Faculty Profile: Carmen Brown P’07

Faculty Profile: Carmen Brown, Ph.D.

by David F. Salter

The real challenge for educators at any level is to make the subject matter relevant to the students. Especially in today’s society where kids have short attention spans and can be ambivalent toward things they deem unimportant. A skilled educator not only can make the material matter, but can also demonstrate to the students the value and utility of the discipline.

“I always knew that I wanted to be a teacher because it gave me the opportunity to inspire student learning,” said Carmen Brown, Ph.D. Dr. Brown has been teaching Spanish at Delone Catholic for 26 years, and she continually searches for strategies to engage her students in the language and the culture of her native Spain.

“My basic goal as a teacher is to stimulate students to become personally involved with Spanish as a living language,” Dr. Brown said. “I feel that a language like Spanish can enrich students’ lives as a practical and useful tool, one that can open their eyes to new and different cultures and ideas.”

To that end, Dr. Brown consistently comes up with interesting ways for her students to experience the words and phrases that they’re learning from the textbook. For example, Dr. Brown will have her students watch television shows and movies, and then the students have to create their own shows. The students have to write the script and perform the characters. They have to create the language and command the language.

“I’m always trying to get ways for my students to use it (the language),” Dr. Brown explained. “It might be topics of conversation or situations…I might throw them into a restaurant and they have to order in Spanish. I’m always finding ways…”

Dr. Brown also encourages her students to expand their fluency by studying abroad, or by contributing to the neighboring Hispanic communities.

Dr. Brown taught at Gettysburg College for four years and at Mount St. Mary’s for six before coming to McSherrystown. She originally thought her stay would be short-lived, but she never went back to higher education full-time.

“At Delone I have found the opportunity to share my love for my language and my culture with my students,” Dr. Brown concluded. “My faith has always been an inherent part of my life and upbringing. I was born in a Catholic country where all cultural and social aspects were celebrated according to the Catholic church. Teaching in a Catholic school, where I can practice and share my faith has been another reason why I feel happy at Delone.” “My basic goal as a teacher is to stimulate students to become personally involved with Spanish as a living language,” Dr. Brown said. “I feel that a language like Spanish can enrich students’ lives as a practical and useful tool, one that can open their eyes to new and different cultures and ideas.”