Sara Pettit, Conxita Domenech, Devin Jenkins
Dr. Devin Jenkins Awarded Tenure, Teaching & Service Awards
A big congratulations is due to Dr. Devin Jenkins, now Associate Professor of Spanish in the Department of Modern Languages. In addition to receiving Tenure, Devin was also awarded the CLAS 2008-2009 Excellence Awards for both Teaching and Service. Devin is considered by his peers throughout the U.S. to be an expert on Spanish in the Southwest United States. His current research is focused on language maintenance and population growth, specifically in New Mexico and Colorado, with further research examining the expansion of Spanish usage to other states beyond the traditional Southwest borders. A book in the offing will investigate bilingual communities with an emphasis on the ways in which language and social behavior interact with each other.
Devin’s Service Award was well deserved with his many contributions to DML and the UC Denver community. In 2007, he brought the Annual Conference of the Linguistic Association of the Southwest (LASSO) to campus, generating much enthusiasm among Spanish language students and faculty with the excellent presentations. Devin has served the department as an advisor to undergraduate Spanish majors and minors and to our growing population of Spanish Master’s students. Additionally, he has coordinated the upper-division Spanish program and mentored other Spanish faculty members. Recently, Devin chaired the LETTS Committee on campus for Learning, Teaching and Technology. Within the department, Devin is known for his technological skills and is generous in sharing his knowledge with other faculty.
This is the second time Devin Jenkins has been awarded the Excellence in Teaching Award by CLAS and it comes as no surprise. Students regularly comment on his enthusiasm for Spanish and Linguistics, and his clarity of instruction. They appreciate his personal attention and encouragement to continue in their Spanish studies, whether it be to pursue a master’s degree or a Ph.D. His courses routinely have large wait lists. Devin has contributed to the opportunities within the Spanish major by creating several new courses in Sociolinguistics, Dialectology, Spanish in the U.S., Spanish in Colorado and Methods of Teaching Modern Languages. The Modern Languages Department is very appreciative of Dr. Jenkins’s many contributions and is excited about his achievement as a tenured member of the faculty.
Teaching Excellence Award
Instructor, Conxita Domenech, Receives Teaching Award
The Modern Languages Department is very proud of Conxita Domenech, who was awarded the 2008-2009 Excellence in Teaching Award for Non-Tenure Track Faculty by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Conxita has been teaching Spanish for DML since 2001 when she began as a Lecturer. In 2006 she became the Coordinator for Lower Division Spanish and the co-director of the Teaching Assistant program for our Spanish Master’s students along with instructing several courses during the academic year.
Students consistently remark on both Conxita’s energy and compassion as a teacher as well as her organization and clear teaching style. Those in her culture courses are appreciative of her first-hand knowledge as a native of Spain, and students across the board comment in their evaluations that “She should teach more courses.”
Currently, Conxita is working on her doctoral dissertation on Golden Age Theater for her Ph, D in Spanish literature. She hopes to have it completed by May 2010. Her other research interests include Catalan literature from the Baroque period, nationalism, medieval, and colonial literature. This summer finds her in Spain researching Catalan and Castilian plantlets from the XVII century. Her long range plans and dreams for the future include researching, publishing, and teaching.
Spring 2009 Outstanding Master of Arts Student
Sara Pettit, Modern Languages
The Department of Modern Languages is very proud of Sara Pettit, who was awarded the Outstanding Graduate Student Award by CLAS for the 2008-2009 Academic Year. She just completed her MA in Spanish, with a focus in Linguistics. While working on her degree, she taught first and second semester Spanish as a Teaching Assistant in DML and also taught fifth through eighth grade Spanish in a Denver private school where she taught for 8 1/2 years. Her teaching background also includes six months in Ecuador, teaching Spanish and English to adults and children in 2000.
In June, Sara and her husband are headed for Sun Valley, Idaho where she hopes to find a Spanish teaching position in a middle school or at the College of Southern Idaho. Dreams for the future include living abroad and possibly pursuing a Ph.D. in Spanish. Modern Languages will miss Sara and her fine teaching contributions and wishes her and her husband the best in their new endeavors.
Dr. Devin Jenkins wrote, “She has been exemplary in every facet of her graduate career. She has improved the students who have surrounded her and made the classes better; she has been an excellent teacher for us; and she is a shining example of what a graduate student should be.”
More Pictures from the Event:
Sara Pettit, Amy Von Canon
Devin Jenkins
Sara Pettit, Conxita Domenech, Devin Jenkins, Diane Dasereau, Enrique Mejias
Picture from Faculty Luncheon:
Faculty Luncheon in Honor of Associate Professor, Dr. Devin Jenkins
Awarded Tenure, May 2009
(Devin is third from front, right side)