Spring 2013 - Department of World Languages and Cultures - Iowa ...

del mundo: Narrativas fantásticas en hispanoamérica” [Ends of
the World: Fantastic Narratives in Spanish America] sponsored by
the Centro de Estudios Literarios Antonio Cornejo Polar. She also
gave a guest lecture at the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San
Marcos.
The attached picture was taken in front of the library at the
Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, with a statue
of the university’s founder, Fray Tomás de San Martín, in the
foreground. The university was founded in 1551 and is the oldest
continuously operating university in the Americas.
Kathy Leonard, Professor of Spanish and
Hispanic Linguistics
Kathy Leonard traveled to Guatemala during the summer,
2012, partially funded by the McClain Scholarship provided
for WLC faculty wishing to study art history. Prof. Leonard
spent two weeks in Panajachel, located on the shores of
beautiful Lake Atitlán, where she studied the history and art
of backstrap weaving with Tradiciones Mayas, a non-profit
organization in Panajachel. Tradiciones Mayas promotes the
weaving of local women, whose mission is to “empower and
improve the quality of life for Maya women artisans and their
families through education-driven social programs.” Leonard
learned to use the backstrap loom, studied other traditional
weaving techniques, and completed two weaving projects,
under the watchful eye of her teachers. She was invited to
visit women weavers in their homes in outlying communities
and was able to interview and photograph them there
working on their looms.
Kathy Leonard with women weavers in
Santa Catarina, Guatemala
Rachel Meyers, Senior Lecturer in Classical Studies
This year has seen many developments for Rachel Meyers. She
received a promotion to Senior Lecturer in April 2012, and
several of her projects have now been published. Her article
“Reconsidering Opportunities for Female Benefactors in the
Roman Empire: Julia Antonia Eurydice and the Gerontikon at
Nysa” has just been released in volume 81 of L’Antiquité Classique.
Her contribution “Female Portraiture and Female Patronage in
the High Imperial Period” appears in the Blackwell Companion
to Women in the Ancient Mediterranean World. She has a number
of entries on topics related to Roman coinage and gems in the
Encyclopedia of Ancient History, an online and print resource
published by Wiley-Blackwell. Most recently, she is in the process
of developing a study abroad trip to Rome with her colleague in
History, Professor David Hollander. Together they plan on taking
a group of ISU students to Rome and its environs for the first time
in May 2014, and will offer the program every other year.
DEPARTMENT OF WORLD LANGUAGES AND CULTURES
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