Teaching professors as a Fulbright Specialist shapes Centre professor’s classroom approach

Charles T. Hazelrigg Professor of Spanish Genny Ballard ‘91 has traveled the world with Centre College students, teaching them about the intricacies of the Spanish language and encouraging immersion in Latin cultures.

But her lessons this summer were vastly different. She spent three intensive weeks in the city of Manizales, Colombia, leading lessons for college professors at Universidad de Caldas as a Fulbright Specialist, helping them master the use of English in academic settings.

“The focus was creating and teaching seminars for professors in all disciplines all over the college on public speaking, academic writing and how to make connections with research groups in the United States,” she said.

“The classes I taught were all in English and focused on getting them ready to take the next step, whether that be applying for a conference in the United States, writing a paper for publication in English, or teaching a unit or a semester in English.”

Instead of teaching English speakers how to become fluent in Spanish, she was teaching Spanish speakers how to write and teach in English.

“It was an incredible experience. I love teaching. It’s my very favorite part of my job,” said Ballard, who noted that teaching professors came with some advantages and some challenges.

“They were so eager and motivated to learn. And one of the best parts was that they were professors from lots of disciplines. They were doctors from the medical school, nurses from the nursing school, a professor of microbiology, a geologist, a geographer… lots of different disciplines.”

The professors practiced their English by presenting lessons to one-another so as they learned the intricacies of academic English, they were also learning about the work and expertise of their colleagues. Ballard enjoyed soaking it all in.

“I love working in Colombia. I love how everyone is so open to embrace me and how open they are to my students,” she said. “And that was true of the professors as well. They wanted to teach me about what they teach and about their research, and also about the region.”

This was Ballard’s second Fulbright in Colombia.  She was a Fulbright Scholar at the Universidad del Norte in the 2019-20 academic year and worked with Universidad del Caldas’ Department of Internationalization during a summer study abroad program.

“They loved working with Centre and our students, and we really like working with them,” she said. Those relationships paved the way for Caldas to tailor a Fulbright Specialist position just for Ballard.

“They want our students to go back, and they wanted me to go back for this specific project,” she said.

Ballard plans to use lessons she picked up from the Colombian professors in her classroom at Centre. She was inspired by the methods professors found to make complex subject matter more understandable.

“One of the professors teaches microbiology, which is not something I’m familiar with. She was tasked with creating a simple lesson and iterations of that lesson, which she taught us in English,” Ballard said. “It inspired me because she was teaching me something I didn’t understand in the language I understood. The language wasn’t the problem. It’s the science that was complicated. And she used a ton of visual aids and broke it down and took it slow. She repeated things and constantly checked in to make sure that everyone in the room understood.”

Ballard is teaching a course this semester on climate change impacts in Latin America, which will also involve lessons that are complex, even aside from language considerations.

“It’s an upper-level course and a lot of times the students don’t have a problem with the language, but the content can be complicated,” she said. “So I learned by being a student again to have patience… and make sure everyone’s on board and understands.”

Ballard is back on Centre’s campus after several semesters abroad, leading the Centre in Merida program and a program in Ecuador in partnership with Rhodes College and Sewanee as part of the Global Environmental Challenges program, funded by The Mellon Foundation.

In addition to teaching, she will be working to develop a diversity career connections program through the Associated Colleges of the South (ACS) Mellon Academic Leadership Fellows program.

“This is the second cohort the ACS has had with the Mellon grant, and I’m really excited to be part of it,” she said. “I’m really grateful for the opportunities I’ve had to teach abroad and grateful for this opportunity to learn about how to be an administrator.”