Once Again 'On the Threshold': Innovative Scholarship in Hispania in the Twenty-First Century Invests in Pedagogy and Partnerships

1. Introduction

In his 1917 essay "On the Threshold," published in the first issue of Hispania, Associate Editor Lawrence A. Wilkins states, "We stand at the threshold of new things in modern languages in the school and college world. Never before in the United States has there been in the field of modern languages such a breaking of the idols, such a groping for readjustment of ideas, such a need of new nation-wide orientation as that which we see at present" (4). In the year 2018, Hispania is once again on the threshold of innovation, mirroring what is happening in the specified fields of Luso-Brazilian and Hispanic Studies in higher education. University language and culture faculty in the United States are implementing new modalities of curriculum, student success, and scholarship. These educators are faced with balancing innovation and collaboration across fields, while maintaining specialties in classroom curriculum and in research projects, as national policy and university budget cuts threaten language and cultural higher education programs across the country.¹

Once again, we are at a moment of reorientation of priorities, of "readjustment of ideas" like Editor Wilkins penned in 1917. Providing dynamic world language and culture programs at US universities offers a path to student success. In fact, one of the research questions of the 2017 report by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences' (AAAS) Commission on Language Learning, America's Languages: Investing in Language Education for the 21st Century, emphasizes the central role of studying language as a way to reorient priorities in US education. The AAAS Commission sought to find solutions to the following question: "How does language learning influence economic growth, cultural diplomacy, the productivity of future generations, and the fulfillment of all Americans?" (v). Their inquiry accentuates language study not as a single disciplinary pursuit, but rather as an inherently inter-, trans-, and cross-disciplinary journey. As readers of this essay surely know firsthand, when US undergraduate university students study a language other than English, they learn more than just communicative proficiency.² "The study of a second language has been linked to improved learning outcomes in other subjects, enhanced cognitive ability, and the development of empathy and effective interpretive skills," states one of the key findings of the AAAS report (viii), among other lifelong skills and habits.

Offering more varied opportunities for US university students to pursue Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Studies opens doors for collaboration between specified fields and highlights the importance of dynamic pedagogies. University programs in Language for Specific Purposes (LSP), for example, recognize the success of cross- and interdisciplinary learning (see M. Long's recent anthology for more information about LSP programs). Undergraduate programs for majors and minors in Spanish and Portuguese are adjusting to accommodate cutting-edge curriculum (such as LSP courses, internships, experiential-based learning, and study abroad programs) and to maintain established curriculum that is effective in reaching student success outcomes (such as literature and film studies). With pressures from policy makers and university administrators, Spanish and Portuguese language and culture educators must continue 1) to adjust to meet students' needs (e.g., to create career-focused curriculum, experiential learning opportunities, etc.), and 2) to offer dynamic programs that contribute to helping students become well-rounded, creative thinkers who do good in their communities and in the world.

In its role as the academic flagship journal of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP), Hispania monitors trends in the teaching and research of Spanish and Portuguese, such as the ones described above. The journal responds appropriately to this ever-changing landscape in articles, special issues, and features (see Hispania's Centenary Issue [Long and Nuessel], and guest articles penned by Carreira and Maddox for recent examples of the journal's commitment to shaping the future of the teaching and learning of Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Studies). Hispania's wide scope offers textual space for many types of research. Since 1917, articles in Hispania have examined themes on the threshold in areas of applied linguistics, cultural studies, culture, film...