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Modern Languages
Faculty
 
Full Time Faculty Adjunct Faculty
M. Laura Dentel
Susan Gasster-Carrierre
Katharina Häusler Gross
Michel Pichot
Marcos Romero
Shelli Rottschafer
Phil Chase
Deborah Eid
Elizabeth Flores
Laura Gabbert
Susan Hojnacki
Kim Ibara
Khader Karaein
Elizabeth Kratt
Kayoko Matsumoto-Hoover
Sarah Matthews
María del Rosario Gunderson Mejorada
Amethyst Schott
Séverine Ward
 
Program Web Sites
German Program Japanese Program
 
Full Time Faculty
M. Laura Dentel M. Laura Dentel, M.A.
Visiting Assistant Professor of Spanish
Phone: (616) 632-2065
E-mail: mld001@aquinas.edu
 
Susan Gasster-Carrierre Susan Gasster-Carrierre, Ph.D.
Professor of French and Spanish
Phone: (616) 632-2118
E-mail: gasstsus@aquinas.edu or sgasster@yahoo.com
Dr. Susan Gasster-Carrierre received her bachelor's degree from the Georgetown Language Institute in Washington, D.C. and her Ph.D. in comparative literature from the George Washington University. She has traveled widely in West and North Africa and in South America, and has taught as a Fulbright professor in Peru and the Ivory Coast. Her research and publications are in the area of the West African French-language novel and Portuguese writers dealing with the Portuguese colonial presence in Mozabique and Angola. At Aquinas, Dr. Gasster teaches courses on French and Spanish language, and Latin American literature and culture. She also offers a course on French civilization and film, in which she discusses the films of French-speaking Africa. For the last seven years she has taught semester-long courses in the Service Learning Program, dealing with Haiti, El Salvador, Mexico and Honduras, and accompanying these students to work in the respective communities.
 
Katharina Häusler Gross Katharina Häusler Gross, Ph. D.
Chairperson
Associate Professor of German and Foreign Language Methodology
Coordinator of German Program
Phone: (616) 632-2122
E-mail: grosskat@aquinas.edu
Dr. Katharina Häusler-Gross joined the Aquinas faculty in the fall of 1998. She earned her Ph.D. in German and Cultural Studies from Michigan State University, holds a teaching degree in English and Russian (K-12) from the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt Universität Greifswald/ Germany, studied at the State University Odessa (Ukraine), and completed her Second State Exam (equivalent to the M.A.) in English and German at the Berliner Senatsverwaltung in Berlin/ Germany.
 
Dr. Häusler-Gross came to the U.S. as a Fulbright Scholar, teaching German and Russian at Westminster College, PA. Additional teaching experiences include teaching Foreign Languages in K-12 (Germany), college-level German (Michigan State University, Universität Tübingen), and German as a Foreign Language (DaF) at the Goethe-Institute, Chicago.
 
At Aquinas, Dr. Häusler-Gross is Head of the German Program, where she teaches all levels from beginning language to advanced content courses, German Literature, Culture and Civilization, Business German, and Studies of German Culture and Society through Film.
 
She also coordinates the Methodology courses for Teaching Foreign Languages in K-8 and Secondary Schools which are offered for prospective FL teachers at Aquinas College.
 
As a Volunteer Teacher at the German Language School of West Michigan, Dr. Häusler-Gross keeps promoting the German language and culture in the Grand Rapids area and offers children the opportunity to learn and expand their knowledge of German, and engage in cross-cultural exchanges. Her scholarly interests include research in Second Language Acquisition, German and Cultural Studies, and Methodology of Foreign Language Teaching. Her love for other languages and cultures keeps her traveling extensively throughout Eastern and Western Europe and the United States.
 
Michel Pichot Michel Pichot, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of French
Coordinator of French Program
Phone: (616) 632-2120
E-mail: pichomic@aquinas.edu
Dr. Pichot joined the Aquinas family in the Fall of 2002. He is an Associate Professor of French who teaches French courses at all levels. He holds a B.A. in History from Atlantic Union College, a M.A. in Language and International Trade from Eastern Michigan University, a M.A. in French Literature from Michigan State University and a Ph.D. in French from The Pennsylvania State University. Prior to his appointment at Aquinas College, he taught at Clemson University and Andrews University. His areas of specialization are applied French to international business, French translation, and history of French civilization. He has presented and published research on French social history of colonial Algeria. He has traveled extensively and lived in Europe and several countries of Africa.
 
Marcos Romero Asencio Marcos Romero Asencio, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Spanish
Coordinator of Spanish Program
Phone: (616) 632-2123
E-mail: romermar@aquinas.edu
Dr. Marcos Romero Asencio earned his Ph. D. in Spanish from the University of New Mexico where he was awarded a Fray Angélico Chávez Fellowship and a Graduate Dean’s Dissertation Fellowship. He taught college-level Spanish for nine years at the University of New Mexico and Indiana University East before arriving at Aquinas in 2005. He teaches introductory to advanced level Spanish courses, and his research interests include medieval Spanish narrative, paleography, iconography, Golden Age drama and Spanish film. He is married and has two children and two corgis. In an effort to meld his Spanish and New Mexican heritage, he hopes to one day own an apartment in the Plaza Mayor in Madrid, Spain and to cruise the streets of Madrid in a '67 Chevy Impala convertible
 
Shelli Rottschafer Shelli Rottschafer, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Spanish
Phone: (616) 632-8900 ext. 5704
E-mail: rottsshe@aquinas.edu
Dr. Shelli Rottschafer is a Professor of Spanish in the Modern Language Department. Dr. Rottschafer completed her graduate work from the University of New Mexico receiving her PhD in Spanish with a focus in Latin American Contemporary Literature in December 2005.  Summer of 2006 she moved from New Mexico back to Grand Rapids, Michigan where she was born and raised. Dr. Rottschafer also attended Hope College for her BA in Spanish and History, and Miami University in Oxford, Ohio for her MA. Presently, she teaches Spanish 102, 301 Composition through Literature, 310 Special Topics Courses, and 3++ Hispanic Film.  Dr. Rottschafer is also involved with the Women’s Studies Programming Committee.  In addition, she has helped translate and has spoken on cultural issues dealing with AQ’s play Esperanza Rising. Dr. Rottschafer, for the second year in a row, will chaperone the Fall Study Abroad students to their orientation in Salamanca, Spain. In addition to travel, Dr. Rottschafer may be seen riding her road bike in Ada, hiking along the Michigan shoreline, or telemark skiing up north. Cheers to a great year at Aquinas.
 
Adjunct Faculty
  Phillip Chase
Lecturer of Spanish Linguistics
E-mail: chasephi@aquinas.edu
 
Deborah Eid
Adjunct Associate Professor of Spanish
Phone: (616) 632-8900 ext. 5699
E-mail: eiddeb@aquinas.edu
 
Elizabeth Flores
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Spanish
Phone: (616) 632-2436
E-mail: floreeli@aquinas.edu
 
  Laura Gabbert, M.A.T.
Lecturer of Education
Teaching FL Methodology, K-8
E-mail: gabbelau@aquinas.edu
 
  Susan Hojnacki
Lecturer of German
E-mail: sgh001@aquinas.edu
 
  Kim Ibara, M.A.T.
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Education
(Teaching FL Methodology, 9-12) 
 
  Khader Karaein, M.M.
Lecturer of Arabic
Phone: (616) 827-9452
E-mail: kk001@aquinas.edu or kaderhala@yahoo.com
 
  Elizabeth Kratt
Lecturer of Latin
E-mail: ebk001@aquinas.edu
 
Kayoko Matsumoto-Hoover Kayoko Matsumoto-Hoover, Ph.D.
Adjunct Professor of Japanese
Coordinator of Japanese Program
Phone: (616) 632-2154
E-mail: matsukay@aquinas.edu
 
  Sarah Matthews
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Spanish
E-mail: skm002@aquinas.edu
 
  María del Rosario Gunderson Mejorada
Lecturer of Spanish
E-mail: rg001@aquinas.edu
 
  Amethyst Schott, M.Ed.
Lecturer of French
E-mail: ams004@aquinas.edu
 
  Séverine Ward
Adjunct Assistant Professor of French
E-mail: shw001@aquinas.edu
 
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