World Languages, Literatures & Cultures

World Languages, Literatures & Cultures 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

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 book, Resisting Alienation: The literary work of Enrique Lihn (Bucknell University Press, 2007) concentrates on the work of poet Enrique Lihn. He has contributed chapters to major books on Lihn (Enrique Lihn: contra el canto de la goma de borrar, 2005) and Vicente Huidrobro (Huidobro’s Futurity: Twenty First Century Approaches, 2010), served as guest editor for a monographic edition of Crítica Hispánica celebrating the work of Pablo Neruda, and published in journals such as Revista Hispánica Moderna, Romance Quarterly, Mapocho, Crítica Hispánica, and Sophia Austral. Also an accomplished bilingual poet and translator, Dr. Travis has published creative work in ISLE, The Dirty Goat, and in the River Oak Review, where he now serves as an associate poetry editor. 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. He has led study abroad trips to Spain, Chile and Costa Rica. Dr. Travis assumed the responsibilities of Department Chair in June of 2007.

Beatriz Gómez Acuña
Assistant Professor of Spanish and Assistant Department Chair
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.

Federica Bando
Visiting Lecturer
MAT, University of Utah
The newest member of our full-time faculty, Federica Bando currently is working on her doctoral dissertation in second language acquisition at the University of Illinois in Chicago. Ms. Bando has taught basic Spanish courses, Spanish for Native Speakers, and English as a Second Language. Born and raised in Argentina of Japanese parents, Ms. Bando is tri-lingual in Spanish, Japanese, and English. Her strong background in Spanish linguistics and teaching methods adds an important dimension to our program.

Adjunct Faculty

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

Janette K. Bayles
Ph.D., University of Iowa

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

Jenny Garcia-Macko
M.S., Northern Illinois University; M.A.T., Aurora University

Roxane Komar
M.A., Roosevelt University

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