By Madonna Borde ’21, staff writer

After spending more than half her adult life teaching, Dr. Ivette Guzmán-Zavala, professor of Spanish, was finally promoted to a higher position at LVC and was able to qualify for a sabbatical last year.

Unfortunately, her year off occurred in the middle of a pandemic, which definitely threw a wrench in her plans, especially to travel. However, she still managed to stay busy.

Originally, Dr. Guzmán-Zavala wanted to conduct research in which she investigated and interviewed women – midwives – in Puerto Rico, her own country of birth, known as parteras. As a result of the pandemic and travel restrictions, however, she wasn’t able to go. Now that she is vaccinated, she hopes that she will still be able to carry out her project during the summer; if not, she will have to conduct virtual interviews, probably via Zoom.

On the other hand, Dr. Guzmán-Zavala found the time to work on her first published book. It is not her first published work, but it is her first full-length book. During the lockdown, she was able to concentration to buckle down and read for research.

“In that sense, COVID helped because I couldn’t go anywhere so I just grabbed book after book from the library,” Guzmán-Zavala said. “I worked on that and I got less distracted because I have a tendency to get distracted and I get bored.”

Furthermore, she had another paper planned that she was able to work on and it has already been submitted for review. She also found the time to revise yet another paper.

“To do those revisions I needed time and focus to do certain things,” Guzmán-Zavala said. “When I’m teaching, I’m really involved in teaching. I needed the time to just focus on that.”

In addition to that, Dr. Guzmán-Zavala has a research project with her husband, Dr. John Hinshaw, professor of History, called Dutchirican: A Latinx History of Central PA. That was another instance where they had planned to go to people’s houses to conduct a number of interviews.

“We did one interview,” Guzmán-Zavala said. “We didn’t do too much because of COVID-19. We’re waiting to see if things are going to get better.”

However, they were able to conduct virtual exhibitions and presentations of the show, some of which her classes were even able to attend.

Finally, Dr. Guzmán-Zavala has been working on preparing for her upcoming classes. She won’t be teaching anything during the summer, although her sabbatical ends in May. During the fall, she will return to teaching Spanish for Heritage Speakers and has been working on revising the class material.

In the fall of 2021, she proposed a new honors class which she will be teaching, in English, for the first time, at LVC: Latinx Studies.

“The students are going to be looking at the history of the United States but from the Latinx perspective.” Guzmán-Zavala said.

Lastly, she will also be teaching Cultural Studies, which was previously taught by Dr. García-Armero, associate professor of Spanish. This will be an entirely new teaching experience for her, even though it is not a new class.

In regard to study abroad, there will be a one credit trip to Puerto Rico, as a part of the Cultural Studies class next fall, if COVID-19 restrictions permit. However, it will be open for any students who are studying Spanish.

During her sabbatical, one of Dr. Guzmán-Zavala’s past students, who is now a lawyer, reached out to her about volunteer work with a nonprofit organization to help push school children, primarily teenagers of minority groups, to pursue higher education. She is able to meet with and talk to these children via Zoom.

“I am happy, and I am busy,” Guzmán-Zavala said.

Before teaching at LVC, Dr. Guzmán-Zavala was an art teacher in a public school in Caguas, Puerto Rico for three years before studying at Syracuse University for her master’s, where she got a scholarship to be a TA. This was her first time teaching a Spanish class. With this experience in teaching Spanish, she taught for about 24 years in the U.S., not including her time in Puerto Rico.

Right before coming to LVC, she was at Gettysburg College and Shippensburg University, writing her dissertation. She came to LVC as a visiting professor and has been here since 2007.

“Each professor that you have has a passion and you don’t want that passion to be extinguished because that’s what makes you a relevant professor. That’s what brings that passion to the classroom, and we need that.”

Dr. Guzmán clearly expressed that she would be ready and willing to go on sabbatical again when she’s permitted. Besides all her work, she was able to go back to her passion of art and did a couple of paintings. There was also time for daily exercise and walks with her husband.