Imagen de Banner Inglés

The current Bachelor of Arts in English offered at the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey promotes the study of English as a way to prepare students for a variety of professional careers in and out of the island. The BA in English is characterised by its flexibility and diversity of disciplines, thus responding to significant changes in the discipline since the department’s founding in 1969. As stated in the mission, the program is committed to diversity and to keeping a strong curriculum that encourages current approaches, including interdisciplinary methods. The department’s faculty, our most precious resource, educated at prestigious institutions, have been fully committed to the continuous assessment and revamping of our program with particular emphasis on current issues regarding language and culture.

UPR-Cayey offers an ample variety of middle and advanced level courses that target topics of interest for students not only from the area of Arts but also from the area of the Sciences. Course content covers topics related to Women and Gender Studies, Caribbean & Its Diaspora Studies, and Multicultural Studies. The program also offers specialized content courses for students of the English Education (Primary and Secondary levels) Program, as well as English courses for specialization in Business Administration.

The department has a highly prepared faculty in these areas. The academic offerings follow a five year course rotation. Students who consider graduate studies have the advantage of taking an additional focus (12 credits) in areas of Women and Gender Studies, Multicultural Studies and Caribbean & Its Diaspora.

The BA in English is concerned with the study of language, literature, and culture. Its domain is multicultural and includes all the varieties of English and the cultural texts they may produce, ranging from the canonical literary such as Shakespeare to contemporary artistic expressions like music videos, plus the study of language from theoretical, sociological, and applied perspectives. The program is committed to diversity and to keeping a strong curriculum that encourages current approaches, including interdisciplinary methods. It aspires to graduate well-rounded, independent thinkers with a sense of social responsibility. It prepares graduates with strong communication, technological, and research skills and an ability to work critically with a wide range of texts—women and men who are prepared to enter graduate programs in their field and/or are employable in a variety of professions, including the teaching of English.

Students who pursue a BA in English have the flexibility to design a program of study that is based on their various career goals and is also engaged with their everyday lives as members of contemporary Puerto Rican society and the world community. The program looks forward to offer students a variety of emphases that reflect their diverse interests as well as current developments in the field of English studies, such as applied and theoretical linguistics and literature, women and gender studies, and/or studies of the Caribbean and its diaspora.

Goals of the Department:

  1. To support the Mission and Goals of the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey, the Department of English has established the following as its main goals:
  2. To offer excellent undergraduate education in the study of English language, literature, and culture;
  3. To maintain a sound, efficient, and supportive administration of the Department;
  4. To make the Department of English at Cayey a source of academic and cultural activity; and to promote student sense of social responsibility.
  5. To promote student sense of social responsibility.
  6. To fulfill these goals within the major, the Department will offer a bachelor’s program through which students will:

a. become conversant in diverse and current areas of English studies.
b.  develop essential speaking, writing, critical, and analytical abilities for success in their field, their future professions, and their lives.
c.  use the language and their learning both within and beyond the university classroom. d. enhance their sense of social responsibility.

Ingried Rodríguez Pagán - Lab Technician

Jennie Merced Reyes - Administrative Assistant

Department of English
Arturo Morales Carrión Bldg., Office 225
PO Box 372230
Cayey, Puerto rico 00737-2230
Tel. 787-738-2161 ext. 2181, 2188, 2502
Working hours: 8:00am-4:30pm Monday-Friday

«What can I do with an English Degree?»

This is one of the possible questions incoming first year students ask themselves because many perceive English simply as a school subject, thus equating studying English with becoming teachers. That is only one possibility. Certainly, if you pursue a B.A in English, you may plan to follow a career in teaching, but studying English can open other possibilities as well. A major in English has currency in unexpected areas in today’s marketplace. A degree in English could lead to careers in other fields. Our alumni are pursuing careers in Law, Commerce, Journalism, and the arts. Below is a shortlist of possibilities.

Career Opportunities

Unlike other vocational degrees, a major in English opens a variety of career opportunities for college graduates entering the job market. Since students who graduate with an English degree are trained to ask probing questions about large bodies of texts and then to formulate, analyze, and answer those questions in coherent, persuasive prose, which are vital skills to any number of careers, English majors have much to choose from after graduation. The most obvious career choices for English Majors are writing, journalism, editing, publishing, and teaching. However, other less intuitive job options include positions in advertising, public relations, acting, law, business, marketing, and directing.

Potential Fields & Careers:

• Undergraduate Studies
• Book Publishing
• Business Ventures
• Career Counseling
• Creative Writing
• Comparative Literature
• Court Language Interpreters/ Transcription
• Cultural Studies
• Federal & State Government / Administrative Fields
• Film Studies/Production
• Gender Studies
• Graduate Studies
• International Relations
• Journalism
• Law
• Linguistics
• Modern Languages
• Translation Studies/Translators
• Public Relations
• Tourism Industry
• TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)
• English Education
• Acting
• Writing
• Marketing
• Directing

• Other Fields (Advertising, Athletics, Coaching, Encryptic analysis & deciphering, Entrepreneurship, Military-related Fields, Industrial-Pharmaceutical related Fields, Politics, Proposal development
Profile of the Graduate with a B.A. in English
To fulfill the program goals within the major, the department will offer a bachelor’s program through which students will:
a. Become conversant in diverse and current areas of English studies.
b. Develop essential speaking, writing, critical, and analytical abilities for success in their field, their future professions, and their lives.
c. Use the language and their learning both within and beyond the university classroom
d. Enhance their sense of social responsibility.

Publications:

«Cayey Students Write» (January-February)

«Cayey Students Write» (March-AprilMay)

«Cayey Students Write»  (October-November 2018)

«Cayey Students Write»  (June 2020)

Foto de la Prof. David Lizardi

David Lizardi Sierra is associate professor in the English Department of the University of Puerto Rico in Cayey. He has been at UPR-Cayey since 2001 and has occupied various administrative positions in the university and the English department. His interests are in Caribbean, Latino, U.S., & British literature, Pop cultural studies and literature, and music in connection with literary genres and culture. He also teaches ESL general education courses. He has published articles on Caribbean literature, Calypso and its influence on Caribbean literary genres, Representations of women in literary works and music, Popular Latino music, and has had poems published in journals and newspapers.

• Email address: david.lizardi1@upr.edu

Foto de la Prof. David H. Luciano

Brief Biographical Notes: Born in New York in 1969, moved to Puerto Rico at a young age, and lived in Adjuntas, which he considers his hometown, and where he went to high school. Possesses a B. A. in Secondary Education (Interamerican University, Ponce P.R.); an M. E.D. TESL (Pontifical Catholic University, Ponce P.R.); and an Ed. D. in Curriculum and Teaching (UPR-Rio Piedras). Worked as a teacher for more than twenty years in the Department of Education, currently works as an Assistant Professor at UPR-Cayey. Here he has taught a wide range of courses from Basic English to upper echelon courses such as Phonetics, Seminar in Linguistics, Discourse and Grammar among others. Has conducted research with new techniques and methodology always with the goal of improving and updating the English Department’s as well as the Pedagogy’s curricula. His passion has always been to instill in the students the need in today’s society for learning and acquiring the English language and for them to understand that: Learning is Fun, and It is A Lifelong Journey!

Email: David.luciano@upr.edu

Foto de la Profa. Carmen González

Carmen González-Alfano, Ph. D.

Carmen González-Alfano is an English professor at the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey. She is an experienced and passionate educator who has taught all grade levels from elementary to secondary. She was also the English District Supervisor in the Barranquitas and Aibonito districts. She also directed the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey Preparatory High School in Aibonito. She is now the Interim Director of the English Department. Dr. González also works with the academic counseling and Clinical Experience of the future ESL secondary teachers. Her academic preparation includes a B.A in Arts in Secondary English Education from the U.P.R. Cayey, a Masters degree in Literature with emphasis on 19th century American Literature and Women’s literature from the U.P.R. Rio Piedras and an E.d.D. degree from the U.P.R. Río Piedras in the area of Curriculum and Instruction ESL. Her doctoral dissertation Single Mothers and their daughters’ discourses about education includes the stories of single mothers and their daughters and the analysis of their discourses about education and the resonance they have in their daughters’ decision-making processes about education.

Foto de Dra Lydia Platón Lázaro

Lydia Platon, Ph.D.

Lydia Platón Lázaro is an adjunct profesor of the English Departament at UPR Cayey. She has published two books: Defiant Itineraries: Caribbean Paradigms in American Dance and Film (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015) and with visual artist Paloma Todd: El cuarto acto (San Juan: Ediciones Callejón, 2005). In 2019 her work is part of Brynn Shiovitz’ Anthology for Macfarland Press: The Body, the Dance and the Text, with the chapter: Screaming Soundscapes: The Sounds of Puerto Rican Contemporary Performance in the Work of Teresa Hernández and Ivette Román. For more than twenty years she has worked in independent performing and community arts initiatives as producer, collaborator, facilitator and performer. She has also taught at Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, la Universidad de Puerto Rico, Río Piedras and UPR Bayamón.

Lydia Platón Lázaro es un profesor adjunto del Departamento de Inglés de la UPR Cayey. Ha publicado dos libros: Desafiante itinerarios: Paradigmas en el Caribe americano de la danza y el cine (Nueva York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015) y con el artista visual Paloma Todd: El cuarto acto (San Juan: Ediciones Callejón, 2005). En 2019 su obra forma parte de la antología Brynn Shiovitz’ para Macfarland de prensa: el cuerpo, la danza y el texto, con el capítulo: Screaming sonoros: Los sonidos de Puerto Rico performance contemporánea en la obra de Teresa Hernández e Ivette Román. Desde hace más de veinte años ha trabajado en iniciativas escénicas y la comunidad de las artes independientes como productor, colaborador, facilitador e intérprete. También ha enseñado en la Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, la Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras de la UPR y Bayamón.

Foto del Dr. Mathew Goodwin

Mathew Goodwin, Ph.D.

Matthew David Goodwin is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English at the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey. His research is centered on the experience of migration in Latino/a Literature and he is the editor of Latin@ Rising: An Anthology of Latin@ Science Fiction and Fantasy. His BA is in Philosophy and his MA degrees are in Philosophy of Religion and English. He completed his PhD in Comparative Literature at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Currently, he teaches courses on Latino/a Literature, U.S. Puerto Rican Literature, Latino/a Science Fiction, Global Migrant Literature, Multi-Ethnic Science Fiction, and Digital Culture (Electronic Literature and Digital Poetry).

Foto de la Profa. Nellie Vázquez

Nellie Vázquez Rivera, Ph.D.

Nellie Vázquez Rivera is an Assistant Professor in the English Department of the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey. Her interests are in Caribbean masculinities and women/gender studies. She has developed the following courses for the English Department: Caribbean Women Writers, Women in Shakespearean Drama and Abuse and Exploitation in 18th and 19th Century British Literature. She is currently in the process of developing a course on Caribbean Masculinities. Dr. Vázquez has also offered workshops for English teachers of the Department of Education.

• E mail address: nellie.vazquez1@upr.edu

Foto de la Dra. Patria Lopez

Patria C Lopez, Ph.D.

Patria C. López de Victoria is an assistant professor in the English department of UPR Cayey, teaching courses in Linguistics, Research Methods, and Writing. Her research focuses on language, health, and ageing. She is a qualitative researcher currently working on a project on the narrative experience of disaster in older adults. She is also working on an NIH funded project on resilience and medical helpseeking after the passing of Hurricane Maria.

Email: patria.lopez1@upr.edu

Foto de la Dra. Sally Delgado

Sally Delgado, Ph.D.

Sally J. Delgado is an assistant professor in the English Department of the University of Puerto Rico in Cayey. Her interests in historical dialectology and theories of creole genesis are explored in research on Ship English of the early colonial Caribbean. She is currently working on research in dialectology, discourse analysis and preparation in English for scientific purposes among Hispanic students. She has published several articles on maritime culture and history, education, and sociolinguistics and is active in local and international conferences to disseminate her research findings.
E mail address: sallyj.delgado@upr.edu

Education

PhD in the literature and languages of the English-speaking Caribbean with a major in Linguistics (UPR-RP)

  • Title of Dissertation: Ship English: Characteristic features of sailors’ speech in the early colonial Caribbean.

MA in English: Linguistics (UPR-RP)

  • Title of thesis: Captives, convicts, and crew: Exploring the influence of stigmatized varieties of English in the 17th century Caribbean.

Advanced Diploma in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (The Open University, United Kingdom)

Postgraduate Certificate in Education: Major in English, Minor in Drama (University of Leeds, Bretton Hall Campus, United Kingdom)

BA in English Literature and Drama with a Foundation Year in Fine Art (Liverpool University, United Kingdom)

Areas of specialty

Linguistics: dialectology of the English-speaking world, pidgin and creole languages, morphology and syntax, English as a Lingua Franca

Courses you are teaching and have taught

  • INGL 3205 Syntax of English Structural Grammar
  • INGL 3022 Oral and Written English: Theory and Practice
  • INGL 3103-3104 Intermediate English, Part I /Part II
  • INTD 4116 Interdisciplinary Research Experiences for Students
  • INGL 4210 Discourse and Grammar

 

Recent publications (since 2014)

Delgado, S. J. (2017). Maritime violence shaped the Caribbean. In N. Faraclas, R. Severing, C. Weijer, E. Echteld, W. Rutgers, & R. Dupey (Eds.), Memories of Caribbean futures: Reclaiming the Pre-colonial to Imagine a Post-coloniKal in the Languages, Literatures and Cultures of the

Greater Caribbean and Beyond. (pp. 183-192). Willemstad, Curaçao: University of Curaçao.

Delgado, S. J., LeCompte, P. A., Lao, H. Ursulin Mopsus, D., (2016). Education, languages in contact, and popular culture in the Hispanophone, Francophone, and Dutch Caribbean. In N. Faraclas, R. Severing, C. Weijer, E. Echteld, W. Rutgers, & R. Dupey (Eds.), Embracing Multiple

Identities: Opting out of neo-colonial monolingualism, monoculturalism, and mono-identification in the Dutch Caribbean. (pp. 85-93). Curaçao/Puerto Rico: University of Curaçao.

Delgado, S. J. (2015). Michael J. Jarvis. 2010. In the eye of all trade: Bermuda, Bermudians, and the Maritime Atlantic World, 1680-1783 [Book review]. Caribbean Studies, (43)2, 296-299.  Delgado, S. J. (2015). Creative license or linguistic data: Why we can (and should) use literary

representations of Caribbean speech in linguistic research. In N. Faraclas, R. Severing, C. Weijer, E. Echteld, & W. Rutgers (Eds.), Envisioning the greater Caribbean: Transgressing geographical and disciplinary boundaries. (pp. 391-396). Curaçao/Puerto Rico: University of Curaçao & Fundashon pa Planifikashon di Idioma.

Mejia, G. & Delgado, S. J. (2015). To each his own: Deconstructing the myth of default male pronouns. In Quintero, M. et al. (Eds.), Caribbean without Borders: Beyond the Can[n]on’s Range (pp. 221-232). Newcastle Upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Delgado, S. J. (2014). Jenny Shaw. 2013. Everyday life in the early English Caribbean: Irish, Africans, and the construction of difference. [Book review]. Caribbean Studies, (42)2, 258-261.

Delgado, S. J. (2014). The myth of Little England: Exploring the formative context of Barbadian language and identity. In N. Faraclas, R. Severing, C. Weijer, E. Echteld, & W. Rutgers (Eds.), Creolization and Commonalities: Transgressing neoicolonail boundaries in the languages,

literatures, and cultures of the Caribbean and the rest of the African Diaspora. (pp. 265-274). Curaçao/Puerto Rico: University of Curaçao & Fundashon pa Planifikashon di Idioma.

Delgado, S. J. (2014) Pirate English of the Caribbean and Atlantic trade routes in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries: Linguistic hypotheses based on socio-historical data, Acta Linguistica Hafniensia: International Journal of Linguistics, 45:2, 151-169, DOI:

10.1080/03740463.2014.897815

Foto del Dr Wendell Villanueva,

Wendell Villanueva, Ph.D.

Wendell Villanueva is an assistant professor in the English Department of the University of Puerto Rico in Cayey. His interests include the Caribbean Bildungsroman, Caribbean Identity, Literature and Film, American and African American Literature and Popular Music as tool for Resistance. He has published articles in La Torre and in the books In a Sea of Heteroglossia: Pluri-Lingualism, Plural-Culturalism, and Pluri-Identification in the Caribbean and Politeness and Face in Caribbean Creoles (With Dr. Nicolas Faraclas).
• E mail address: wendell.villanueva1@upr.edu

Foto de la Prof. Mario Medina Cabán

Mario Medina Cabán, Ph.D

Language and Linguistics, Rhetoric and Grammar, ESL, Office: Rectoría, ext. 2119, 2121, 2122, E-mail: mario.medina@upr.edu

Nereida Prado Rodríguez, Ph.D

Caribbean Literature, U.S., British Literature, Women and Gender Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, Cultural Studies, ESL, Office: 228-A MC, ext. 2505, E-mail: nereida.prado@upr.edu

Sigma Tau Delta: The International English Honor Society
Chapter: Alpha Zeta Alpha (est. 1997)
Sponsor: David Lizardi Sierra, Ph.D.; Advisors: Nellie Vázquez, Ph.D, Nereida Prado, Ph.D.
Sigma Tau Delta, International English Honor Society, was founded in 1924 at Dakota Wesleyan University.

The Society strives to:

Confer distinction for high achievement in English language and literature in undergraduate, graduate, and professional studies;
Provide, through its local chapters, cultural stimulation on college campuses and promote interest in literature and the English language in surrounding communities; Foster all aspects of the discipline of English, including literature, language, and writing; Promote exemplary character and good fellowship among its members; Exhibit high standards of academic excellence; and Serve society by fostering literacy.  With over 875 active chapters located in the United States and abroad, there are more than 1,000 Faculty Sponsors, and approximately 9,000 members inducted annually.

Sigma Tau Delta also recognizes the accomplishments of professional writers who have contributed to the fields of language and literature.

Publications:

Sigma Tau Delta

Sigma Tau Delta: The International English Honor Society
Chapter: Alpha Zeta Alpha (est. 1997)
Sponsor: David Lizardi Sierra, Ph.D.; Advisors: Nellie Vázquez, Ph.D, Nereida Prado, Ph.D.
Sigma Tau Delta, International English Honor Society, was founded in 1924 at Dakota Wesleyan University.

The Society strives to:

Confer distinction for high achievement in English language and literature in undergraduate, graduate, and professional studies;
Provide, through its local chapters, cultural stimulation on college campuses and promote interest in literature and the English language in surrounding communities; Foster all aspects of the discipline of English, including literature, language, and writing; Promote exemplary character and good fellowship among its members; Exhibit high standards of academic excellence; and Serve society by fostering literacy.  With over 875 active chapters located in the United States and abroad, there are more than 1,000 Faculty Sponsors, and approximately 9,000 members inducted annually.

Sigma Tau Delta also recognizes the accomplishments of professional writers who have contributed to the fields of language and literature.

Publications:

Announcements & Events