The Hilltop Monitor had the opportunity to sit down with Dr. David Lisenby, associate professor of Spanish and director of the Honors Institute in Critical Thinking, to discuss all things Spanish – from the importance of learning a language to reading and analyzing literature to the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) in writing and in translation work.

Lisenby teaches many courses at all levels of Spanish, but his favorite is SPA 315: Textual Analysis and Composition. For Lisenby, the course marks a shift in Spanish pedagogy: the first four courses in the Spanish sequence focus on grammar and vocabulary. In 315, though, students that are SPA majors and minors literally level up and focus on “[reading and studying] literature and social issues in Spanish that are not designed for English language students who are learning Spanish,” Lisenby explained. While his specialty is in Latin American literature and translation, he said he enjoys SPA 315 because it empowers students to “[talk] about social issues and… [get] better at expressing themselves [in Spanish].”

Lisenby was on sabbatical last semester, receiving a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. He used that sabbatical to translate Abilio Estévez’s “How I Met the Sower of Trees,” a collection of short stories narrated “from spaces of queer desire separated from home and homeland.”

Over the course of our conversation, Lisenby brought up the rise of new AI translation models, like OpenAI’s ChatGPT-3 model, which is now on par with Google Translate when it comes to translation accuracy. Lisenby rejected the idea that machine translation software could ever be close to perfect; while ChatGPT-3 is decent at translating ideas, it can’t capture the emotional hook of literature, so it’s still a long way off, he explained.

This rise in AI doesn’t remove the human need to learn – or translate – languages, though. The impacts of learning language, noted Lisenby, come in our experiences with other people: “[No technological intervention] can take the place of human-to-human contact, and even learning a little bit of another language makes it possible to have human-to-human contact with someone who doesn’t speak English, and I find that magical.”

To people who find learning a language daunting, Lisenby is empathetic: “There is no shortcut to learning a new language brilliantly and easily.” It’s not easy to learn a new language, and it can seem impossible at times, but Lisenby is confident that anyone can do it with help. He suggests finding conversation partners to maximize language input and output, further emphasizing the human aspect of learning a language.

As AI gets better and better, students may be tempted to let it do the hard work of language and translation for them. With the rise of ChatGPT and other machine learning tools, many fields are having to adapt. Will we bow down to the omnipotent AI overlords? Maybe. Machine learning may get better at writing films or stories, or at solving math problems, or whatever else we throw at it. However, as Lisenby noted: “There will always be a place for human-to-human interaction,” and learning a new language is a great way to find that interaction.

Dr. Lisenby decided to join the WJC faculty for his 13th year of teaching. Previously, he taught at Baker University, University of Albany, University of Kansas (KU) as a graduate student and at a high school in the Denver area. Before teaching, Lisenby worked for a civil engineering company for one year in his hometown of Houston, Texas. He received his undergraduate degree in Biology and Spanish from Vanderbilt University and earned his Masters and PhD in Spanish Literature from KU in 2012.

As for Dr. Wells, he has been teaching Spanish at the university level for over 11 years. Before coming to Jewell, he was assistant professor of Spanish at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga for four years. Wells completed his bachelor’s in Spanish and English at KU and earned his Ph.D. in Spanish at the University of Michigan.

Dr. Wells has been published in journals such as “Bulletin of Hispanic Studies,” Política común” and “Rethinking Marxism.”

Both professors are excited about being able to teach at Jewell.

“I have most enjoyed the strong sense of community and identity that I’ve come to find here, along with my time spent with students and colleagues,” said Wells.

Since joining the faculty at WJC, Lisenby has found that he admires Jewell’s values and is happy to be a part of the community here.

“At a number of events this year, some campus-wide and some faculty-only, I have been impressed by Jewell’s serious commitment to bettering itself by carefully examining areas where growth is needed while also celebrating Jewell’s many, many successes,” said Lisenby.

They have especially appreciated their experiences in their Spanish classes.

“In classes from the 100-level through the senior capstone, I’ve been impressed by students’ eagerness to learn, openness to new ideas and experiences and desire to be challenged to meet rigorous but achievable goals,” said Lisenby.

The Spanish Department is in a unique position since they have taken on two new faculty members. This means that they’ve gained new ideas. This includes, but is not limited to, changes in reading material and learning activities.

“So far, we’ve changed the books for our 100-level and 200-level classes and have also redesigned SPA 315,” said Wells.

The redesign to SPA 315 will aim for students to have a deeper and more critical understanding of the cultural and literary studies related to the Hispanic world.

Wells and Lisenby have also decided to make some changes in order for students to their iPads and other online sources more when learning and studying.

“The new digital materials allow us to make good use of students’ iPads with eBook access and online learning activities,” said Lisenby.

The department also plans on continuing the inclusion of service learning projects within the courses. While continuing to implement this part of the classes, they have decided to change some of the options that students have for service learning projects.  For example, students that are taking SPA 212 this semester will be completing a community-based learning project by creating a digital story-telling archive through interviewing Spanish speaking members of our community.