David Fieni, Associate Professor of French
Department Chair
BA, University of California-Berkeley (1998). Ph.D., UCLA (2006). Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in French and History Across the Disciplines, Cornell University (2009-2011). David Fieni is Associate Professor of French and Chair of the Department of World Languages and Literatures. His work focuses on intersections between the MENA region and France from the 19th century to the present in the realms of literature, culture, and intellectual production. He is the author of Decadent Orientalisms: Configuring the Decay of Colonial Modernity (Fordham U.P., 2020). Fieni has published in diacritics, PMLA, and boundary2, and has co-edited two special journal issues: one on the Moroccan author Abdelkebir Khatibi (Expressions maghrébines) and another on “The Global Checkpoint” (The Journal of Postcolonial Writing). He is finalizing a second monograph, entitled Nomad Grammatology: Fugitive Writing and Migrant signs, which explores writing, graffiti, and mobility in a broadly trans-Mediterranean context. His most recent scholarship explores the politics and poetics of ecology and extraction in the Maghreb. He teaches across the entire French curriculum, including courses cross-listed with Africana & Latinx Studies, World History, and World Literature.
300A Schumacher Hall
607-436-3212
david.fieni@oneonta.edu
Gustavo Arango, Professor of Spanish
BA (Social Communication, Journalism): U.P.B. Medellín, Colombia. MA (Spanish and Latin American literature): Rutgers University. Ph.D. (Latin American Literature): Rutgers U.
Research interests: Latin American Literature and Journalism, Creative Writing in Spanish.
302A Schumacher Hall
607-436-3444
gustavo.arango@oneonta.edu
Alejandra Escudero, Spanish Lecturer
BA (Modern Languages and Translation): Universidad Metropolitana, Caracas, Venezuela. MA (Hispanic Studies): The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. Ph.D. in progress (Spanish Linguistics): SUNY-Albany. Teaching areas: Spanish language, Phonetics & Phonology, Translation. Advisor: HOLA Spanish Club. Research areas: Applied Linguistics, Second Language Acquisition, Venezuelan Spanish, Relative Clauses in Foreign Language textbooks, Language Use and Usage.
302B Schumacher Hall
607-436-2480
Alejandra.Escudero@oneonta.edu
Laura Gamez-Romero, Spanish Adjunct
313C Schumacher Hall
607-436-3409
Laura.Gamez-Romero@oneonta.edu
Naomi Graham, Adjunct Professor
BA (Italian Language and Literature) UCLA; MS (Curriculum Development and Instructional Technology) SUNY Albany
313 Schumacher Hall
607-436-3409
Naomi.Graham@oneonta.edu
Noriko Kuge, Japanese Adjunct
BA (Fine Arts): Brandeis University. MAT (Elementary Education): Simmons College. Japanese Instructor: Boston Institute of International Communication, Inc., Chestnut Hill School, Bridge School, Duke School. Freelance Japanese Interpreter and Translator.
William Meredith, French Adjunct
313 Schumacher Hall
607-436-3409
William.Meredith@oneonta.edu
María Cristina Montoya, Associate Professor of Spanish
María Cristina Montoya is an Associate Professor and has been teaching at SUNY-Oneonta since 2000. Her undergraduate degree is in Social Communication/Journalism from “Universidad del Valle” (UniValle) in Cali-Colombia. Dr. Montoya completed academic English studies at Bergen Community College in New Jersey; then she completed a master’s degree from Columbia University - Teachers College in Communication Media-Technologies in Education. In 2011, she graduated from the State University of New York at Albany with a doctoral degree in Hispanic Linguistics. Her teaching areas are Spanish for heritage speakers, phonetics, sociolinguistics, Spanish language, and conversation courses with Service-Learning. She also serves as the advisor for several student clubs: HOLA (Hispanic Organization for Learning and Advancement); ADIOS (Acquisition through Dialogue and Intercultural Objectives of Spanish); ALL (Asian Language Learning); and she is the supervisor of the community service outreach program within the World Languages and Literatures Department: The Multicultural Community Center (MCC). Since 2023, Dr. Montoya is the Fulbright Program Advisor (FPA) for SUNY-Oneonta students. Professor Montoya has been implementing COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) in her courses since 2014. Her Fulbright mission in 2019, “Intercultural Competence through (COIL),” focused on forming relationships to contribute to communities in becoming global. In 2022, her work continued, as a Fulbright Specialist at Universidad del Valle, disseminating and institutionalizing COIL. Her participation in Fulbright through the implementation of COIL pedagogies facilitates the use of technology in education to create academic/social networks. Dr. Montoya is the co-founder of “COIL Rural CommuniTIES” a network of K-12 rural teachers teaching across cultures, nationally and internationally since 2022. She has engaged in sustainability topics through the creation of a freshmen seminar, expanding the conversation to integrate the disciplines across the curriculum and centering on issues of “environmental justice”. This last task allowed her the opportunity to participate in the Fulbright Hays seminar for higher education in Colombia on the topic of climate change, June 2024.
301 Schumacher Hall
607-436-3242
MC.Montoya@oneonta.edu
Daniel Nahson, Associate Professor of Spanish
BA (Philosophy, Educational Psychology): Hebrew University of Jerusalem. MA (Latin American Literature): Columbia University. Ph.D. (Spanish Literature): Columbia University. Research interests: Golden Age Spanish Literature; Philosophy and Religion; Jorge Luis Borges.
306C Schumacher Hall
607-436-3239
daniel.nahson@oneonta.edu
Keri November, American Sign Language Adjunct
Keri November holds an M.A. in Teaching ASL as a Foreign Language and Curriculum Design from Columbia University and a B.A. in Education from NYU. She has taught ASL since 2008 at both the high school and college levels.
Actively engaged in the Cleveland Deaf community, Professor November attends ASL workshops and events and gives lectures nationwide. She is the co-founder of Tremont Brainery and currently teaches full-time at Case Western Reserve University and part-time at SUNY Oneonta. Her work focuses on bridging cultural and linguistic gaps between Deaf and hearing individuals through ASL.
Elizabeth Small, Associate Professor of Spanish
AB (Comparative Literature): Cornell University. MA & Ph.D. (Spanish): Yale University. Research interests: 19th & 20th-century Peninsular Spanish poetry, and current Spanish science fiction.
300B Schumacher Hall
607-436-2406
elizabeth.small@oneonta.edu
Brooke Winchester, Office Assistant
300 Schumacher Hall
Brooke.Winchester@oneonta.edu
Akira Yatsuhashi, Latin and Ancient Greek Instructor and English Professor
BA: Beloit College (History). AM: Dartmouth College (Comparative Literature and Poetics). MA: Tufts University (Classics); PhD: Duke University (Classical Studies). Research Interests: Hellenistic Society and Culture, Ancient Alexandria, the Greek Novel, Ancient and Modern Imperialism and Colonialism, Ancient and Modern Scholarly Culture, Ancient Ethnicity, Film.
135 Physical Sciences Building
607-436-3900
Akira.Yatsuhashi@oneonta.edu
In Memory Of
T. Michele Johnson, American Sign Language Adjunct Assistant Professor
In memory of Ms. Johnson, February 2023.
Ms. Johnson was a resident of Franklin, NY, joined SUNY Oneonta in 1993 as an adjunct lecturer in the World Languages and Literatures department. Outside of the classroom, she organized events connecting students with the local Deaf community, provided ASL interpretation for several commencement ceremonies, and was the ASL interpreter for many musical performances on campus and across the state. Michele was also a graduate of SUNY Oneonta from the class of 2001.
AAS (American Sign Language Interpreting for the Deaf): Suffolk County Community College. BS (Elementary Education): SUNY Oneonta. MSEd (Deaf and Hard of Hearing): Hunter College. Member: Phi Sigma Iota, Kappa Delta Pi, ASLTA (American Sign Language Teacher’s Assoc.), NAD (Nat’l Assoc. for the Deaf). Current Interests: Freelance interpreting of all kinds, especially musical interpreting.