School of Humanities and Sciences


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  • Juan Rafael Valdez

    Juan Rafael Valdez

    Lecturer

    BioJuan R. Valdez teaches all levels of Spanish. He enjoys teaching as a way of helping students to optimally develop their communicative skills, while they also develop a critical sense of community and coexistence in a diverse and complex world. Juan is also a scholar and a writer. Until recently his research focused on the politics of language, paying special attention to the interplay of language and race in the construction of identity and struggles for power in the Hispanic Caribbean and the US. He has published articles, essays, and books, including: Tracing Dominican identity: the writings of Pedro Henríquez Ureña (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011) and En busca de la identidad: la obra de Pedro Henríquez Ureña (Ediciones Katatay, 2015). His forthcoming book Sendas extraviadas (Universidad Autónoma de México) is a series of essays on "aimless" walking that explore the possibility of overcoming some of our most perilous notions of politics, race, and mental health and, also, how redefining our relationship with nature strengthens our sense of place and belonging in the world. He has taught seminars as a Visiting Scholar in Germany and Cuba.

  • Esmee van der Hoeven

    Esmee van der Hoeven

    Academic Staff - Hourly - Csl, Language Ctr

    BioEsmee van der Hoeven is Lecturer of Dutch in the Dutch Studies Program of the Department of German at UC Berkeley. At Stanford, she teaches First-Year, Second-Year, and Third-Year Dutch in the Special Language Program. She has an MA degree in Language and Culture Studies from Utrecht University (2004), and received her certification in teaching Dutch as a Foreign Language from VU University Amsterdam (2006). She is experienced in teaching Dutch language courses on all levels and has a special focus on conversation practice and writing skills. Before she came to the Bay Area in 2014, she taught Dutch language and culture at Utrecht University, Palacky University in Olomouc, Czech Republic, Delft University of Technology, and Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences.