RMMLA Executive Board Elections -
Slate of Candidates

Candidate Professional Biographies and Statements
(avl. in November 2009)

ONLINE BALLOT BOX - VOTE NOW thru December 31, 2009.

Candidates are listed by position and in alphabetical order. Each candidate has submitted a short professional biography and a short statement as to why s/he wishes to serve on the board.

Vice President (1 candidate)

Professional Biography

Currently Joyce Adams is an Assistant Teaching Professor at Brigham Young University and serves as the College Writing Specialist f or the College of Family, Home and Social Sciences. She created and oversees a college writing lab and tutor training program; creates and evaluates advanced writing courses in the college; trains graduate students to teach a new advanced Writing in Psychology course, which she created; assists faculty in increasing student writing in their courses; and serves as consultant for writing throughout the college. She also teaches advanced writing courses in the college, as needed. Presently she is teaching Writing in Neuroscience, a course she created to fulfill the university’s advanced writing requirement for students in this major. Prior to this tenure-track position, she taught as part-time faculty in the English Department for 14 years, teaching Introduction to Literature courses, as well as a variety of Composition courses. She has also taught Educational Psychology for the Education Department; co-created a Writing in the Social Sciences Independent Study Course; taught at Utah Valley State College; worked for Western Governors’ University; and worked professionally as an Instructional Designer for Freeport, a start-up internet company. She stays engaged in research and presenting at conferences.

Personal Statement

"With my background in Early American Literature and English, teaching composition for 17 years, and most recently, a PhD in Instructional Psychology and Technology, I bring a rich diversity of support for writing and communication. I see myself as a bridge between literature and language. I am self-motivated to encourage conversations for expanding our current views. My position was largely undefined when I was hired and I have created and enlarged the boundaries of what my position entails through conversations with stakeholders. I believe I can serve as a liaison to encourage similar conversations to enlarge our vision on the board as well as bringing a new point-of-view.

I bring a rich background in teaching composition, my PhD training and experience in assessment, my role as the creator and manager of a Social Science Writing Lab, and my cross-disciplinary role in my current tenure-track position as the Writing Specialist for the largest college at Brigham Young University. My role at the university is to bring together the disciplines in a conversation with administration, faculty, and students about communication. This conversation has resulted in the creation of disciplinary writing courses and a disciplinary writing lab; cooperation with the University Writing Center, and the Composition Director and English Department; specialized training in teaching writing to TAs, graduate students, and faculty in a number of disciplines in the college; and interest in learning more about helping students and faculty improve writing skills. I would like to be a part of this and other conversations with universities and colleges, as we seek to strengthen our study and teaching of language and literature."

Delegate-at-Large (3 candidates: Ruth Antosh, Anthony J. Cárdenas-Rotunno, & Victor Castellani)

Professional Biography

Ruth B. Antosh is Professor of French at the State University of New York at Fredonia. Her areas of specialization are nineteenth-century French literature and modern Quebec theater. She has published a book and articles on J.-K. Huysmans, and articles on contemporary Quebec theater. She has been involved in designing an International Studies program at her institution, and is a long-standing member of the RMMLA. She teaches a wide variety of courses, including French phonetics, Quebec literature and culture, French literature, and Canadian studies. She is currently working on a book on Michel Tremblay.

Personal Statement

"I am a committed advocate for the importance of foreign languages and the humanities at American colleges and universities. RMMLA has an important role to play as foreign languages continue to struggle to be recognized as central to a solid college education. Particularly in this period of economic difficulty, this organization must continue to support and publicize the value of foreign languages and literatures in our country. RMMLA’s annual conference and its journal play an important role in making foreign languages visible. We should continue to stress that a variety of foreign languages must be offered to students, so that they have the opportunity to study more than one language in some depth. RMMLA has already attracted a number of international scholars to its annual conferences, and I would like to assist in expanding the number of international participants. I would consider it a privilege to serve as a delegate to this important organization."

Anthony J. Cárdenas-Rotunno (University of New Mexico, Spanish) Professional Biography

Anthony J. Cárdenas-Rotunno is Professor of Spanish at the University of New Mexico. Prior to this, he taught at Wichita State University. He has served as Editor of Noticiero alfonsí (1982-88), Corresponding Editor for the DOSL Project (1984-90), and Editorial Board Member for Romance Quarterly 1981-98. He has been very active with the AATSP and has served on the MLA Executive Committee for Spanish Medieval Language & Literature (1991-95 and 2005-09), as well as the Board (as Treasurer) of the American Academy of Research Historians of Medieval Spain (1991-92). He was chair of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at UNM (2000-02) and has been on the Executive Council of the Cervantes Society of America from 2000 to the present. Among his publications are "Maritornes y las otras ausentes en Don Quijote" in Cervantes y su tiempo. Juaan Matas Caballero and José María Balcells Doménech, eds. (Universidad de León, 2008); "Bestialidad y la palabra: el parto perruno en el ‘Coloquio de los perros’." Hispania. May 2008; and "Assessing Asses and Lasses: Triangular Desire in the 1488 Spanish Esopete ystoriado," Romance Quarterly (Spring 2008).

Personal Statement

"Having been involved in various organizations including on the Executive committee for Medieval Spanish at the National Level, it is clear to me how one can help shape organizational policy to strengthen an organization by improving quality and making it more inclusive. I did this as session organizer for the national meeting of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese in the mid 80's. Working with others in the RMMLA, I would be delighted to see how we might achieve these two goals, and I emphasize the collaborative effort this must be."

Victor Castellani (University of Denver, Classics) Professional Biography

Victor Castellani has attended 27 RMMLA conventions. He has chaired an undergraduate department of languages (currently ten of them, taught by 31 full-time faculty and 25 adjuncts) and literatures for over fifteen non-consecutive years. He has taught and team-taught classical languages and literatures, comparative literature civilizations and revolutions, ancient modern and contemporary drama, political and social history of France and Germany. He has published on diverse Greek and Roman literary topics (esp. Homeric epic and Attic tragedy) and ancient art/iconography, as well as on Dante and Ibsen. He is also a current member of American Classical League, American Philological Association, Archaeological Institute of America, Ibsen Society of America, International Society for the Study of European Ideas, MLA, Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association, and ProRiesling Verein (German is his working modern language).

Personal Statement

"I can represent 'minor languages,' undergraduate-only departments, and private institutions. I hope to reverse the decline in membership at DU and at other private colleges and universities of our region, and to arrange for a future convention in Denver co-hosted by DU. I hope also to facilitate membership/participation by adjunct and other non-tenure-track faculty, as well as by undergrad students. I am ready, through further service to RMMLA at the highest level, to express both my gratitude for the honor of Sterling Membership and my appreciation for the long-term and recent evolution of the Association. I’ve let others do its most important work for nearly a quarter of a century now, so I hereby offer to take another shift myself!"

Graduate Student Delegate (1 candidate)

Professional Biography

Glen Southergill completed his B.S. in Psychology at the University of Arizona. His first graduate degree, an MBA, was completed in 2004. He is currently finishing his second Masters (in Professional Communication) at Clemson University. His interests include pedagogy, serious games and usability. He hopes to remain in Clemson for his Ph.D. When not studying or teaching accelerated English composition, he and his wife enjoy film and travel.

Personal Statement

"I am genuinely impressed with the organization's ability to facilitate scholarly discussion among its members. This trend became apparent from the moment I got off the plane in Snowbird. About seven RMMLA members shared a van to the Cliff Lodge. It took no time for the group, which consisted of representatives from five different institutions, to begin a dialog. We were all so hungry for knowledge...to share idea...to learn from each other, that the trip really "flew" by. Having attended many large, national conferences, I have some comparisons and I can say that I was very impressed both with the composition of the sessions and the congenial atmosphere at RMMLA. On a personal note, I left the conference very intellectually refreshed and invigorated.

The organization is clearly well managed. I see clear dedication to developing a congenial atmosphere and attracting an impressive breadth of scholarship from many fields. My main goal would be to continue this trend. In particular, I see the student perspective as very important to attracting and retaining active new members of multiple fields. Beyond excellent organization and communication skills, I believe I can assist in student outreach programs. In particular, I would begin by focusing on relationship-building to student honorary organizations. Also, within my field, I would reach out to other organizations that share borders with technical and professional communications. By applying my core skills in communication, organization, and strategy, I believe I can continue to support RMMLA's efforts to include a wide breadth of trans-disciplinary scholarship in a congenial atmosphere."

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