Susana Cisneros

Susana Cisneros (she, her and ella)

She is a Senior Lecturer of Spanish and Affiliate Faculty of Latin American Studies. She teaches elementary, intermediate and advanced Spanish courses, she is currently serving as an advisor for the Spanish Club C.E.P.A. and also leads the Tertulia/Virtulia Spanish Conversation hour. Susana was inducted into the Honors Society of Phi Kappa Phi in March 2021. This is the nation’s oldest, largest, and most selective honors society.

She enjoys creating academic experiences outside of the classroom that students often say are life changing. Susana develops educational partnerships within the local community, including inviting high-caliber guest speakers to the classroom, hosting career panels for bilingual personnel, and organizing tours in workplaces such the Charlotte Mecklenburg County Courthouse, the Camino Community Center, and the Charlotte Bilingual Preschool, among other places.

Susana developed a spring break program in Argentina, a professional internship in the Latino community, and a year-long seminar in collaboration with the Charlotte Teachers Institute. She redesigned three courses to be more interactive and to promote leadership.

Susana is passionate about maintaining connection to the community as seen by her completion of the programs in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) Citizen Academy, Mecklenburg Court College, and the FBI Citizen Academy. Susana, who was a criminal law attorney in Argentina in a past career, also became involved in Citizen On Patrol, a CMPD program, for which she received the Presidential Silver Award, and participated in the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office Citizens’ Academy. She was named the 2015 Volunteer of the Year by the Latin American Chamber of Commerce and won the 2015 President’s Volunteer Service Award. She went on to participate in the Leading Education, Aligning, Developing -Upward Potential (L.E.A.Ding- Up) Program sponsored by the Latin American Chamber of Commerce.

Starting in 2015, Susana became a finalist for the Outstanding Teaching by Part-time Faculty Award by the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. In 2017, she was then nominated for the ACTFL Global Engagement Initiative and by 2018 she was the Feature Language for Specific Purposes Educator at the IV International Symposium on Language for Specific Purposes (ISLSP)/CIBER Business Language. In 2020, she was a finalist for the UNC Charlotte Award for Teaching Excellence which is considered one of the most prestigious traditions on campus.

Education

Master in Spanish, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (2009)

Curso Superior de Lengua y Literatura Español, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain 2008

Paralegal Graduate Certificate, Duke University (2006)

Abogada Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba Argentina (2004)

Procuradora Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba Argentina (2004)

Appointments

Affiliate Faculty of Latin American Studies, UNC Charlotte 2020 – present

Senior Lecturer in Spanish, Department of Languages, Cultures and Translation, UNC Charlotte 2019 – present

Lecturer in Spanish, Department of Languages, Cultures and Translation, UNC Charlotte 2016 -2019

Adjunct in Spanish, Department of Languages, Cultures and Translation, UNC Charlotte 2009 – 2016

Adjunct in Spanish, Department of Modern Languages, Wingate University 2009 – 2014

Adjunct in Spanish, Worlds Languages Department, Queen’s University 2009 – 2012

Spanish Instructor, Department of Languages, Cultures and Translation, UNC Charlotte Spring 2009

Graduate Assistant, Department of Languages, Cultures and Translation, UNC Charlotte Fall 2008

Teaching Assistant, Department of Languages, Cultures and Translation, UNC Charlotte Spring 2008

Research Assistant, Department of Education Leadership, UNC Charlotte Fall 2007

Specific Research Interests

Leadership Community relationships Spanish Culture Immigration Service Learning Women Leadership