Genny Ballard

Centre College	2412 Yuma Court
Spanish Program	Lexington, KY 40503
600 West Walnut Street	859-396-1849
Danville, KY 40422	ballardg@centre.edu

Education

Ph.D., University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, April 2005

Dissertation Title: The Implied Reader in Hispanic Children’s Literature

Director: Dr. Enrico Mario Santí

This publication discusses the author/reader relationship in the EnCuento series of illustrated children’s stories in Spanish, all written by well-known Hispanic authors. This work elucidates historical and cultural gaps exploring the ways in which textual elements such as style, focalization and manipulation of reader’s expectations affect the implied reader’s ability to produce or extract meaning. This study adds to our knowledge of the function of children’s texts.

M.A.T., University of Louisville, Teacher Certification (9-12 Social Studies and K-12 Spanish) Louisville, Kentucky, 1996

B.A., Government, Centre College, Danville, Kentucky, 1991

Academic awards

Student Choice, My favorite class/ Mi clase preferida, Centre College, Spring 2005 see: << http://www.centre.edu/web/news/2005/bigapple05.html>>

Teaching Award, Department of Hispanic Studies, University of Kentucky, 2003

Dissertation Enhancement Award, Costa Rica, Summer 2002

Commonwealth Grant, University of Kentucky, Mexico, Summer 2001

Academic Grant, University of Kentucky Graduate School, Spring 2000

Research Grant, University of Kentucky Graduate School, Fall 2000

Teaching experience

Visiting Assistant Professor of Spanish, Centre College, Danville Kentucky, 2004-present

SPA 455 Hispanic Children’s Literature

SPA 270 Latin American Civilization, Mesoamerica to Contemporary Period

SPA 230 Advanced Spanish Grammar and Composition

SPA 220 Intermediate Spanish

FRS Freshman Seminar: U.S. Latinos: Literature and Culture, New York City as part of the U.S. Latino Studies course, see:

<< http://www.centre.edu/web/news/2005/bigapple05.html>>

SPA 121 Spanish for Accelerated or High Beginners

In addition to teaching classes I served as a student advisor, coordinated service learning, organized events for the Centro Latino, a local Community Center and directed a bilingual play.

HUM 120 Humanities: Renaissance and Baroque Literature, Art and Music

Governor’s Scholars Program, Summer 2005

Major course: Intermediate Spanish

Minor course: U.S. Latino Culture: Performance: Señora Tortuga, Summer reading support for local bilingual children

Coordinator of Elementary Language Instruction, University of Kentucky, 2003-2004

Scheduled classes, supervised instructors, observed Teaching Assistants in their

classes, wrote and modified syllabi for all classes 101-202, ordered and distributed texts for these courses, wrote and edited departmental exams, organized and taught sessions of the new teacher training, hired part-time Instructors, addressed and resolved student and instructor complaints, and supervised the newly implemented Web Homework System, for a department of forty-four Teaching Assistants and Part Time Instructors.

Lecturer, University of Kentucky, 2003-2004

SPA 311 Advanced Spanish Conversation and Phonetics

SPA- 011 Graduate Reading Knowledge of Spanish

SPA- 313 Introduction to Hispanic Literature

Instructor, University of Kentucky, 2001-2003

SPA 101, 102 Basic Spanish I, II

SPA 201, 202 Intermediate Spanish I, II

SPA 101, 102 Spanish Laboratory

SPA 211 Spanish Conversation

Taught students using the latest technology, Spanish film and literature; wrote departmental exams, trained instructors to use lab technology, facilitated conversation from basic through advanced levels and determined final grades.

Elementary Spanish Teacher, Bardstown Elementary School, Bardstown, KY 2000- 2001,

Taught 35 Spanish classes weekly to 790 students from Kindergarten to 4^th grade.

Graduate Research Assistant, University of Kentucky, 2000

Collected quotations and wrote bibliographic entries for the book Contemporary Hispanic Quotations (2003) by Edward Stanton.

Teaching Assistant, University of Kentucky, 1996-1999

Taught basic and intermediate Spanish courses in the University of Kentucky’s Department of Hispanic Studies.

Peace Corps, Rural Education, Costa Rica, 1992-1994

Founded a preschool program as well as taught social studies, biology and English for secondary students enrolled in a distance learning program in a rural

town of 200 residents, Colorado, Puntarenas.

Organized and coached sports teams for homeless children through PANI, Paso Canoas, Zona Sur.

Completed the Spanish language institute training, CPH of Alajuela, Costa Rica.

Publications

The Implied Reader in Hispanic Children’s Literature. Manuscript currently under review at The University Press of Kentucky, October 2005

“Approaching Calila y Dimna as Children’s Literature,” The Image of the 20^thCentury. Pueblo CO, University of Southern Colorado Press, March 2000.

Entries for Jose Martí, Hilda Perera, Graciela Montes and Juana de Ibarbourou, Oxford Encylopedia of Children’s Literature. Expected date of publication, January 2006

Conference Presentations

“Coming of Age in Exile in Hispanic Children’s Literature” Latin American Studies Association, San Juan Puerto Rico, upcoming, March 2006

“Protagonists from the Outside,” Mountain Interstate Foreign Language Conference, Wake Forest University, October 2005

“The Power of Language in Severo Sarduy’s Children’s Story: Gatico-Gatico” University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, May 2004.“El narrador de La verdadera historia del Flautista de Hammelin de Alvaro Mutis,” Jornadas Metropolitanas de Estudios Culturales: Los Discursos de la Cultura Hoy, Universidad Autonóma, Casa Lamm, Mexico, D.F. July 2001.

“La política y el poder en cuatro cuentos infantiles,” University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, May 2001.

“Discourse and Political Structures in the Children’s Stories of the Encuento Series,” University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, February 2001.

“Cuatro cuentos infantiles de la colección EnCuento.” Jornadas Metropolitanas de Estudios Culturales: Los Discursos de la Cultura Hoy VIII, Universidad Autonóma, Casa Lamm, Mexico, D.F., July 2000.

“The Image of Childhood in Contemporary Children’s Literature,” Image and Image Conference, Brock University, Ontario, Canada, October 2000.

“Approaching Calila y Dimna as Children’s Literature,” The Image of the 20^th Century, University of Southern Colorado, Pueblo Colorado, March 2000.

“El proceso creativo en El Garabato de Vicente Leñero,” Jornadas Metropolitanas de Estudios Culturales: Los Discursos de la Cultura Hoy III, Universidad Autonóma, Mexico, D.F., July 1996.

Instructional Technology

Coordinated Latin American film series, Vahlkamp Theater, Centre College, Fall 2005

Implemented web-based Homework System in coordination with the Department of Mathematics and the Department of Hispanic Studies, University of Kentucky, 2003-2004

Initiated and supervised Blackboard training for Department of Hispanic Studies professors and instructors, University of Kentucky, 2003-2004

Trained teaching assistants and part-time Instructors in Language Laboratory Technology, Department of Hispanic Studies, University of Kentucky, 2000-2003

Organized and taught the new teacher training sessions emphasizing the use of second language acquisition software, University of Kentucky, August 2003 and January 2004

Published online syllabi for all department courses SPA 101-211, University of Kentucky, 2003-2004

Academic and Community Service

Centre College Council, Member at Large, 2005-present

Academic Awards Committee, Fulbright Committee, 2005-present

Faculty Advisor, Hispanic Society, 2005-present

Centro Latino, Danville, Kentucky Hispanic Community Center, 2004-present

Providence Montessori Language Teacher Orientation, Lexington, Kentucky, 2005-present

Language Lab Coordinator, University of Kentucky, 2001-2003

Session Chair/Organizer, Kentucky Foreign Language Conference, University of Kentucky, 2001-5

Planning Committee, Kentucky Foreign Language Conference, University of Kentucky, 2000

Session Chair, The Image of the 20^th Century, University of Southern Colorado, 2000

Latin American Paper Selection Committee, Kentucky Foreign Language Conference, University of Kentucky, 1998-1999

Languages

Complete dossier including transcripts, statement of teaching philosophy, and letters of recommendation available upon request from the University of Kentucky Career Center: