Welcome!

Message from the Director (Fall 2021)

Dear Faculty and Staff, Students, Alumni, and broader WSU Community:

It is with a lot of excitement and some carry-over guarded optimism and trepidation that I welcome you to the 2021-2022 academic year. I would also like to take a moment to welcome our new faculty members: Alejandro Ramírez, Assistant Professor of Spanish and CES, and Raelene Wyse, Lecturer of Spanish, both in the Pullman campus. We are also welcoming our new cohort of 2 American Studies and Culture PhD students, Andre Diehl and Kyle Serrott, to our fold. We are very excited to have you all be part of our School.

We begin our academic year returning to in-person instruction imperfectly, after 2 ½ semesters and two full summers of remote teaching, and with the specter of a global pandemic still affecting our lives and re-asserting itself. We had a modified version of our awards ceremony in the Spring marking the end of the previous academic year, and we had an ice cream social outside of Thompson to mark the beginning of the school year (in lieu of our usual potluck and get together). Slowly we are beginning to see and interact with each other again, even through the fog of masks. I am excited (but also a tad horrified) about being at the office and seeing our vibrant building come to life again, with the daily bustle of students, faculty, and staff.

Last year was difficult, uncomfortable, even painful at times. Even so, our faculty taught and learned, published, presented their work in new formats, and became better scholars because of it. Our advisors once again worked tirelessly to guide students and get them registered in our courses and through their respective programs. And our staff had to provide support to faculty, students, alumni, and others online, in person, and on the phone.

This year we begin our academic journey with Critical Race Theory being debated, misrepresented, and demonized in public fora around the country. We also continue to hear arguments about the futility of a liberal arts education and continue to witness misguided efforts in favor of English only education and legislation. None of this is new, but it does continue to be reactivated and reanimated in our current social climate.

Thus, the School of Languages, Cultures, and Race at Washington State University must double down in its unwavering commitments to its mission of studying the effects of culture, ethnicity, race, and race relations and advancing understandings about the social production and influence of languages and cultural practices, while advancing a vision of critical literacy and intercultural engagement. Under our current social predicament our mission has become all the more important, it has become an imperative, one that seeks and demands justice.

So, once again, let’s work for a better present and an even better future!

Wishing everyone light, wisdom, and health during our new academic year,
Dr. Carmen R. Lugo-Lugo
Director, School of Languages, Cultures, and Race
Professor, Comparative Ethnic Studies and American Studies and Culture

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News! (May 2021)

We are announcing the winners of our creative writing contest, “Mi ciudad en 100 palabras.” This was an initiative seeking to promote creative writing among the SLCR students of Spanish across campuses and regardless of their level of proficiency. The premise was based on the idea that each learner of Spanish language and cultures starting—at 100 level— can produce texts that go above and beyond the mere instrumental acquisition and use of the language. Each learner of Spanish can create literature.

We want to take a moment to congratulate the winners for their interest in this activity and for sharing their creativity, memories, and feelings with our faculty. The faculty feels truly honored because these students entrusted them with a piece of their lives through their stories.

100-200 category:

1st Place: “Sigue la música,” by Keisha Ensey, SPAN 102, Pullman.
2nd Place: “Mi escondite,” by Thalia Zamora, SPAN 102, Vancouver.
3rd Place: “La ciudad que llamo hogar,” by Morgan Erickson, SPAN 203, Pullman.
Honorable Mention: “Mi tiempo en Pullman,” by Conley D. Austin, SPAN 203, Pullman.

300 category:

1st Place: “El semáforo,” by Sydney Almgren. SPAN 101-308. Pullman.
2nd Place: “Un día extraordinario en Vancouver,” by Alyn Rivera, SPAN 362, Vancouver.
3rd Place: “Una casita,” by Alma Melchor Burgos, SPAN 362, Vancouver.
Honorable Mention: “Debido a lugares como Kennewick, continuaré a aprender,” by Chloe Nealon, SPAN 306, Pullman.

400 category:

1st Place: “Legorreta,” by Scott Anderson. SPAN 203, 204, 306, 307, 308, 310, 321, 407, 408, 453. Pullman.
2nd Place: “El piano,” by Adam Hureau. SPAN 204, 306, 307, 308, 311, 321, 408, 407, 450, 453. Pullman.
3rd Place: “En un valle de lágrimas perdidas,” by Alejandra Carranza. SPAN 208, 306, 321, 365, 420, 453. Pullman.

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