I have traveled
extensively in Britain, the U.S., Spain (where I have lived for a year), and
many other parts of Europe. I hope I can convince students of the value and enjoyment of
taking opportunities to travel; there's really nothing like it.
Welcome to the Home Page of Ian Davies, Professor of Spanish and Chair of the Foreign Language Department at Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin.
That's me below, on a river cruise in Prague, the Czech Republic, It's just one of the places I've been fortunate enough to visit over the years. Travel is one of my big pleasures in life, and that's why I began studying languages when I was a teenager growing up in London, England. I've remained interested in languages, travel and getting to know other cultures ever since. When I'm not studying, teaching at Edgewood or traveling, you might find me involved in soccer, my other big passion, listening to music, watching movies or just hanging out with my family at home on Madison's East Side, where I've lived since 1984.
I'm a
graduate of
King's College
at the University of London, where I received my Combined Honor's degree in Spanish and French, and of the
University of Wisconsin, Madison,
where I earned the Masters and Doctorate degrees in Spanish and French. I have traveled
extensively in Britain, the U.S., Spain (where I have lived for a year), and
many other parts of Europe. I hope I can convince students of the value and enjoyment of
taking opportunities to travel; there's really nothing like it.
My doctoral thesis was written about the convergence of history
and narrative theory in the contemporary Spanish novel, and for the last few
years I have been involved in research in this field. Every semester I aim to
deliver a paper at a regional or national conference; over the last ten years
conference travel has taken me to diverse states (Minnesota, Kentucky,
Florida, Massachusetts, and Texas), and countries (England, Brazil, El Salvador, and Spain) to talk on diverse topics such as the Spanish
Civil War, historical memory, Hispanic themes in British cinema (see Ken Loach's
film "Land and Freedom") and Spanish modernism's
approach to urban culture.
Lately, I have delivered papers dealing in particular with
race and ethnicity in Spanish
film and culture, and on culture and politics in El Salvador.
As a generalist at an undergraduate liberal arts college, I teach courses at all levels of language, culture and literature, and in phonetics. My many other interests involve cultural studies and politics in the Hispanic world, morphology and syntax in advanced language studies, Hispanic dialectology and popular culture. In culture I have three times taught a course on contemporary Spain, and twice team-taught with the Political Science Program a course on Latin American Politics. I have also offered literature survey courses, and a special seminar on immigration and social change. Click here for an updated curriculum vitae.
I am a strong proponent of Study Abroad and actively support the important initiative here at Edgewood to globalize the curriculum. I serve on both the Study Abroad Committee for the college, planning, promoting and advising for programs in several countries, and on the Global Perspectives Subcommittee for Academic Planning in its important work. I have also traveled with students to our very successful summer intensive study course in Guanajuato, Mexico (see link below). Biannually I team-teach a Human Issues Seminar on El Salvador, a class that includes a twelve day trip to Central America in the Spring semester. On the alternate year, I have team-taught another, similar seminar on Cuba. These courses dovetail with another of my interests: solidarity work and sistering between the US and Latin American countries. (See the United States-El Salvador Sister Cities and the Madison Camaguey Sister City web sites.)
Please come by and visit the Department if you need more information and would like to meet our faculty, or else telephone or e-mail to the address at the foot of the page. Meanwhile, here are a few useful links that will get you thinking in Spanish and about the Hispanic world:-
idavies@edgewood.edu
Ian Davies Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Spanish
Edgewood College
1000 Edgewood College Drive
Madison WI 53711
608 663 2861
608 663 3291 (fax)
Copyright © 2000 Ian Davies
Most recent revision February, 2008