Alumni Spotlight
February 16, 2018
S&P would like to recognize Alumni Esther Brown, whom graduated in 2004 and is recepient the 2018 LAII Greenleaf Visiting Scholar award.
*What are you doing now/where are you?
I earned my Doctorate in Hispanic Linguistics from the Department of Spanish & Portuguese in 2004 and subsequently began work in the Department of Spanish & Portuguese at the University of Colorado Boulder. Here at CU, I incorporate into my teaching and research the theories and methods I learned as a graduate student at UNM.
*Professional highlights post-graduation
After needing to take three years away from academia for family medical leave, I returned to work and was promoted to Associate Professor of Hispanic Linguistics in 2014. I have had the privilege of working collaboratively with exceptional colleagues here at CU and have enjoyed working with top-notch graduate students. Recently I received the Greenleaf Visiting Scholar Award from the Latin American and Iberian Institute at UNM. This afforded me the opportunity to spend two weeks working in the Center for Southwest Research in Zimmerman Library. I was able to re-visit and conduct research with the corpus of New Mexico-Colorado Spanish (NMCOSS; Professors Bills & Vigil) housed in the special collections. It was a treat to be back on campus working with and listening to such an exceptional archive of New Mexican Spanish.
*Memories with the Span/Port Department
I have very fond memories of time spent with my fellow graduate students; studying, attending seminars, socializing, traveling to conferences, working to organize graduate student association dances, etc. I often think about our Tertulia Lingüística which we would take turns hosting in our homes. Being in the company of such kind, engaged, supportive peers made the process of earning my degree less stressful and much more meaningful! For that I am very grateful. I also learned a lot from my professors and mentors during my years in the department. When I graduated I felt like I had been given ample opportunity to acquire skills and insights that would prepare me for an academic career. I am a very proud Lobo.
