About me

I am a Professor of Spanish and Linguistics. I currently  serve  as  Associate  Dean  for  Undergraduate  Affairs  in  the  College of  Liberal Arts  and  Sciences,  and  Director  or  the  college’s  Academic  Advising  Center.

I am from New York originally but have travelled and/or lived in Spain, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Peru (and have a strong desire to travel the rest of the world, especially the Spanish-speaking part of it!).

Professionally, I have taught all levels of Spanish, from beginning language on up to graduate seminars in Hispanic Linguistics. For a long time I directed our lower division Spanish program, working to design basic language courses, train graduate instructors, and improve the language requirement experience for UF students. I also served as Chair of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies from 2010-2021.

My primary research focus is on how we can teach, and how students learn, Spanish as a second/foreign language in the most effective and enjoyable ways. I have done work with computer-assisted language learning, study abroad, and classroom environments. My real passion is the acquisition of the Spanish sound system (so, pronunciation) – that’s just a warning, because if you ever ask me about Spanish phonetics/phonology, I can and likely will talk for hours.

I’ve been in Gainesville since 2001, when I first got my PhD and took a job here fresh out of graduate school. I met my husband here – he’s a Gainesville native, and is currently Mayor of Gainseville. We have three daughters, one is currently in 9th grade, one is in 12th grade, and the oldest is a junior at UF..

One of my latest accomplishments is the publication of an all-digital learning program (textbook – but not a book since it’s digital!) for beginning Spanish. It’s called Contraseña and you can learn more about it at Lingro Learning.