPAN 250), a class developed by Dr. Garcés that she teaches every spring semester. The course includes an overview of medical vocabulary, social justice based cultural exercises as the course is a Franciscan Concern Social Justice Core Course, and online conversations with native speakers versed in medical topics through the online platform Talk Abroad.

Many of the club’s officers have taken the class since they are students in the Albany Medical College and Health Studies programs at Siena, so it will be useful to them in their future careers to have proficiency in medical vocabulary and cultural norms of the Spanish-speaking world.

The students were very creative in developing a special evening for their classmates as the event was not only about medical Spanish vocabulary, but they also paired it with comfort foods like empanadas and foods that are known to have healing properties such as chamomile tea and a hearty soup, a nod to natural remedies that are discussed in the class textbook. They also gave away prizes, making the event even more interactive!

Next year, the club officers are Gabrielle Hix (President), Cristiana Hoene (Vice President), Mya Chrysogelos (Secretary), Tanya Shukla (Treasurer), Giovanna Pérez (Event Coordinator), and Gael Peña Reyes (Public Relations).

¡Buen trabajo!

A night of tasty food, new vocabulary and Siena swag!

Exploring Food Studies: Lessons in Gastronomy in the Transhispanic Context

Dr. Marcela T. Garcés received an International Travel Grant from the Committee on Teaching & Faculty Development during her spring 2024 sabbatical. The fellowship supported two initiatives: (1) an international faculty development seminar at a conference in Santiago de Compostela, Spain (July 2024); (2) the development of a new Siena University course titled “Food Studies in the Transhispanic World” (Fall 2024). Her work in Food Studies is rooted in her discipline of Iberian Cultural Studies. Historically, more attention has been given to “gastronomically hegemonic” areas such as France and Italy, while less attention is paid to the Transhispanic world, resulting in a “lack of scholarship on Spain and […] limited attention paid to Latin America and Latinx-focused food cultures in the United States” (Anderson & Ingram, 472-3).1 Therefore, both teaching Siena students and helping to equip scholars in her field with research and pedagogical tools to contribute scholarly products and courses is fundamental to remedying this lack of representation.

Garcés developed a hybrid course, Food Studies in the Transhispanic World on Canvas, taught as a 400-level course in Spanish and cross-listed with International Studies. In addition to analyzing Food Studies course readings and discussions, students enjoyed three different course-based excursions to the University at Albany Special Collections to study food-related texts with Latin American and Iberian librarian Jesús Alonso Regalado from Salamanca, Spain, did a cooking class in Spanish to learn how to make gazpacho, and learned about and tried Venezuelan cuisine, including interviewing the owner of Oh Corn Arepas, who is from Caracas, Venezuela in Spanish. For another class activity, students tasted and evaluated a series of products and their labels from six Spanish-speaking countries, reflecting together as a class about taste, health packaging, and marketing, and making connections with their other areas of study as students from business, education, and science backgrounds. Framed by Lucy Long’s concept of culinary tourism (1998), they discussed what surprised and interested them about the flavor, marketing, and history of each item. After interacting with and talking about the cultural products in person, students completed online discussion boards to “think with food,” employing Transhispanic theoretical sources and individual research to further understand food’s communicative power. Garcés hopes to teach the course again soon!

Above: Students at University at Albany Special Collections.

Below: A gazpacho cooking class at La Centralita Culinary Studio and a visit to Oh Corn Arepas.

  1. Anderson, Lara & Rebecca Ingram.”Introduction. Transhispanic Food Cultural Studies: Defining the Subfield.” Bulletin of Spanish Studies, Vol. XCIII, No.4, 2020. ↩︎

Spanish alumna Samantha Hall wins Fulbright Teaching Award

Submitted by Dr. Marcela Garcés, Professor of Spanish

We are excited to share a first-person account from Samantha Hall, who graduated from Siena in
2020, about her experience as a Fulbright Teaching Assistant in Spain, a highly competitive
program. Her studies in Spanish and international experiences clearly helped her to be successful
in being chosen for this opportunity. ¡Gracias, Samantha!

My name is Samantha Hall, and I am currently a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Madrid, Spain. I teach at Universidad Camilo José Cela (UCJC) in the science department, where I lead classes such as Nutrición and Fisioterapia. So far, everything has been going wonderfully, and I absolutely love living in Madrid.

In my free time, I enjoy cooking, reading, and parking-sitting with my friends. My educational background in Spanish has greatly helped me communicate with fellow professors and engage with the local community. Since studying abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and volunteering at a school there, I’ve been eager to take the next step as a Fulbright Teaching Assistant.

Although the application process was challenging, it has been incredibly rewarding, and I couldn’t have done it without the support of Matt Schiesel, Siena’s Associate Director of Study Abroad. Now that I’ve been here for a month, I’ve learned so much about Spanish culture, especially its history and amazing food. I also plan to volunteer with the Celiac Association in Madrid, allowing me to connect my personal experience with Celiac Disease to my students studying science and medicine, particularly in the field of nutrition. I’m so excited to see what the next year holds!

Congratulations Class’24!

On April 26 2024, twelve students in French and Spanish were inducted into the National Honor Society Alpha Mu Gamma. Congratulations to our language graduates! The Department of Modern Languages and Classics is very proud of all your accomplishments.

Faculty’s Recent Research and Scholarly Activities

We are excited to share about recent research completed by members of the Department of Modern Languages & Classics. While all professors spend a lot of time teaching at Siena University, they also dedicate a considerable amount of time to honing their research and scholarly activities. This informs and enriches their courses and is line with the mission of Siena University to “explore knowledge from a variety of perspectives and disciplines.”


Dr. Lisette Balabarca (Associate Professor of Spanish) presented at two international conferences during Summer 2023, for which she received funding from prestigious academic entities. She presented “Jewelry and Precious Stones: The Resignification of Female Luxurious Accessories in Early Modern Spain” at The Migration of Objects between Islam and Christianity in the Medieval and Early Modern Mediterranean: New Uses, New Meanings, held at the University of Sarajevo in Bosnia Herzegovina. This conference was funded by the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) Association. Her travels also took her to Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, where she presented “Christian and Muslim Female Converts in Early Modern Spanish Literature” for the Arabic Poetry Cairo Genizah (APCG) Research Project, a conference supported with funding from the The European Research Council (ERC). In September 2023, Dr. Balabarca attended the Society for the Renaissance and Baroque Hispanic Poetry at the University of Chicago where she presented “The Inversion of Christian Rites in Morisco Poetry: An Analysis of Scatological Elements in Juan Alonso Aragones’ Romances.”
Dr. Balabarca’s recent publications include a teaching unit titled “Francisco Núñez Muley’s Memorial,” a collaboration for Open Iberia/América, an online Open Access collection of short pedagogical editions and translations of premodern Iberian and Latin American texts modeled after the editorial practices of commercial anthologies. Take a look at: https://openiberiaamerica.hcommons.org/2023/11/14/francisco-nunez-muley- memorial-granada-1566/ . She also published a book review of “Catherine Infante’s The Arts of Encounter: Christians, Muslims, and the Power of Images in Early Modern Spain” in Bulletin of the Comediantes, vol. 74, no. 1–2, 2023.


Dr. Nathalie Degroult (Professor of French and Department Chair) was elected editor of La Gazette violette last April. It is the newsletter of ASFAP (American Society of French Academic Palms). It is published 3 times a year: Spring, Fall, Winter. She is also the contributor of two rubrics published in each edition: “Le coin des livres” and “L’actu ciné.”
Dr. Degroult continues to work actively on pedagogy and film studies. She presented the pedagogical dossier of the film “Il a déjà tes yeux” during a 3-hour workshop entitled “AATF Commission on Cinema presents Volume IV of “Allons au Cinéma: Promoting French through Films—la famille et la communauté” at an International conference in Trois-Rivieres, QC in July 2023. The volume was published in 2022. Degroult also published two book reviews: “Harcele” (Pierre Filoche), French Review, 96.4 (May 2023), and “Rien n’est perdu” (Patrice Guirao), French Review, 97.1 (October 2023).

Dr. Marcela Garcés (Professor of Spanish) traveled to Granada, Spain in the summer of 2023 to present her research at a conference titled Post-Pandemic Tourism Transformations. Eighth International Conference on Tourism & Leisure Studies. Her presentation, titled “In Defense of the Anchovy: Tourism Through Place-Based Cuisine” began her work on her sabbatical project about this topic. In October 2023, Dr. Garcés published a book review in the journal Romance Quarterly about a book titled Women’s Work. How Culinary Cultures Shaped Modern Spain by Dr. Rebecca Ingram (UC San Diego). Garcés also published a creative Spanish-English work of poetry titled “Protect Your Magic” in Nos Volvimos a Pasar, edited by Lori Celaya and R.E. Toledo.
In Fall 2023, Garcés published an article based on pedagogy in a recent 400-level Spanish course at Siena University. The article, titled “Creative Pedagogical Synergies: What Can We Borrow from Rosalía?” was published in Romance Notes as part of a special edition about the international music star Rosalía called The Rosalía Effect: Popular Music and Culture in Contemporary Spain. Garcés has given several invited lectures recently, including “The Culinary Exchange between Spain and the Americas: Recognizing Difference while Celebrating Fusion” at the FBI Central Offices in Albany, New York in conjunction with her business La Centralita Culinary Studio which she owns with her husband and creative partner; “Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month: My Story” at Bethlehem Central High School; and a virtual presentation titled “Teaching the Cuisines of Spain Hands-on at La Centralita” for Georgia State University.

Dr. Michael Sham (Professor of Classics) published the 12th edition of his canonical textbook Classical Mythology in early 2023.

Dr. Michael Sham (Professor of Classics) published the 12th edition of his canonical textbook Classical Mythology in early 2023.

Dr. Janet Shideler (Professor of French) carried out research this past summer related to the lives of various deceased parishioners who worshipped at the Troy, NY Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church and to the church’s significant place at the heart of the city’s “petit Canada” neighborhood. The remarks that she shared at the September 12, 2023 dedication of a historic marker for the church, razed in 2021, are accessible via a QR code on the plaque and were part of the content of a September 15 Times Union article.

As you can see, our department exemplifies diverse, interdisciplinary scholarship that addresses a wide range of material culture, time periods and topics. Stay tuned for more exciting news from the department about our accomplishments!

Applied Physics, Applied Spanish Skills

Jaime Cochran ‘25 has a diverse skill set, which is reflected in her choice of study: she is an Applied Physics Major, a Spanish minor, and is also pursuing a Theatre Certificate. Most recently, her talents were combined as a researcher at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, South Dakota in the summer of 2023. She spent ten weeks working on what’s called “Ultra-Low Background Counting” for the LUX-ZEPLIN Dark Matter Detector. Cochran describes the technical parts of the experience as follows: “my colleagues and I went a mile underground and assayed (evaluated for radioactivity levels) machine parts for the detector and reported back to the data collection team so they’d know what was Dark Matter and what was naturally occurring radioactivity in the environment.”

When she arrived in South Dakota, Jaime learned that four out of her six fellow student researchers spoke Spanish, so they decided to discuss their data findings in Spanish. It was a great way to both practice and learn new vocabulary in Spanish, and Cochran noted “I was so happy to use vocabulary for what I call a ‘frontier topic’ – vocabulary on the border of my knowledge of the Spanish language.” Cochran is a great example of a student who challenges herself to practice her skills in real-world scenarios. She further applied her skills gained from her Siena University Spanish minor while attending a conference where she spoke with Dark Matter researchers from Argentina in Spanish. “I noticed I was among a very select group of people who could speak Spanish and therefore connect with researchers from other countries,” remarked Cochran. This is proof that developing proficiency in languages leads to networking opportunities and professional contacts. In Cochran’s case, she was told by the person who selected her for the position that “her application was placed at the top of the pile since she had competency in Spanish, since it set her apart from other candidates.” Cochran will surely continue to use her skills in Spanish as she recognizes they are such an important tool to have in her repertoire.

We encourage students to continue the pursuit of studying other languages, because they open so many doors!

A Unique Path to a Fulbright Master’s Degree Program

Written by Dr. Marcela Garcés

Emma Willette ’23 double majored in Spanish and Political Science, and will begin a prestigious
Fulbright Master’s Degree program at Queens University in Belfast, Ireland in Global Security and Borders this fall.

While she started out studying History and Pre-law, Emma ended up pursuing in Spanish and Political Science. Courses in Women’s and Gender Studies and Political Science confirmed her interest in majoring in Political Science, while studying abroad in Spain inspired her to continue studying Spanish.

Emma was also able to spend a fall semester in Washington DC and completed an internship while there. The experience in DC made her think about who she was, what she wanted and what she liked – and being away from campus at Siena allowed her to define herself and even learn new life skills and think about where she wanted to grow personally. She felt more comfortable taking the step to study abroad after this experience as she interacted with a lot of international students in DC and practiced starting conversations with people she didn’t know.

Emma enjoyed studying Spanish in high school, and recognized it was valuable to her in whatever she ends up doing. Studying abroad in Bilbao, Spain made her change from a minor in Spanish to a major as she realized she wanted to continue pursuing studies in the language and culture. In Bilbao, she was able to use Spanish in everyday conversation, whether with her host family or out with friends. The whole experience of studying abroad was challenging, but it gave Emma skills to interact with new people and learn about other cultures. She gained confidence, and friends and family remarked how she even carried herself differently. Living with a host family allowed her to build a more intimate relationship with the language and with native speakers, and while it was hard work to speak Spanish all the time at first, but she eventually fell into a rhythm. Emma learned to travel on her own and navigate airports – she felt good realizing she could plan a trip to Berlin to visit a friend she met while studying in DC and return home safely. In the photo, she is pictured soaking in the beautiful Gaudí architecture on a trip to Barcelona.

Emma began thinking about applying for a Fulbright while she was in Spain. She returned home and realized “I’m ready to go on to the next place!” She had learned about the possibility of a Fulbright program in DC from peers who worked with Fulbright and the State Department. Upon returning to Siena, she researched different Masters’ Programs with Fulbright connections, and found one in Queens University in Belfast, Ireland in Global Security and Borders. Right away, she noticed how there were social justice aspects in the program that attracted her and clearly connected to coursework at Siena, such as classes in Medical Spanish and Political Science. She spent the summer of 2022 working on her Fulbright application, realizing “this is so niche to my interests – why not apply?” Her persistence paid off, and Emma was accepted to the one-year program, the first Siena student to win this prestigious award.

To complement her studies, she hopes to do an internship at a refugee organization in Belfast, where she can help people settle and empathize with them due to her own experiences learning another language. She plans to join the Spanish Club at Queens University to continue practicing her skills.

Emma’s prior experiences abroad will surely be of help to her, particularly leading with humility and an inquisitive spirit to be open to a new culture and embody the values of the Fulbright program as a cultural ambassador. When asked about advice she would give to future students, Emma remarked that “pushing yourself further than what you think you’re capable of is really important.” Emma is a great example of her own ethos, and we are delighted she is pursuing her dreams through all her hard work!

Duncan Tallman ’23: An interview

Written by Dr. Marcela T. Garcés

Duncan Tallman ’23 completed a Spanish major with a Biology minor at Siena University.
During his academic career, he was a successful, dedicated and engaged student both inside and outside the classroom. Last summer, he applied his studies to volunteer with a community in Lima, Perú to develop mobile medical clinics. Duncan also completed a short-term study abroad program in Salamanca, Spain.
This summer, he spent time in Costa Rica helping run medical mobile clinics with a university from Puerto Rico before he starts medical school in the fall. Referring to his experience in Costa Rica, Duncan was enthusiastic about using his Spanish: “between working with my co-volunteers and the patients, I am getting so much practice with my Spanish!” He noted that Dr. Garcés’s course, Medical Spanish, was of particular use to him. It is offered each spring and is a Franciscan Social Justice Core course. Garcés designed numerous activities about social justice in medical situations for students to go in depth with the course content. Duncan was able to apply his knowledge of social justice in Costa Rica: “we provided healthcare to individuals that lack adequate access to necessary healthcare. It was not only an amazing
learning experience, but an opportunity to provide a human right to those that do not have access.” 
In addition, in Medical Spanish, students practice their conversational skills by talking regularly with medically trained native Spanish speakers online through a platform called Talk Abroad. This practice came in handy for Duncan in Costa Rica this summer, as he noted “it feels good to be able to use the skills I learned in the real world, however, I have a lot more learning to do!” Learning a language is definitely a lifelong pursuit, and we look forward to hearing more about Duncan’s adventures in the future!

Photos provided by Duncan Tallman.