We gratefully acknowledge the support of our alumni through different initiatives and contributions that foster the excellence of our department. We are excited to share the updates we have received and look forward to continuing to hear about the endeavors of our alumni.
Please keep in touch! Email: lagaceta@indiana.edu.
Renato Alvim, Ph.D., 2010, (Portuguese) was recently granted tenure and promoted to the rank of associate professor at California State University, Stanislaus. Dr. Alvim teaches Portuguese and Spanish, is the director of the Portuguese Program, and co-director of the Center for Portuguese Studies at CSU, Stanislaus. In 2019, Dr. Alvim received the Elizabeth Anne B. Papageorge Faculty Development Award in recognition of his outstanding teaching.
Kyle Billman, B.A., 2014 (Spanish and Linguistics). He and his wife Monica opened their business Goldleaf Hydroponics in Bloomington in 2016. Goldleaf Hydroponics specializes in gardening supplies, from organic fertilizers to grow tents, grow lights, seeds, soil and more. Kyle and Monica oversee a student-led, faculty-sponsored group called Goldleaf Growers at IU, which convenes at the IU Food Institute. Goldleaf Hydroponics ships all over the world and distributes herbal products from their partner farmers in Ghana, where Kyle and Monica are helping set up the first African kratom farm. In 2021, Kyle and Monica opened the Goldleaf Farmers Market, which hosts about 20 vendors every Saturday from April through September, including live music, food trucks, and special attractions.
At home, Kyle and Monica have a three-year-old son and are expecting their second child. They are working on their 5-acre permaculture farm and look forward to building a greenhouse on-site at their retail location. Monica and Kyle speak mostly Spanish at home and are raising their family to be bilingual.
Kyle plays in several local bands including Bloomington-based roots reggae band The Algoriddims, Latin-Caribbean fusion band Matixando, and Zion Crossroads. He is working on his home music studio and building his online music platforms Kyle Billman Music. You can follow his music @kylebillmanmusic and Goldleaf @goldleafhydro.
Christie Cole, Ph.D., 2019 (Hispanic Literatures), has accepted a position as Visiting Assistant Professor of Literature and Cultural Studies in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, Miami University – Ohio.
Jesús Correa Sánchez, M.A., 2004 (Hispanic Literatures), M.A., 2005 (English Literature). After returning to Sevilla, where he is originally from, Jesús started teaching for the University Pablo de Olavide and for the University of Sevilla, where he completed his Doctorate in the English and North American Department. He wrote a dissertation titled William Mountfort's Greenwich Park (1691): A Critical Edition. His dissertation has been published by Peter Lang Publishing Group and can be found at the following link: https://www.peterlang.com/search?q1=jesus+correa&searchBtn=. Jesús has since become an Air Traffic Controller and a few years ago became one of the youngest Air Traffic Controllers in Spain promoted to Tower Manager. Two years ago, he also obtained a post of professor-tutor at the Universidad Española de Educación a Distancia (UNED), where he currently teaches different courses on English literature and culture.
He holds very special memories of Bloomington and its lovely campus, of many classmates and friends (some of whom he is still in touch with), of the Spanish and Portuguese Department, and of his professors. It was a wonderful period of his life which he will never forget. Nowadays, he lives with his wife, Pilar, and their ten-year-old son, Guillermo, in Pamplona (the city of Sanfermines, that's right!).
John C. Couleur, B.A., 2000 (Spanish Major), started a new venture as CEO of Couleur Investments - a registered investment advisor. Providing financial advisory services for wealth management including investments, financial budgeting and planning. Continues to serve as Secretary & Treasurer of Illinois Shelter & Recovery Services that provides basic and substance abuse recovery programs to help eliminate homelessness.
Robert "Moses" Fritz, Ph.D., 2018 (Hispanic Literatures), published "Gender and Genre Fiction in the Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao." Chaqui, vol. 48, no. 1, 2019. He also created a 15-credit hour online Portuguese certificate program at Murray State University, where he serves as Assistant Professor of Spanish and Portuguese Certificate Program Coordinator. This is the first time Portuguese has been offered by the university.
Amber Gallup Rodriguez, M.A., 1998 (Hispanic Linguistics) is the State Director of Adult Education in New Mexico. She graduated with a B.A. in Spanish and Linguistics from IU in 1996 and received her M.A. in Hispanic Linguistics from the Department of Spanish and Portuguese in 1998. She uses her Spanish all the time in New Mexico, but in her new role will provide leadership and oversee the provision of ESL, literacy, workforce prep, and high school equivalency prep for adult learners - including immigrants - in programs across the state. Amber is also currently a doctoral candidate at the University of New Mexico in Learning Sciences.
Here is a short article published in Albuquerque recently:
https://www.krqe.com/news/new-mexico/state-hires-new-director-of-adult-education/?fbclid=IwAR1lb9stos3wZ1Vf0R8H-AXtsGRsgyqFmll9raePXNdsBsY5BgGL9ldZONY
Maria Hasler-Barker, Ph.D., 2013 (Hispanic Linguistics), was granted tenure and promoted to Associate Professor of Spanish Linguistics at Sam Houston State University in May 2020. She serves as Associate Chair of the Department of World Languages and Cultures and leads the SHSU study abroad program in Santa Ana, Costa Rica.
Ayesha Khan, B.A., 2019 (Hispanic Studies), entering her third year of dental school at the University of Pennsylvania. After graduating in 2023, she is hoping to pursue a career in pediatric public health.
Christian Littell, B.A., 2020 (Hispanic Linguistics), is now a high school Spanish teacher in Indianapolis, and will be returning soon to earn a Master's degree in Spanish and in French!
Judy (Rodenbarger) Monie, B.A., 1966 (Spanish) After graduation she taught Spanish in middle school and high school for 30 years with the Montgomery County Public Schools, Maryland. During that tenure she served as a consulting teacher working with first year teachers and a staff development teacher. She also consulted from time to time with regard to classroom management. She earned a Master's degree in Educational Leadership from Hood College, Frederick, Maryland. She was married for 51 years before her husband passed, and she now lives in Maryland near their two daughters and their families.
Michael Mosier, Ph.D., 2013 (Hispanic Literatures), was granted tenure at Cornell College in Iowa in spring 2020 and is serving as Chair of the Latin American Studies Program. Article coming soon in Hispanic Issues on the topic of Crime and Crisis in Mexico: Yuri Herrera's The Transmigration of Bodies. (This volume was co-edited by IU grad Nick Phillips, who is at Grinnell.)
Amanda Sarasien, B.A., 2005 (Spanish), is a writer and literary translator based in Chicago. In January 2021, she began her two-year term as co-chair of the PEN Translation Committee. Her translation, from Portuguese, of Hélio Pólvora's short story "Sea of Azov" was featured in The Common's Lusophone portfolio, out last fall. In April she curated a section on Brazilian literature for the Sant Jordi NYC virtual literary festival, and read from her in-progress translation of the novel Springtime in the Bones, by Bahian author Állex Leilla; recordings of the entire program have been archived on the festival website, santjordinyc.org. Apart from her translations, she is also at work writing a book, a hybrid memoir-essay. She can be found at amandasarasien.com.
Theresa Spech, B.S., 2017 (Spanish Linguistics), will graduate from IU School of Medicine. She matched into Emergency Medicine Residency at IU School of Medicine and will begin her three-year residency in June. She will also marry her fiancé, Geanderson Esteves do Santos, who is from Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Her knowledge of Spanish has helped her throughout all her rotations in medical school, and her knowledge of Portuguese allowed her to complete an away rotation on the internal medicine service at Hospital das Clinicas da UFMG in Belo Horizonte in early March 2020.
Sarah TeKolste, B.A., 2015 (Hispanic Linguistics), has been selected 2022 Teacher of the Year by the Indianapolis Public Schools District. She is one of the nominees for the Indiana Teacher of the Year program that is handled by the Indiana Department of Education. She currently teaches Spanish at Shortridge High School.
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