Spanish Faculty

Office Location
E. 511 Sharp Rm 101

Office Hours

Monday, Wednesday 2:30 - 4:30
& by appointment

Born and raised in Lima, Peru, Professor Gonzales earned a BA in Education with a Minor in English; she has an MA and PhD from the University of Kansas in Lawrence. She has achieved TESOL Language Proficiency. She taught speech pathology in Lima, Peru and is a member of Feministas Unidas, a Canadian Association of Hispanics. Professor Gonzales is also a member of  the Modern Language Association and The Hispanic Association of Women. She is also a member of St. Joseph's Hispanic Community. She has published "La Evolucion de La Conciencia Feminina A Traves de Las Novelas de Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda, Soledad Acosta de Samper y Mercedes Cabello de Carbonera", with six articles published in Texto Critico, Revista Mexicana de Literatura, Chasqui, Letras Femeninas. Her work on women's literature, Second book on Marcela Serano's Novels, is currently being edited for publication.

Office Location
CG 342

Office Hours

Monday, Wednesday 11:00-12:00; 1:00-2:00
& by appointment

Born in Sossano (Vi), Italy, Professor Nedderman transferred to the U.S. in 1978. She received her Ph.D. in Romance Languages from the University of Oregon in 1993. Before joining the Modern Languages Department at GU in 1995, she was the supervisor for all first year Spanish courses at the University of Oregon. She also taught for one year at the University of South Dakota. Her areas of interest are Spanish and Italian Renaissance and Baroque Literature. She has delivered several papers on the subject. Her research interest extends to Modern Italian writers. Her article "Trascolorare. Metamorphoses in Rosetta Loy's Le Strade di polvere" appears in Gendering Italian Fiction: Feminist Revisions of Italian History. Her current research focuses on Early Modern Spanish mystics. She has directed both the Cuernavaca and Granada programs and is serving on the Women's Studies Advisory Board.

Office Location
E. 511 Sharp Room 205

Office Hours

Office Hours:
Monday, Friday 1:00 - 2:00
Wednesday 3:00 - 4:00
& by appointment

Born and raised in Madrid, Spain, Professor Garcia-Torvisco earned a BA degree in Hispanic Philology (University Autonoma, Madrid, Spain) and a Certificate in English Studies (Coventry University, UK). He did his graduate studies at Georgetown University, where he received a PhD with distinction on Spanish and Latin American Literature and Cultural Studies. He has taught at Georgetown University and George Washington University, both in Washington D.C. Currently working at Gonzaga University as an Associate Professor, he teaches classes on Spanish writing and advanced grammar, Spanish film history, contemporary Spanish literature, and Spanish culture. Prof. Garcia-Torvisco's research interests include contemporary Spanish Literature, Spanish cinema, and Spanish popular culture from the democratic period. He has published several articles on these topics, and has lectured extensively on a variety of subjects related to Spanish and Latin American literature, movies, and culture.  He is currently working on a monograph on popular culture of the last 40 years in Spain. He has been the appointed director of the Cuernavaca (Mexico) summer program since 2007, and has served as Visiting Faculty Member for the ILACA (Independent Liberal Art Colleges Abroad) in Granada (Spain). He enjoys music, literature, movies, concerts, and coffee shops.

Office Location
CG 428

Office Hours

ON SABBATICAL 2013 - 2014

Professor Stephanis received her Ph.D. in Latin American Literature and Cultures from Princeton University in 2008. She also holds a Masters in Education from Stanford University, and a Masters in Latin American Studies from Tulane University. She did her undergraduate work in Diplomacy and World Affairs, Russian, and Economics and Occidental College. Her current research interests include issues of Nation-building, particularily in Argentina, and how this process is reflected in the photographic image as well as film. She also is interested in comtemporary Cuban film. In her free time, Professor Stephanis enjoys coaching adults in personal potential training, taking walks with her family in Liberty Lake and Coeur d'Alene, reading, and traveling.

Office Location
CG 336

Office Hours
MWF 2:00 to 3:20 
& by appointment

Professor Marquis received her Ph.D. in Hispanic literatures from Indiana University at Bloomington in 2006.  She also holds an M.A. in Luso-Brazilian literature from Indiana University.  She has taught classes ranging from Spanish and Portuguese language courses to contemporary Latin American literature classes.  Her current research explores confessional narratives of twentieth-century women writers and its intersection with diaspora.  She is also interested in Jewish Latin American literature, specifically how Jewish mysticism informs writing about identity and diaspora in the Americas.  In her free time, Professor Marquis enjoys spending time with her family exploring eastern Washington and, of course, reading!

Office Location
E. 511 Sharp Ave. Room 103

Office Hours
MW 12:30-1:30
T 10:00-12:00
& by appointment

Diane Birginal received her B.A. in Spanish and International Studies from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 1988. After living in Salamanca, Spain, for two years, she returned to the U.S. and began work on her graduate degree. She obtained an M.A. in Spanish Linguistics, with an emphasis in translation theory, from Arizona State University in 1995. She has worked in the field of international educational exchange, both with U.S. students studying abroad and with international students studying in the U.S. She also has experience as a freelance translator. Ms. Birginal has been teaching Spanish at the university level since 1996; she joined the Gonzaga University faculty in 2001.

Office Location
CG 331

Office Hours
Tuesday, Wednesday 11:00-12:00
& by appointment

Kelly Bishop did her undergraduate work in Psychology at Clemson University, during which time she had the opportunity to study abroad at Pontificia Universidad Catolica in Santiago, Chile. After earning her BA, she returned to Chile to teach English and volunteer at a human rights organization. She went on to complete her MA in Spanish at North Carolina State University and has published an article on sociolinguistic variation of Chilean Spanish. In her free time, she enjoys yoga, reading, and traveling. A Colorado native, Kelley loves the outdoors - especially hiking and camping.

Office Location
Tilford 117 during office hours

Office Hours
Monday, Wednesday 12:00-1:00 in Tilford 117
& by appointment

Born and raised in Bogotá, Colombia, Professor Restrepo earned a BA in Journalism and an MA in International Relations from Pontifical Xaverian University in her hometown. She worked at a TV Channel in Bogotá for several years after her graduation from school. Later on, Professor Restrepo earned a scholarship to study Italian language and culture in the University of Florence in Italy. She lived in Florence for more than ten years, and worked in that wonderful city as Interpreter for the Court of Florence. Professor Restrepo has about eight years of experience teaching Spanish to Italian people and had a role in several European projects which would expand knowledge of some European languages in the Florence area. In her last years in Italy, Professor Restrepo earned her CILS certification.

In 2010, she arrived to the United States to pursue her Masters in Teaching English as a Second Language at Gonzaga University. Professor Restrepo is interested in learning more about how American College Students study Spanish as a Second language which is the focus of her thesis research at GU. Professor Restrepo has been teaching Spanish and Italian at Gonzaga University, and working at the ESL tutoring center at the Center for Global Engagement (well known at Gonzaga as Schoenberg) for one year.

Professor Restrepo loves to travel and her favorite destinations are Colombia and Italy. She enjoys photography, singing and hanging out with good friends.

Office Location
CG 331

Office Hours
W 5:00 to 6:45
& by appointment

Born and raised in Mexico D.F., Mexico, Professor Zamora earned a BA and MBA with honors in business administration with emphasis in education, marketing, and finance from the UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico). She worked several years in the banking industry in the department of profitability and productivity. After moving to the US, while raising her family and learning English as a second language, she rediscovered her passion for teaching. She enrolled at Gonzaga University to achieve Washington State teaching cerfitication in Spanish and business education. She continued her educational journey at Gonzaga University in the MA/TESL program to pursue her ESL teaching endorsement and become specialized in the areas of language acquisition and teaching methodology. Prof. Zamora has been teaching Spanish in many different settings and levels of high school, undergraduate, and graduate school for sixteen years. Her goal is to contribute to close the current achievement gap and to help students develop competencies for participating in diverse and global societies.

Prof. Zamora is a member of the Washington Educatin Association, Spokane Education Assoc., the MLA, and the WLTA. She is also a member of the Multicultural Education Task Force and an experienced multicultural trainer for the WEA. For years, she has enjoyed mentoring young adults and minorities to help them to search their personal and professional potential to become productive members of our sociey. She also has proundly led for several years a Hispanic group for young males in the community to empower them to achieve personal and professional greatness.

In her free time, "La Senorita Zamora" likes to cook and spend as much time as possible with her two wonderful children, her family and friends; she loves to learn about spirituality and ways to achieve self-awareness and personal growth. She enjoys music, art, and simple things in life, but when possible, social dancing and yoga are enjoyable activities that she doesn't want to miss!