University at Albany
State University of New York
Department Languages, Literatures and Cultures

What's Inside

LLC Welcomes New Faculty

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LLC is pleased to welcome two new faculty members this fall. Dr. Aída Torres-Horwitt will join LLC’s Hispanic and Italian Studies Program, and Mr. Mark Fisher will join the department’s French Studies Program. In addition to their teaching duties, both will act as liaisons to the University in the High School Program for their respective language programs. 

Dr. Torres-Horwitt holds a Ph.D. in Golden Age Peninsular Literature from UAlbany. She also has permanent certification in elementary education and in secondary-level Spanish. She has taught at Taconic Hills School District in Hillsdale, New York, the College of St. Rose and UAlbany.

Originally from Puerto Rico, Dr. Torres-Horwitt came to New York with her family as a child, where her fascination with books took root. “I was fortunate; about seven blocks from home there was a wonderful library where I went on Saturdays for ‘story time.’ That’s where I began my lifelong interest in books. Hooray for public libraries,” says Dr. Torres-Horwitt, “and hooray for public schools! I graduated from Julia Richman High School in New York City and received my B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. from the SUNY system.” 

In her new position as LLC faculty member and UHS liaison, she says, “I hope to be a resource to other teachers and to help my students in any way I can to discover their potential.” 

Mr. Mark Fisher holds an M.A. in French and an M.S. in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) from UAlbany. He was born and spent his childhood in Johannesburg, South Africa. At 13, his parents moved to Dallas, Texas where he finished his schooling and did his undergraduate work at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. He majored in French, and spent his junior year abroad in Nantes, France. “It was there that I fell in love with the French culture and its language,” he says. 

After graduating, Mr. Fisher taught EFL in Compiègne, France, for about a year before moving to New York for a Master’s degree in French at UAlbany. It was here that he was able to pursue his many academic interests: “In my last semester I took a course on media in education and became really interested in using technology in the classroom. I decided at that point to continue my studies and get a Masters in my other field of interest, EFL/ESL. While completing this degree I was able to focus on second language acquisition and further my interest in CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning), something in which I hope to specialize in the future.” 

Dr. Torres-Horwitt and Mr. Fisher will each assume the role of University in the High School program liaison, taking over for retirees Dr. Ema Lapidot in Spanish and Ms. Doris Creegan in French. The UHS program allows New York State high school students to take courses for college credit in their own schools. As liaisons, Dr. Torres-Horwitt and Mr. Fisher will visit participating teachers in schools throughout the state, conduct training workshops, review proposals for new UHS courses and monitor the quality of existing courses. In addition, Dr. Torres-Howitt will be teaching Intermediate Spanish II and Creative Writing in Spanish, while Mr. Fisher will teach two sections of Advanced French I at UAlbany this fall. Please join us in welcoming them aboard!
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