2026 Spanish Language Teacher Workshop
Faculty:
Dr. Devin Jenkins, Associate Professor of Spanish and Director of L2TReC
Dr. Gary Atwood-Mendez, Assistant Professor (Lecturer) of Spanish
This workshop will consist of two complementary sessions of two days each, as follows:
“La historia de la lengua en la sala de lengua”, Dr. Devin Jenkins
In this workshop, we will examine diachronic language change (in some cases, since Classical Latin) and its relationship to teaching Spanish today. We will cover sound (phonological) changes, structural (morphosyntactic) changes, and external (social) changes that have impacted the language, focusing on those areas that have direct implications for modern classroom teaching.
“Romances, epopeyas y héroes”, Dr. Gary Atwood-Méndez
This part of the workshop offers a diachronic exploration of the heroes of ballads and epics from medieval Castilian literature through the Imperial / Colonial period and into the twentieth and twenty-first centuries in Spain and Latin America. We will consider how the ballad and epic form have been reshaped to portray new realities, political ideas and aesthetic ideals, and how these forms themselves have become associated with specific ways of seeing the world. Readings will be sent out in advance, and it is expected that students do the reading before coming to the workshop.
The Summer Teacher Workshops are university content workshops, taught in the target language, for all K-12 language teachers. Workshops are designed for adults to engage in deeper cultural learning and in language practice.
Registration Fee: $120
Lunch and parking included
Time: 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Date: June 22-25, 2026
Location: University of Utah Campus
MIDAS Course Number: TBD
