About Us

Professors Ann Abbott and Darcy Lear began the Spanish & Illinois program in 2005 to meet the needs of two groups: students preparing for life after college and organizations that increasingly require knowledge of the Spanish language and Hispanic cultures.

Click here to see a recent article about our community-based learning program.

Annie R. Abbott

Director, Spanish & Illinois
Assistant Professor

Department of Spanish, Italian & Portuguese

Annie Abbott received her PhD in Spanish from the University of Illinois in 1998.  As Assistant Professor of Spanish, she combines her research interests in second language pedagogy with developing new curricula for Spanish undergraduate students.  Her most recent projects incorporate community-based learning and entrepreneurship to promote public engagement between Spanish students and local Spanish-speaking immigrant communities.  Students work in local organizations that serve Latinos and identify entrepreneurial opportunities to serve Spanish speakers in new and better ways.  Her work also focuses on the international scope of entrepreneurship; she has taught “Spanish and Entrepreneurship” to U of I students in Barcelona, Spain during the summer and has helped develop a community-based learning course for U of I students in Costa Rica in which our students work in local schools.  Click here for Curriclum Vitae.

Darcy W. Lear
Assistant Professor

Darcy Lear, co-founder of the Spanish & Illinois Program, is now in the Department of Romance Languages at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (lear@email.unc.edu). She continues to work on programs related to U.S. Hispanics and Spanish for the Professions. She received a PhD in Foreign and Second Language Education from the Ohio State Universtiy in 2003. Click here for Curriclum Vitae.

José Miguel Lemus
Research Assistant

José Miguel is the Research Asistant of Spanish & Illinois Program. Among many other Spanish courses, he has taught community-based learning courses. Born and raised in Mexico City. Reporter in the founding team of the Reforma newspaper. Reporter and editor of local, economics, and political issues in the USA-Mexico border newspapers. Masters degree in Latin American literature at the New Mexico State University. Coordinator of study abroad programs in Morelia, Mexico. Presently pursuing a PhD degree in Spanish Literature at the UIUC. Currently working on interviews with the early Latino community in Urbana-Champaign. Two main research interests: Oral history in Spanish in the USA, and Transatlantic cultural connections between Spain and Mexico. Click here for Curriculum Vitae.

Lena Lee
Undergraduate Thesis Student

Lena Lee is a third year undergraduate student at the University of Illinois.  She is double majoring in Spanish and International Studies with a minor in Political Science.  As a Spanish major, she currently volunteers at the East Central Illinois Mutual Assistance Center in Urbana and is enrolled in Span 232.  In addition, she is currently working on her senior thesis regarding the study of internships.  Lena has studied a semester abroad in Bilbao, Spain at the Universidad de Deusto.  After completion of her undergraduate studies, Lena hopes to attend law school in Chicago. 

Melissa Dilber
Undergraduate Thesis Student

Melissa Dilber is a fourth year undergraduate. She has an International Studies major with a focus on Minorities and Integration issues and a minor in French. She spent her third year studying at the Institut Catholic and La Sorbonne in Paris, France. For the past two summers, Melissa has worked for International Student Volunteers, Inc. in the Dominican Republic as a volunteer group leader, adventure tour guide and a local Children's Education Program director for Hábitat para la Humanidad. Currently, she is pursuing a senior thesis analyzing Spanish textbooks and students' preparation for community service learning programs. After graduation, Melissa hopes to join Teach For America.

Jennifer Mull
Undergraduate Thesis Student

Jennifer Mull is a senior with a dual major in International Studies and Spanish with a concentration in international law. She spent her third year studying at the Universitat de Barcelona in Barcelona, Spain. While in Barcelona, she began working for a local law firm, with whom she is still employed from the United States as a member of the International Department with a focus on international expansion of the firm. Currently, she is pursuing a senior thesis analyzing student needs for language proficiency, cultural knowledge and professional skills during international internships. After graduation, Jennifer hopes to complete a year Master degree program in Madrid and then return to the USA to attend law school for international corporate law.

Katrina Bone
Undergraduate Thesis Student

Graduated May 2007. Katrina Bone is now at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee working on her Master’s Degree in Spanish. She can be reached at krbone@uwm.edu. As a UIUC undergraduate, Katrina participated in many Spanish & Illinois projects:

• Majors: Spanish and International Studies; Minor: Anthropology.
• Senior honors thesis: Volunteer management, CBL and the East Central Illinois Refugee and Mutual Assistance Center.
• Spanish and Illinois Summer Internship: College of DuPage Small Business Development Center (surveyed the local Hispanic small business community).
• CBL work: ECIRMAC in Urbana, and Salus Gracia, Barcelona, Spain (an elder care facility).