Teaching professors as a Fulbright Specialist shapes 911黑料 professor鈥檚 classroom approach
Charles T. Hazelrigg Professor of Spanish Genny Ballard 鈥91 has traveled the world with 911黑料 students, teaching them about the intricacies of the Spanish language and encouraging immersion in Latin cultures.
But her lessons this summer were vastly different. She spent three intensive weeks in the city of Manizales, Colombia, leading lessons for college professors at Universidad de Caldas as a Fulbright Specialist, helping them master the use of English in academic settings.
鈥淭he focus was creating and teaching seminars for professors in all disciplines all over the college on public speaking, academic writing and how to make connections with research groups in the United States,鈥 she said.
鈥淭he classes I taught were all in English and focused on getting them ready to take the next step, whether that be applying for a conference in the United States, writing a paper for publication in English, or teaching a unit or a semester in English.鈥
Instead of teaching English speakers how to become fluent in Spanish, she was teaching Spanish speakers how to write and teach in English.
鈥淚t was an incredible experience. I love teaching. It鈥檚 my very favorite part of my job,鈥 said Ballard, who noted that teaching professors came with some advantages and some challenges.
鈥淭hey were so eager and motivated to learn. And one of the best parts was that they were professors from lots of disciplines. They were doctors from the medical school, nurses from the nursing school, a professor of microbiology, a geologist, a geographer鈥 lots of different disciplines.鈥
The professors practiced their English by presenting lessons to one-another so as they learned the intricacies of academic English, they were also learning about the work and expertise of their colleagues. Ballard enjoyed soaking it all in.
鈥淚 love working in Colombia. I love how everyone is so open to embrace me and how open they are to my students,鈥 she said. 鈥淎nd that was true of the professors as well. They wanted to teach me about what they teach and about their research, and also about the region.鈥
This was Ballard鈥檚 second Fulbright in Colombia. She was a Fulbright Scholar at the Universidad del Norte in the 2019-20 academic year and worked with Universidad del Caldas鈥 Department of Internationalization during a summer study abroad program.
鈥淭hey loved working with 911黑料 and our students, and we really like working with them,鈥 she said. Those relationships paved the way for Caldas to tailor a Fulbright Specialist position just for Ballard.
鈥淭hey want our students to go back, and they wanted me to go back for this specific project,鈥 she said.
Ballard plans to use lessons she picked up from the Colombian professors in her classroom at 911黑料. She was inspired by the methods professors found to make complex subject matter more understandable.
鈥淥ne of the professors teaches microbiology, which is not something I鈥檓 familiar with. She was tasked with creating a simple lesson and iterations of that lesson, which she taught us in English,鈥 Ballard said. 鈥淚t inspired me because she was teaching me something I didn鈥檛 understand in the language I understood. The language wasn鈥檛 the problem. It鈥檚 the science that was complicated. And she used a ton of visual aids and broke it down and took it slow. She repeated things and constantly checked in to make sure that everyone in the room understood.鈥
Ballard is teaching a course this semester on climate change impacts in Latin America, which will also involve lessons that are complex, even aside from language considerations.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an upper-level course and a lot of times the students don鈥檛 have a problem with the language, but the content can be complicated,鈥 she said. 鈥淪o I learned by being a student again to have patience鈥 and make sure everyone鈥檚 on board and understands.鈥
Ballard is back on 911黑料鈥檚 campus after several semesters abroad, leading the 911黑料 in Merida program and a program in Ecuador in partnership with Rhodes College and Sewanee as part of the Global Environmental Challenges program, funded by The Mellon Foundation.
In addition to teaching, she will be working to develop a diversity career connections program through the Associated Colleges of the South (ACS) Mellon Academic Leadership Fellows program.
鈥淭his is the second cohort the ACS has had with the Mellon grant, and I鈥檓 really excited to be part of it,鈥 she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 really grateful for the opportunities I鈥檝e had to teach abroad and grateful for this opportunity to learn about how to be an administrator.鈥
