[ Foreign Languages & Literatures ]

Faculty

Elmhurst’s faculty is made up of approachable, energetic educators who have a broad range of scholarly and personal interests. They are dedicated teachers and accomplished researchers, eager to guide students academically and professionally.

Want to know more? See our faculty profiles, below. Or, contact a professor directly.

Full-time Faculty
Christopher Travis
Beatriz Gómez Acuña
Federica Bando
Janette Bayles
Lester Caltvedt
Wallace Lagerwey 

Adjunct Faculty

Marion Babiker, M.A.
Khartoum International Institute for Arabic Language, Sudan

Jack Denny, Ph.D.
University of Illinois at Chicago

George Dorado, M.A.
Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary

Karl-Heinz Gabbey
M.A., Northern Illinois University

Christine Ingraffia
Ed.D., Loyola University

Roxane Komar
M.A., Roosevelt University

Rafael Ortiz-Calderon, M.A.
Northeastern university

Christine Summers
M.A., Humbolt-Universitat Zu Berlin

Denise Thompson
Ph.D., University of Illinois

Christopher Travis
Department Chair and Associate Professor of Spanish
Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin
Dr. Travis has studied, worked, and/or traveled in over 15 Spanish-speaking countries, spending extended time at the Universidad de Sevilla (Spain) and the Universidad Católica (Ecuador). His recent research has focused on twentieth-century Chilean literature and his two books, Resisting Alienation: The literary work of Enrique Lihn (Bucknell University Press) and Rice Water and Other Stories (Host Publications) are both due out in September of 2007. He has contributed chapters to major books on Enrique Lihn and Vicente Huidrobro, served as guest editor for a monographic edition of Crítica Hispánica celebrating the work of Pablo Neruda, published in journals such as Revista Hispánica Moderna, Romance Quarterly, Mapocho, Crítica Hispánica, and Sophia Austral, and serves on the editorial board of both Aerea: Anuario de la poesía hispanoamericana and Crítica Hispánica. Also an accomplished bilingual poet, and translator, Dr. Travis enjoys teaching everything from Spanish 101 to Theories and Practice of Literary Translation, Expressive Latino Culture in the United States, and other seminars on Latin American Literature. Dr. Travis has led study abroad trips to Spain, Chile and Costa Rica.

Beatriz Gómez Acuña
Assistant Professor of Spanish
Ph.D, University of Texas at Austin
Dr. Gómez Acuña is a native of Madrid (Spain) and has lived in the U.S. since 1991. Before joining Elmhurst College she worked as assistant professor at Beloit College and Carthage College in Wisconsin. Her research interest focuses on the folklore and oral traditions of Spain. She has published in journals such as Folklore, Hispania and Lemir. Most of her publications pertain to the study of Hispanic Balladry. Dr. Gómez Acuña is also interested in Foreign Language Acquisition Methodologies and she has contributed materials for different textbooks. She is looking forward to teaching  all levels of Spanish language, culture and literature at Elmhurst College.

Janette K. Bayles
Assistant Professor of French
Ph.D., University of Iowa
Dr. Janette K Bayles joined the faculty in the fall of 2005. After receiving a M.A. in French Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and a D.E.A. (Diplôme d’Etudes Approfondies) in Film Studies at the University of Paris III-la Nouvelle Sorbonne, Dr. Bayles completed an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Film Studies and French at the University of Iowa. She has lived, worked and traveled extensively in France. She taught English as a foreign language for four years at the University of Paris IX-Dauphine. A recipient of the prestigious Bourse Châteaubriand scholarship, she returned to Paris in 1993 to conduct research for her dissertation. Her scholarly interests include nineteenth- and twentieth-century French literature, in particular, naturalism, populism and the fantastic, French cinema, literature and film, pedagogy, feminist and psychoanalytic theory, and international women directors. She has published in the Australian Journal of French Studies, Excavatio, SubStance, and French Studies. Dr. Bayles will be leading a January Term course, French Language and Culture in Nice, Strasbourg and Paris, in 2007.

Lester Caltvedt
Professor of German and French
Ph.D., Northwestern University
Dr. Caltvedt has studied extensively abroad in Göttingen, Montpellier, Dijon, and Montreal. With more than 25 years of experience, Dr. Caltvedt takes a deliberately interdisciplinary approach to teaching and research, focusing on modern German and French literatures, cultural history, and film; francophone African culture; and business culture. He is currently studying  the connection between literature and the gramophone.

Wallace Lagerwey
Professor of German & Director of International Education
Ph.D., Northwestern University
Dr. Lagerwey spends part of nearly every year in Germany, Austria, or Switzerland to keep his knowledge up to date. He specializes in post-war German literature and culture, second language acquisition, the teaching of foreign languages, and international education. He was a German Academic Exchange Fellow for one year at the University of Tubingen and one year at the University of Heidelberg compiling dissertation research on German expressionist literature. He leads numerous international education trips in Europe, and he has taught foreign languages for more than 25 years.