José Morcillo-Gómez is Visiting Instructor and Coordinator of Florida International University’s Dual Degree program in Spanish with Qingdao University. He holds a BA in Education and an MA in Speech Disorders from the University of Granada and a Master's and PhD in Spanish from FIU. In this episode, Morcillo-Gómez gives us a glimpse into his unique experience teaching students enrolled in FIU’s Bachelor of Arts in Spanish dual degree program with Qingdao University in China. Launched in 2014, the program has approximately 350 students currently enrolled and has graduated 134. Morcillo-Gómez’s perspective on the borderless nature of knowledge is deeply informed by his experience as an international PhD student and his linguistic identity as a Spaniard from the country’s southern region. Morcillo-Gómez is passionate about language and views global learning as more than an approach to teaching—it is a way of life.
Resources Mentioned
Great Quotes
“I'm very lucky because, you know, not everyone has the chance to be connecting the whole world. And the language is just, for me, the Spanish is just an instrument. It's a tool. But the main thing is that I'm using Spanish to connect the Chinese culture with the Latin American culture with the American culture as well. Because when we are talking about Latin America we are talking about the connection between the U.S. and Latin America for many, many decades in the Latin American history."
"An international program is when you are able to create this interconnectivity between the contents that you are already are teaching in the country where your University is from, but at the same time, you're adapting your content to the reality and the culture where you are going to implement that program."
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