Summary
Kathleen Leonard, lecturer of Spanish and second-year Spanish coordinator, received her M.A. in Spanish from the University of Nevada, Reno in 1990. She teaches first through third-year language and culture courses. She has served as an undergraduate academic advisor for Spanish majors and minors for over 20 years and was the 2014 recipient of the Undergraduate Academic Advisor Award at the annual Honor the Best ceremony which celebrates the achievements of outstanding faculty, staff and students. That same year, she was inducted as an honorary member into the University's chapter of Sigma Delta Pi, the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society that recognizes individuals who are especially supportive of Hispanic language and culture. She has participated in two University Study Abroad Consortium (USAC) programs in San Sebastian, Spain (1985-86) and Santiago, Chile (1990). She formerly served as director of the basic Spanish language program (BSLP), which encompasses more than 850 students taking Spanish 111, 112, 211 and 212. In addition to teaching at the University of Nevada, Reno, Leonard has taught every summer for over a decade at the Intensive Spanish Summer Institute (ISSI) at Lake Tahoe Community College.
Leonard and her brother established the Jeanette Ponton Leonard Memorial Endowed Scholarship at the University in 2016 to benefit undergraduate students majoring in Spanish. Her academic interests include online teaching and course development. She was invited to participate in the 11-week online course conversion workshop of Spring 2015 funded by the Provost's Office. She has generated course content for several online courses in collaboration with 365 Learning such as Spanish 205, 209, 212 and as an independent project, Spanish 222 (Hispanic America and its cultures). She is currently serving as second-year Spanish coordinator.
Research interests:
- Online teaching and course development
Courses taught:
- SPAN 111-112 First Year Spanish I & II
- SPAN 211-212 Second Year Spanish I & II
- SPAN 205-209 Reading Spanish I & II
- SPAN 222 Hispanic America and Its Cultures
- SPAN 305-306 Spanish Composition I & II
- SPAN 309 Spanish Conversation
Education
- M.A., Spanish, University of Nevada, Reno, 1990
- B.A., Spanish and Social Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno, 1987