Bilingual Education and Spanish Professor Presents at International Conference in Panama

Associate Professor of Bilingual Education and Spanish Gregory Robinson Guerra recently gave a presentation at an international conference on reading at the Central Regional University of Azuero in Panama.

Invited to participate by the conference's organizer, Robinson Guerra presented on Central American short stories. In "Characteristics of Central American Short Stories of the 20th Century," he focused on several twentieth century authors-including the Panamanian writer Rogelio Sinán-and provided a method of narrative analysis that could be applied to other works. Explained Robinson Guerra, "I analyzed the stories and pulled some of the ways the author writes-about characters, how they create the scenarios, what is the time of the narration."

Robinson Guerra, who is from Panama and specializes in Central American short stories, said his presentation was well received. "I showed the frame that I used to analyze the stories," he said. "I had a lot of students that were attending the conference, and they were very interested in the deductive way that we can analyze a story without overthinking. Some of them were glad to hear this from someone who is from Panama but doesn't work there."

Robinson Guerra said that the conference is the first of what the organizers hope to be an annual gathering focused on reading. "One of the things they are trying to do is to encourage reading, so students are not attached too much to their computers or their cell phones or their tablets, but they pick up a book and they read. So that was one of the main things they stressed through the conference," he said.

One of the highlights of the experience, said Robinson Guerra, was the opportunity to hear perspectives on reading from participants from other countries. "I really enjoyed the interaction with colleagues and with students," he said.

Robinson Guerra emphasized how grateful he was to WNMU for providing the opportunity to participate in the conference. "I was able to get a grant to attend this conference through Academic Affairs," he noted. Attending the conference, he said, "was fantastic. It was a great opportunity."