The 2021-2022 academic year marks Dr. Elena Foulis’ 12th year teaching in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Ohio State. Unfortunately for us, it is also her last, as she has been hired as a tenure-track assistant professor at Texas A&M- San Antonio. We sat down to reflect on her time at Ohio State and on her excitement for her future in San Antonio.
Over the past few years in SPPO, Dr. Foulis has focused on developing and teaching the heritage language courses and Spanish 5689S: Spanish in Ohio. Spanish 5689S provides students with the opportunity to engage with Latinos in the community by working together on a project or with an organization. It offers a learning experience outside of the classroom; students actively use their Spanish in real ways.
Spanish in Ohio was Dr. Foulis’ favorite course to teach while at OSU. “It is because I get to see the students grow a lot. Not only grow in their skills as Spanish speakers, but also professionally. They network with different organizations in our community. There is also the sense of personal growth because it is different to read about a community and then engage and have personal one on one conversations with community members. I see a lot of growth and personal change through the course, so I absolutely love teaching this course.”
When asked what she will miss the most about Ohio State, Dr. Foulis not only named her students and colleagues, but also had this to say, “I will certainly miss the roots that I have here. I am a commissioner for the Ohio Latino Affairs Commission, and that has allowed me to interact with different Latino serving organizations or schools and other entities that are thinking about how to serve our Latinx community best, so that work and the work that I do in Spanish in Ohio has really connected me with many organizations. I have those well-established connections that take time and are trusting relationships.”
Dr. Foulis is hopeful about her new adventure at Texas A&M- San Antonio. She is already familiar with the area and has family members who live nearby; she is excited to be closer to them. In terms of Texas A&M- San Antonio, Dr. Foulis wants to start small to build trust and understand the community – the Latino population is larger, and the needs might be different. “I am most excited that it is a smaller department. I think there is a lot of interest in growing the courses that we offer and building programs directly for heritage learners. It is exciting to think about how to build new courses, and being part of that growth is exciting.”
Dr. Elena Foulis has been an immense asset to the OSU community. We wish her the best.
