Teaching Literature in the Languages ─ Expanding the Literary Circle Through Student Engagement

Intended for current and future foreign language teaching professionals, volumes in the Theory and Practice in Second Language Classroom Instruction series examine issues in teaching and learning in language classrooms. The topics selected and the discussions of them draw in principled ways on theory and practice in a range of fields, including second language acquisition, foreign language education, educational policy, language policy, linguistics, and other areas of applied linguistics. Teaching Literature in the Languages delves into the various aspects of teaching literature successfully from planning to engaging students.

Born in Maryland but growing up mainly in Southern California, where she first learned Spanish from her neighbors, Kimberly Nance earned a BA in the Teaching of Spanish, MA in Hispanic Literature, and PhD in Latin American Literature from the University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign. Currently she directs the Graduate School at Illinois State University, where she is a Professor of Latin American Literature in the Department of Languages, Literatures & Cultures as well as a former department chair. From 2000 - 2005 she served on the MLA Executive Committee for the Division on the Teaching of Literature. She has also chaired Midwest MLA divisions on History of Critical Reception, Latin American Literature, Short Story, Peace Literature &

Pedagogy, and Multicultural Literature in the Classroom. Her 3 books, 25 articles, and 64 conference papers span a range of topics on literature, culture, and teaching. Her recent book Can Literature Promote Justice? (Vanderbilt) was honored with an American Library Association Choice award.