Daniel Cuenca to Take Post at Northeastern
Daniel Cuenca, who is on course to graduate with a PhD in Hispanic Languages & Literatures in September 2019, has accepted a position as an Assistant Teaching Professor of Portuguese & Spanish at Northeastern University. Congratulations, Daniel!
Speaking about his new position, Daniel tells us:
“I had taught one Portuguese course at Northeastern in the past. That course was primarily a language course, but I redesigned it to include a major component in cultural studies, film analysis and a literary overview, and created all materials to support this curriculum. This course resonated very well with the Department, and a good relationship was established with them, which included me visiting their advanced Spanish classes to talk about issues in Latin American literature and thought over two semesters. When the position opened, I was encouraged to apply.
There is something very exciting about the place Northeastern University is at right now. It is a university that caters to a great diversity of students and is committed to a very ambitious advancement plan over the coming years that includes enormous support for initiatives that foster the students’ “global citizenship” education and “intercultural agility”, as stated in their Self-Authored Integrated Learning Plan.
This is an “assistant teaching professor position”: in the long term, I will seek a research position. However, the way the position is conceived, it actually lends itself surprisingly well for the continuation of my research projects: the teaching load is three classes per semester and the Spring semester ends in mid-April, which will afford me a long summer, during which the position requires no service. This will allow me to maintain a good academic position in Boston while I work on publications and spend summers in Argentina working on a documentary. And I was able to negotiate a generous conference/research allowance.
Ultimately, though, everything returns to BU: to the education and mentoring, to the letters of recommendation from former coordinators, and to my advisor and readers, who are so enthusiastically backing me and so generously accompanying and supporting my efforts to complete my dissertation.”