Isabel Moreno-López

Associate Provost for Undergraduate Studies, Professor ofSpanish and Latin American Studies

Isabel Moreno-López is Professor of Spanish and Latin American Studies at Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland. She completed her doctorate, with a specialization in Language, Literacy and Culture, in 2002 at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). Prior to her arrival at Goucher in 2003, she taught at Towson University and UMBC. At Goucher College, she teaches a broad range of survey and thematic courses that address Queer Studies, Critical Pedagogy, Translation and Interpreting, and critical approaches to language and literature. She also teaches courses abroad, and courses with virtual and service learning components in which her students video-conference weekly with students abroad and mentor Latino students in local Middle Schools. Moreno-López´ teaching informs her research and she has published on the topics of service learning, new teaching technologies, and cross-cultural encounters. Dr. Moreno-López´s articles on critical pedagogy and trans-cultural encounters go beyond structuring the classroom content to the techniques for developing critical thinking. They illustrate the idea that to teach Spanish in the U.S. is a political act necessary to achieve social justice.

Since 2008, Dr. Moreno-López has stepped down from teaching and is serving as Associate Provost for Undergraduate Studies. The associate provost provides support and counsel to students on academic matters; develops and enforces academic policies; determines academic standing; conduct academic appeals; oversees faculty advising, the Academic Center for Excellence (ACE) and the Goucher Prison Education Partnership (GPEP); co-chairs the policies committee, the DEI Council and participates in the DEIJ Coordinating Committee. For more information, please visit the Goucher Magazine article on Isabel Moreno-López.

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Research, Scholarship, Creative Work in Progress

My next article will be in translation as “Translation is a kind of transubstantiation. (…) You choose your philosophy of translation just as you choose how to live: the free adaptation that sacrifices detail to meaning, the strict crib that sacrifices meaning to exactitude. The poet moves from life to language, the translator moves from language to life; both like the immigrant, try to identify the invisible, what's between the lines, the mysterious implications” Anne Michaels, Fugitive Pieces.

Work in progress: Understanding Spanglish. As a burgeoning linguistic phenomenon, Spanglish causes controversy and raises questions about its legitimacy as a language. Its associations with question of identity and power make the definition a political question as well as a linguistic one.

Publications

Moreno López, Isabel. "Spanglish: A Tool of Empowerment or Una Trampa" Associación del Professorat d´Anglès de les Illes Balears (APABAL) Magazine, November 2020, 10, pp. 78-90.

Moreno-López, I., Ramos-Sellman, A., Miranda-Aldaco, C., & Gomis-Quinto, M. (2017). Transforming Ways of Enhancing Foreign Language Acquisition in the Spanish Classroom: Experiential Learning Approaches. Foreign Language Annals. DOI:10.1111/flan.12267

Moreno-López, I. (January, 2015). Critical activities in the Spanish classroom: A qualitative study. NECTFL Review 75. 31-55.

Moreno-López, I., & Miranda-Aldaco, C. (2013). Quantitative study comparing network-based language teaching (NBTL) to traditional Spanish classes. Revista de Educación, 363-383, DOI: 10.4438/1988-592X-RE-2013-EXT-242

Smith, TK., & Moreno-López, I. (2012). Outcomes of an interdisciplinary study abroad course: Learning Spanish and multicultural education concurrently. Intercultural Education, 23(4), 359-373. DOI: 10.1080/14675986.2012.724876

Moreno-López, I., Saenz-de-Tejada, C., & Smith, T. K. (Winter 2008). Language and study abroad across the curriculum: An analysis of course development. Foreign Language Annals, 41(4), 674-686.

Moreno-López, I. & Saenz-de-Tejada, C. (2006). Negotiating cultural images in the language classroom: Using digitalized films and pedagogical material from the World-Wide-Web. International Journal of Learning, 12(8), 249-260.

Moreno-López, I. (2005, Fall). Sharing power with students: The critical language classroom. Radical Pedagogy: An Interdisciplinary, Peer-Reviewed Journal Devoted to the Analysis of Teaching and Learning, 7(2).

Moreno-López, I. (2004). Critical pedagogy in the Spanish language classroom: A liberatory process. Taboo: The Journal of Culture and Education, 8(1), 77-84.

Moreno-López, I. (1997). La enseñanza de cultura en la clase de español. La Enseñanza del Español Como Lengua Extranjera: Del Pasado al Futuro. ASELE. Eds. Francisco Moreno, María Gil and Kira Alonso. Málaga, España: Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, 593-598.

Moreno-López, I. (1996). Greta y las Garbo. Spanish TV Magazine: Video Teaching Guide. Ed. UMBC. Baltimore, MD: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 601, 57-62.Exhibits or Performances

Conference Papers & Panel Participation

“Using Our Voices Through Campus Policies.” Co-Presentation: Alex Perry. Consortium on High Achievement and Success (CHAS). 2023 Annual Representatives Meeting. Supporting Students’ Activism on Our Campuses: The Role of College Administrators in Amplifying Student Voices While Figuring Out our Own. Hosted by Goucher College, Baltimore, MD. June 21–23, 2023.

“Faculty Observations of BIPOC Students: What Have We Learned from the Last 2 years in the Classroom?” Consortium on High Achievement and Success (CHAS). 2022 Annual Representatives Meeting. Facing Forward: Embarking on the Changing Landscape of Higher education. Hosted by Carleton College, Northfield, MN. June 22–24, 2022.

Interview to Valeria Luiselli, author of Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in 40 Questions. Summer Read and 1st component of the Race, Power, and Perspective Goucher Common Requirement (RPP GCR). Goucher College, Baltimore, MD. August 21st, 2020.

“Spanglish: A Tour of Empowerment or “Una Trampa”? International Association for languages & Intercultural Communication (IALIC) XIX Conference. Translating Cultures in Translation. University of Valencia, Spain. November 20–22, 2019.

“Spanglish” Towards an Understanding of the Ethics of Translation.” 7th Biennial Modern Languages Conference. Shippensburg University, Shippensburg, PA. May 5th, 2018.

“Why Do You Always Do Things Backwards: Intercultural Activities for the Language Classroom.” MFLA Spring Conference, Mount Saint Joseph High School, Baltimore, March 12th, 2016.

“Think Outside the Classroom: Innovative Ways of Enhancing Foreign Language Learning.” Co-presentation: Dr. Aida Ramos-Sellman, Dr. Citlali Miranda-Aldaco, Maite Gomis-Quinto. Twenty-Second International Conference on Learning in the San Pablo University (CEU), Madrid, Spain, July 10th, 2015.

“It´s Not Your Grandmother´s Spanish Classroom: Assessing Different Instructional Methods.” 2014 MFLA Fall Conference. Co-presentation: Dr. Aida Ramos-Sellman, Dr. Citlali Miranda-Aldaco. Notre Dame of Maryland University. Baltimore, MD, Oct. 11th, 2014.

“The Critical Language Classroom: Euphoria, Despair and Relief.” 1st Annual Binghamton University Conference on Foreign Language Teaching: Bridging Theory and Practice: Building Effective Classroom Methodology. Binghamton University. Binghamton, NY, Sept. 28th, 2013.

“The 21st Century Spanish Courses: Innovative Technologies and Global Education.” Connecticut Council of Language Teachers (CT COLT). Co-presentation: Dr. Aida Ramos-Sellman and Maite Gomis-Quinto. Conference Center in Waterbury, CT, Dec 3rd, 2012.      

“Innovative Issues of Technology in the Spanish Classroom: Comparing Traditional Language to NBLT classrooms.” 4th Biennial Modern Language Conference. Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania. Shippensburg, PA, April 28th, 2012.

“Here We Go Again: Does Network-Base Spanish Teaching Enhance Language Acquisition?” International Association for Technology, Education and Development (IATED). Valencia, Spain, March 7-9, 2011.

“A Study on Language Acquisition between Language Courses with an On-line Communicative Component and Traditional Language Courses”. The Annual International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies (EDULEARN10). Barcelona, Spain, July 4-7, 2010.

“Students Advances in Spanish and Intercultural Proficiency Through a Title VI Interdisciplinary Abroad Course”. Languages across the Curriculum Programs and Title VI: Current Initiatives and Future Possibilities. Co-presentation: Dr. Tami K. Smith. Washington, DC, March 20th, 2009.

“Transcending the Spanish Classroom through Culturally Charged Dialogues Within and Across Borders”. Post-Sabbatical Presentation. Goucher College. Baltimore, MD, Nov. 21st, 2008.

“Assessment of Student Outcomes in an Interdisciplinary Study Abroad Course: Learning Spanish through Multicultural Education Content”. Cultures and Languages Across the Curriculum (CLAC) Conference. Co-presentation: Dr. Tami K. Smith. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Chapel Hill, NC, Oct. 17th, 2008.

“You Need no Passport to Cross this Border”. 13th National Congress for Teachers of Foreign Languages. National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Co-presentation: Dr. Citlali Miranda-Aldaco. Mexico City, June 26th, 2008.

“Synchronous and Asynchronous On-line Communication in the Foreign Language Classroom”. Northeast Modern Language Association (NEMLA) Panel Chair. Baltimore, MD, March 3rd, 2007.

“Building Interdisciplinary Study Abroad Courses”. Second Annual Conference Cultures and Languages Across the Curriculum (CLAC): Building New Connections. Co-presentation: Dr. Cristina Saenz-de-Tejada and Dr. Tami K. Smith. Portland, OR, Oct. 12th, 2006.

“Integrating a Spanish Documentary into the Curriculum of Content-Based Courses”. American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language (ACTFL) 2005 Annual Meeting. Co-presentation: Dr. Cristina Saenz-de-Tejada. Baltimore, MD, Nov. 19th, 2005.

“Negotiating Cultural Images in the Language Classroom: Using Digitalized Films and Pedagogical Material from the World Wide Web”.  The Twelfth International Conference on Learning. Co-presentation: Dr. Cristina Saenz-de-Tejada. School of Education at the University of Granada, Spain, July 14th, 2005.

“Engaging Students with Games to Teach Grammar”. Active Learning Conference. Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology (CTLT). Modern Languages and Literatures Department. Goucher College, May 19th, 2004.

“Critical Pedagogy in the Spanish Classroom: Understanding Cultural Identities Through a Critical Ethnographic Study”. American Educational Research Association (AERA). 2004 Annual Meeting. San Diego, CA, April 16th, 2004.

“Sharing Power with Students: A Critical Approach to Teaching and Learning”. Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology (CTLT) Modern Languages and Literatures Department. Goucher College, Nov. 11th, 2003.

“Presentation of the Use of Blackboard in Language and Literature Spanish Courses”. Grand Opening of the CTLT. Goucher College, Nov. 7th, 2003.

“Using Critical Pedagogy in the Spanish Classroom: A Critical Ethnographic Study.” 24th Annual Ethnography in Education Research Forum, University of Pennsylvania, PA, March 1st, 2003.

Recent Initiatives & Accomplishments

Read article in Inside Higher Ed (IHE) February 29, 2024; Academic Success Tips: A Course to Improve Academics of Students on Probation.

Received DEI Initiative Grant - $5,000 – awarded by the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) – to Sponsor Student-led DEI events between January 1 – December 31, 2023 (Extension to Spring 2024).

Launched new initiative to recruit and retain high achieving students (Fall 2023).

  • Created Fellowship/Success Advisor in ACE. This new position identifies high achieving students from the onboarding stage to nurture them and assist with applying to prestigious fellowships. Goal: Improve retention of high achieving students.
  • Audited Dean´s List: (1) Reviewed data from other Higher Education institutions; ran scenarios for projection estimates; drafted new criteria.
  • Participated in Dorsey Scholar program.

Lead Academic Policy ad-hoc Committee for Edenwald, Senior Living Community (Fall 2022). Goucher College embarked in an Intergenerational program that culminated in a survey for Goucher faculty and potential new residents of a future university-based retirement community (UBRC) about access to the Goucher library and performing arts programs, access to classes held on the Goucher College campus, and participation in internships with Goucher students and the global travel program by Edenwald residents.

Launched new Initiative to support and retain at risk students (Fall 2021): Implemented a team based advising model (Success Teams); Replaced 2-day retreat for students on probation with a semester-long credit-bearing Learning-to-Learn course; Revamped Academic Standing Procedures with psychologically attuned letters.