James S. Rambo

Born May 21, 1939, Joplin, Missouri
Married 1964 to Ann Marie Remley Rambo (b. 1941)
Children: Maria (b. 1968), David (1971-1975), Eva (b. 1974), Aaron (b. 1978)

Office:
L-35 East College
DePauw University
Greencastle, IN 46135
(765) 658-4755
e-mail: jimrambo@depauw.edu

Education

B. A. in Latin American Studies, University of Kansas, 1961
M. A. in Spanish (Portuguese minor), University of New Mexico, 1964
Ph.D. in Romance Languages (Spanish and Spanish American Language and Literatures; Portuguese) University of New Mexico, 1972

Teaching Positions

Graduate Teaching Assistant, University of New Mexico, 1961-1966
Instructor, DePauw University, 1966-1972
Assistant Professor, DePauw University, 1972-1978
Associate Professor, DePauw University, 1978-1987
Professor, DePauw University, 1987-present
Laurel Turk Professor of Modern Languages, 2002-2007

Subjects Taught at DePauw in last 5 years

Elementary Spanish
Intermediate Spanish
Spanish Conversation and Phonetics
Spanish Reading and Grammar
Latin American Civilization
Spanish Civilization
Business Spanish
Creative Spanish
Introduction to Hispanic Literature
Topics: Latinos en los EEUU
Hispanic Seminar: Siglo de Oro
Advanced Spanish Readings & Projects (arranged)
Introduction to Portuguese
Advanced Portuguese (arranged)

Recent Winter Term Projects

Winter Term in Service:

Cuscatlán, El Salvador--1994
Immokalee, Florida--1995
Acedades, Nicaragua--1996
Solingalpa, Nicaragua--1997
Santarém, Brazil--1999
Siuna, Nicaragua -- 2001
Nkwanta, Ghana -- 2003

Various individual on-campus & off-campus projects

Foreign Language Knowledge

Spanish--virtual native fluency, speaking-listening-reading-writing
Portuguese--very high level of fluency, speaking-listening-reading-writing
French--good reading ability, some speaking-listening-writing ability
Modern Greek--some practical speaking-listening ability
German--some speaking-listening-reading ability

Recent Foreign Residence and Travel

  • 1993-94: Preliminary site visit in El Salvador in summer '93, followed by Winter Term in Service Project in '94
  • 1995: Briefly in northern Mexico as part of sabbatical leave in Southwest United States
  • 1995-96: Preliminary site visit in Nicaragua in summer '95, followed by Winter Term in Service Project in '96
  • 1996-97: Preliminary site visit in Nicaragua in summer '96, followed by Winter Term in Service Project in Jan.'97 (Briefly in Costa Rica as well after '96 site visit.)
  • 1998-99: Preliminary site visit in Brazil in summer '98, followed by Winter Term in Service Project inJan. '99
  • 2000-01: Preliminary site visit in Nicaragua in summer '00, followed by Winter Term in Service project in Jan. '01
  • 2003: Winter Term in Service project in Ghana, Jan. '03

Departmental and University Service, Community Activity

Chair, Department of Romance Languages, 1991-94
Chair, Department of Modern Languages, 2000-06
Have served on ten faculty committees in the last five years
Aid in the interviewing of students going to Spanish-speaking countries
Acting at the summer Putnam County Playhouse

Teaching Philosophy

My main function as a foreign language teacher is to give students exposure to the spoken and written language, and help them to develop their abilities in these areas of the language. I attempt this by using the "target language" in the classroom as much as possible: most of my class sessions, even on the elementary level, are conducted in the foreign language. From the second-year level on up, my students almost never hear me speak in English except outside the classroom. Creating this sort of atmosphere seems to me essential, since oral proficiency in the foreign language is one of our major goals. Even the discussion of sophisticated reading materials--whether cultural or literary--must take place in the foreign language. Especially in the second year and above, regular writing assignments require that students express themselves in an idiom not their own. The more intensive their experience in oral and written practice, the more the students depart from the natural but crippling tendency to rely on translation from English. A surprising number get to the point of being able to express themselves fairly easily and rapidly in the foreign language, much too rapidly to be translating. In a practical sense, then, many students end up with a foreign language ability which may prove quite useful to them in their future lives.

Another aim of the language class is to expose students to ideas and points of view different from their own and try to get them to understand these "exotic" aspects as normal parts of other people's lives. Basically, in this respect we are teaching tolerance, a commodity which is unfortunately still all too rare in our society.

Still another goal is to teach students to appreciate literary works written in the other language, as representations of the life and civilization of other societies and as works of art worthy of contemplation for their own sake. This aspect of the foreign language curriculum is of course the most difficult for students, and normally we can only begin to approach a sophisticated level before the end of the second year. It is at the 300-400 level and in seminars that more in-depth analysis and appreciation can take place for most students.

Finally, I believe that a vital function of faculty at a liberal arts institution is to "model" liberal arts-type behavior--an openness to all areas of knowledge and an ability to synthesize among them.

 

Last updated: 5/4/07