Conference Spanish Consortium launched by two UM faculty members
Dr. Stephen Fafulas
The University of Mississippi is leading an initiative to bring together scholars and key stakeholders working on themes related to Spanish speakers in the Southeast, particularly in areas where Southeastern Conference schools are situated.
With the Spanish-speaking population increasing in the Southeast, the SEC Spanish Consortium will attempt to prepare the region and the SEC universities that call it home for this demographic shift.
“Little is known about how Spanish speakers in our region compare – linguistically, culturally and socioeconomically – to those of more established U.S. Spanish-speaking communities, such as those in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago,” said Stephen Fafulas, UM assistant professor of Spanish.
“Many areas in what have been termed ‘New Destination Communities’ for Spanish-speaking immigrants are in non-metro regions of the U.S. South. The SEC Spanish Consortium addresses this gap in the previous literature while seeking to prepare the region.”
Fafulas and Daniel E. O’Sullivan, professor of French and chair of the Department of Modern Languages, first began discussing in fall 2019 how to best prepare for the growing number of Spanish speakers and students arriving at Ole Miss and other SEC universities.
“This consortium will help raise awareness of the educational needs of these cohorts of students, whether it is through specialized language courses for heritage speakers of Spanish or through other initiatives that might consider the backgrounds of these students who are oftentimes first-generation college students,” O’Sullivan said.
“This aligns with our mission to make education accessible and promote professional success for all students, including those who are minorities or from diverse ethnic, cultural and linguistic backgrounds.”
Read the full article on University of Mississippi News.
