Clemson professor emerita of Spanish Paula Heusinkveld wins national award
Published: January 4, 2012
CLEMSON — Paula Rae Heusinkveld, professor emerita of Spanish at Clemson University, was awarded the Nelson Brooks Award for Excellence in the Teaching of Culture in November by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). Heusinkveld accepted the award at ACTFL's annual conference in Denver.
Heusinkveld taught Spanish at Clemson for 29 years and was director of Clemson’s bachelor of arts program in Language and International Trade from 2003 until her retirement last June.
The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages praised Heusinkveld for devoting much of her professional life to improving the teaching of culture: “Dr. Heusinkveld has provided a blueprint for current and future language educators on how to help students understand the relationship and interplay among cultural products, practices, and perspectives.”
Heusinkveld was a leader at Clemson in developing study-abroad opportunities for Clemson students and faculty. She directed 17 summer study programs to Mexico with a total enrollment of more than 200 Clemson students.
She is author of “Inside Mexico: Living, Travelling and Doing Business in a Changing Society” and “Pathways to Culture: Readings on Teaching Culture in the Foreign Language Class,” in addition to numerous articles on cross-cultural education.
“This is a well-deserved award for Paula,” said Yanming An, professor of Chinese and philosophy and interim chairman of the languages. “All the members in our department are thankful to her for her contribution and proud of her for what she has achieved.”
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ACTFL
ACTFL is the national association for foreign language education professionals from all levels of instruction and representing all languages. With more than 12,300 active members, ACTFL provides professional development opportunities, training and certification programs, books and publications, including Foreign Language Annals and The Language Educator magazine.
Clemson University languages
The department offers undergraduate degrees in modern languages, language and international Trade and language and international health.