​Dr. Jason Youngkeit

Dr. Youngkeit has traveled extensively throughout the Spanish-speaking world and utilizes real-life examples of Spanish so that his students are exposed to authentic language from actual Hispanic countries.

Biography

Dr. Youngkeit earned his BA, MA, and PhD degrees in Spanish respectively from Weber State University, Texas Tech University and the University of Utah. He has taught Spanish language, culture, and literature at the undergraduate level since 1998. He has traveled extensively throughout the Spanish-speaking world and immensely enjoys incorporating whenever possible his experiences into the teaching of language and culture. Throughout his experience as a teacher he has constantly tried to utilize real-life examples of Spanish so that his students are exposed to authentic language from actual Hispanic countries.

His background with the Spanish language and culture began in the 7th grade when, as a 12 year old, he took his first Spanish course. He continued to take Spanish through high school, which included traveling to Mexico twice with several classmates. Not long after high school he spent 2 years on a religious mission in Argentina. After returning home he majored in Spanish in college, as well as pursuing an MA and PhD in Spanish. He even married an Argentine in 2005. Additionally, he has traveled widely throughout the Spanish-speaking world. All of these rich and life-changing experiences have uniquely prepared and molded Dr. Youngkeit into the educator of Spanish that he is today.

Education

• 2006 Doctor of Philosophy in Spanish, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah Specialization in Latin-American Literature and Cultural Studies Dissertation: “New Historicism” y la Guerra Sucia argentina: vehículos de poder en el arte del Proceso Director: Dr. Edward Elias
• 2000 Master of Arts in Spanish, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas General emphasis on Latin-American and Peninsular (Spain) Literature
• 1998 Bachelor of Arts in Spanish, Weber State University, Ogden, Utah Minor in History

Research Interests

• Spanish language-all levels
• Latin-American literature and culture-colonial through present
• Spanish peninsular (Spain) culture
• Twentieth and Twenty-first-century Argentine literature, film, drama
• Research topics of interest: Social / historical themes, cultural identities, dictatorships, nationalism, psychological themes, literary theory

Experience

Dr. Youngkeit very adamantly believes that different sources of authentic language should be used in instruction wherever possible. He considers this to be one of his most notable strengths as a professor of Spanish. Throughout his experience as a teacher he has constantly tried to incorporate real-life examples of Spanish into his teaching so that his students are exposed to real language from bona fide cultural sources. He has done this through the unceasing use of things such as restaurant menus, signs, billboards, videotapes of authentic or simulated exchanges between native speakers, music videos, segments of television shows and documentary/popular films in Spanish, and even at times documentary film clips in English that deal with authentic cultural concepts.

Secondly, he believes that another important component of language teaching is the teaching of culture. He considers culture to be an absolutely integral part of language and in his view the two are inseparable and their teaching can and should lead to greater cross-cultural understanding. He believes that we have to teach our students the value of ethnic and cultural diversity and one way to do this is to integrate one’s own personal experiences into the teaching. As noted previously, he has traveled extensively throughout the Spanish-speaking world and due to his many travels he has been able to reinforce in a personal way much of the material; both cultural, literary, and linguistic, that he presents to in class. This is yet another teaching method that he considers to be one of his strongest and most favorable traits as an educator of foreign language.

Recent Publications

“Using multi-media from the Spanish-speaking world to teach the Afro-Hispanic diaspora.” National Association of African-American Studies and Affiliates (2014 Special Events Monograph) 154-169.

“Malinche de Laura Esquivel: Una lúcida revaluación discursiva de lo histórico.” Confluencia 28.2 (Spring 2013): 136-148.

Recent Presentations

“Cuentas pendientes por Martín Kohan: Perspectivas novelescas de una nación conflictiva.” XVII Congreso Internacional de Literatura Hispánica. Mérida, Mexico. March 2016

“Dominican and Puerto Rican Culture: What do they offer to the teaching of Spanish?” Fourteenth Claflin University Conference on Contemporary English and Language Arts Pedagogy in Secondary and Postsecondary Institutions. Claflin University. October 2015

“Blending Linguistic, Cultural, and Historical Elements from the Spanish-speaking World into Effective Teaching Tools.” 65th Annual Mountain Interstate Foreign Language Conference. College of Charleston. October 2015.