Department of English and Modern Languages

Faculty

KASHAMA MULAMBA (1997)
	Professor; Chair, Department of English and Modern Languages
B.A., 1974, Moray House College of Education, Scotland M.A., 1987, Ball State University Ph.D., 1991, Ball State University

JULIENE FORRESTAL (1996)
	Associate Professor of English
B.A., 1971, Illinois State University M.A., 1973, University of Illinois Northern Illinois University

REBECCA BELCHER-RANKIN (1997)
	Professor of English
B.A., 1969, Olivet Nazarene University M.S., 1975, University of Kansas D.A., 2000, Middle Tennessee State University

KAREN KNUDSON (2001)
	Associate Professor of English
B.A., 1991, Olivet Nazarene University M.A., 1999, University of Richmond Purdue University

DAVID B. JOHNSON (2002)
	Professor of English
B.A., 1995, Olivet Nazarene University M.A., 2000, Southern Illinois University Ph.D., 2013, Northern Illinois University

WILFREDO CANALES (2007)
	Associate Professor of Spanish
B.A., 1982, Universidad Nazarena, Costa Rica M.A., 2006, Insituto Latinoamericano de la Communicacion Educativa, Mexico Universidad de Artes y Ciencias Sociales

ELIZABETH SCHURMAN (2007)
	Associate Professor of English
B.A., 2003, Olivet Nazarene University M.A.E., 2005, Olivet Nazarene University Ph.D., 2013, Purdue University

KRISTY INGRAM (2008)
	Associate Professor of English
B.A., 2001, Olivet Nazarene University M.A., 2005, Governors State University TEFL Certification, 2005, Wheaton College Ph.D., 2015, North Central University

NANCY BONILLA (2009)
	Assistant Professor of Spanish
B.A., 1996, Olivet Nazarene University M.A., 2007, Illinois State University Ed.D., 2015, Regent University

LISA MCGRADY (2011)
	Dean of Online Learning; Associate Professor of English
B.A., 1989, Cedarville University M.A., 1991, University of Illinois at Chicago Ph.D., 2007, Purdue University

JOHANA BARRERO (2014)
	Assistant Professor of Spanish
B.A., 2000, Universidad Del Rosario, Bogota, Columbia\| M.A., 2008, Purdue University Ph.D., 2014, Purdue University

ELIZABETH LAMSZUS (2014)
	Assistant Professor of English
B.A., 2008, Trinity Christian College M.A., 2011, Northern Illinois University Ph.D., 2015, Northern Illinois University

COURTNEY BROWN (2015)
	Assistant Professor of English
B.A., 2003, Olivet Nazarene University M.A., 2009, Arcadia University

KAREN LEONARD (2015)
	Assistant Professor of English
B.A., 2008, Northwestern College M.A., 2010, Loyola University Ph.D., 2015, University of Iowa

The Department of English and Modern Languages shares the University’s commitment to the integration of Christian faith with scholarship. Its mission is to teach students to communicate effectively, to recognize and appreciate the interplay between language and culture, to interact critically with a wide range of texts, and to apply these skills in their lives of service to God and humanity.

Programs in English develop students’ understanding and appreciation of literary works in a variety of genres; familiarize them with the concepts and analysis of language; enable them to convey effective written, oral, and visual messages to diverse audiences; and strengthen their critical skills.

Foreign languages engage students in communication, including the skills of listening comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing within its cultural context. Students make connections with other disciplines and compare diverse viewpoints while utilizing the target language. The program fosters opportunities to interact with native speakers in a variety of settings, including a study abroad component.

Foreign Language Recommended Placement

Students are placed in foreign language classes based on their background preparation and/or experiences in the language. Those with two or more years of high school credit in the appropriate language are not required to take courses numbered 101 or 111. Instead, the student may audit the lower level course or begin at a higher level course, depending on the recency of the high school experience, comfort-level with the language, quality of background preparation, or skill/ability with the language. In such cases, credit can be attained by petition for any lower level course that was audited or skipped upon satisfactory completion (”C-” or better) of the next higher level course. Such ”proficiency” credit will be noted on the transcript with a grade of ”K,” and will be charged at the rate of $50 per credit hour.

Students with three or four years of high school background in French or Spanish are encouraged to start with FREN 211 or SPAN 211 .

Students with four years or more of the same high school foreign language satisfy the foreign language/international culture general education requirement upon petitioning through the Registrar’s office and verifying the credits on the high school transcript. Such students are, however, encouraged to pursue additional studies in the language, possibly completing a minor or major in the language. In such cases, placement generally would start in either FREN 211 or SPAN 211 .

Native speakers generally are encouraged to begin with 200-level courses, pending approval of the language instructor.

Programs

Bachelor

Minor