Fabiola Franco
from the Macalester Public Knowledge Base
Fabiola Franco was a Professor of Spanish grammatical analysis and literature at the Hispanic Studies Department at Macalester. She started teaching at the University of Minnesota in 1983 and moved to Macalester in 1991. She retired in 2006.
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[edit] Interview with Fabiola Franco, October 2003
As part of Adelante!'s Latin@ Faculty Profile Series in the Fall of 2003, under the initiative of Daniela Ramirez, professor Fabiola Franco was interviewed by Daniela Ramirez. The transcript follows:
[edit] Where are you from?
I was born in the mountains of Colombia, where coffee grows; a small and beautiful town, they say, where freemasons lived. This town, I have never seen. That is to say that I do not know the place where I was born. Minnesota has been the place where I have spent more than half of my life. As we are in a College, here students come and go; most faculty members come to stay.
I am an American citizen; not by “geographical accident” –meaning as compared to those who happen (or have happened) to be born here-. I am a proud American citizen because I earned my citizenship through very hard work, sacrifice and sincere love for this country. Although I belong to two countries or three -if we take into account that my mother was French- I am a citizen of only one country, the United States of America.
Years of residence in different cultures have made me feel as comfortable in the United States as I am in Colombia and/or many other countries in the world. Going from country to country has almost become to me as easy as turning a “switch” in my mind. Said “switch” allows a person to change from one language to another as well as understand the sense behind the words that are spoken.
Due to the above, I consider myself to be a multicultural person.
[edit] How did you arrive at Macalester?
I have always been a dedicated student. After getting my MA. and Ph.D at the University of Minnesota, I started my career at the University of Indiana, where I went to teach Literature and Hispanic Linguistics. I was also Assistant Director of Bilingual Education. But in Indiana, I became very lonesome for Minnesota, specially its lakes and beautiful trees. So I decided to come back. The only feasible place, in my opinion, was Macalester College, a place interested and dedicated to internationalism.
[edit] Have you ever thought of working in Latinoamérica?
And what are the main differences that you find on the academic/professional world here and Latinoamérica?
I've never worked in Colombia; hence, I do not think I am qualified to judge their academic and professional life from the inside. All I can say is that I very much approve of an educational system like the one we have at Macalester, where people learn by doing and creating instead of memorizing. To me, the most important things in my professional life are teaching and growing academically through study and publication.
[edit] Has the Macalester community hinder or help you foster your identity here?
Macalester has not been able to hinder my identity. I am not sure if any one could. Although I look very fragile in the outside, inside I am mentally and spiritually very strong. Nonetheless, time has taught me that a person can be hindered in many ways due to his/her identity.
My answer to the second part of the question is: Macalester has not fostered my identity. This, in spite of what one might read in catalogues and books regarding multiculturalism and internationalism in the College.
