Campbell University professor, Dr. Tatiana Séeligman, conducted a foreign language workshop teaching Spanish in India over the summer. Although it may not seem readily apparent, Séeligman said there is a very real demand for Spanish-speaking employees in a country known for its international business ties. “Once known for its production cotton and coffee, India’s main industries now are computers, programming and customer support for these international companies,” said Séeligman. “Indians are training in Spanish so that they can provide that customer support.” Begun this summer by Anna Gonzalez, a Costa Rican friend of Séeligman’s living in India, the Pablo Neruda School of Spanish and Latin American Studies in Chennai, India, has four teachers and up to 50 students. Séeligman visited India during July and August and was invited to give a lecture on Latin-American culture at the school. After the lecture, she conducted a workshop with the faculty on Spanish language teaching methodology. “The experience was enriching for all of us, and I was excited to find that Spanish had reached such far corners of the globe,” Seeligman said. “We’ve decided to continue developing this new relationship, and I’m looking forward to more projects such as workshops and teaching demonstrations, as well as publishing some of the reflections that resulted from this experience.” This was Séeligman’s third visit to India. Her husband, associate director for Sales Operations for a biotech company in Research Triangle Park, is an Indian national. Dr. Séeligman graduated from the University of Louisville with a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education. She went on to earn a master’s degree in Spanish from Pennsylvania State University and a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to coming to Campbell as an assistant professor of Spanish, Séeligman served as a Spanish instructor at the Georgia Military College in Fort Gordon, Ga., a Spanish lecturer at East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C., and an education lecturer at the Universidad Cristiana in San Salvador, El Salvador. In 1990, she won a Fullbright Scholarship from the University of Louisville to the Central American Program for Undergraduate Studies (CAMPUS) at the University of Louisville. Séeligman was also selected to participate in the Future Faculty Fellowship program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a program that prepares graduate students for their teaching experience as faculty at higher education institutions.Photo Copy: Dr. Tatiana Séeligman, assistant professor of Spanish at Campbell University.
Séeligman goes to India to teach Spanish