Faculty

Department Chair
Professor of Spanish
B.A., Columbia College
M.A., University of South Carolina
Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
seknight@presby.edu

Dr. Sharon Knight began teaching Spanish at Presbyterian College in 2007, having previously obtained a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in Romance Languages. In addition to teaching language courses in Spanish, she also offers courses dealing with Spanish literature, history, and culture. Her area of specialization is early modern prose narrative, particularly the novels and short stories of Miguel de Cervantes.

Currently, Dr. Knight serves as the faculty advisor of the Spanish Club and Psi Eta, the PC chapter of Sigma Delta Pi – the National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society.

French Instructor

B.A., Laurentian University
M.A., University of Science and Technology Houari Boumediene-Algiers
nboumghar@presby.edu

Mrs. Boumghar has had over 25 years of teaching experience at both the high school and college levels. She has worked in Fiji islands, Dubai, Canada, and NY. She has taught courses in French, Arabic, as well as in math and computer sciences. Mrs. Boumghar has extensive knowledge about different cultures and enjoys exploring all cultures when traveling with her family. In her spare time, she loves to cook! Mrs. Boumghar is extremely passionate and excited to be a part of the department of modern foreign languages at presbyterian and looks forward to foster her students development in their love for French language and culture.

Professor of Spanish
Director of Latin American Studies
B.A., M.A., University of Tennessee-Knoxville
Ph.D, University of Florida
mcox@presby.edu

Dr. Mark R. Cox began teaching Spanish at Presbyterian College in 1997. He teaches all levels of Spanish, including courses dealing with Latin America. He is also the director of the Latin American Studies minor.

Dr. Cox’s research focuses on contemporary Peruvian literature and culture. He has published five books and numerous articles about this area.

Professor of French
Director of International Studies
B.A., Marian College
M.A., Ph.D., Purdue University
pdkiley@presby.edu

Having joined the Department of Modern Foreign Languages at PC in the fall of  2008, I’m thrilled to be part of a faculty where student-centred teaching is the primary focus of the college. As both a faculty member in the French program and director of the International Studies major, I’m deeply committed to helping students explore the rich and complex dimensions of other world languages, cultures, and civilizations. As a strong advocate of study abroad, I have led many short-term programs abroad over the past several years in France as part of our Spring Break, Maymester and Summer Program offerings at PC (“Paris Modern: The City as Spectacle,” and “Intercultural Business Communication: France and the US”). My summers are spent teaching and directing the 4-week program we offer in Lyon, France at I-DRAC, International School of Business. In collaboration with my colleagues in the Office of International Programs, I have helped develop numerous exchange partnerships in France, most recently with schools in Paris (ESG), Lyon (I-DRAC), Grenoble (Pierre Mendès) and St. Etienne (HECI).

While I am passionate and enthusiastic about the courses I teach, I do believe that good teaching is also informed by good scholarship. As such, I remain professionally active in my scholarship, attending and presenting at national and international conferences and workshops in the field of languages and literatures, translation studies and applied business. My past research has focused on historical understandings of pain in post-revolutionary France and the art and science of gastronomy in 18th and 19th Century France. In recent years, my scholarly focus has shifted more towards the professional field of applied business. In the fall of 2014 I will be co-presenting forthcoming papers with business colleagues in France and the UK at conferences in London and Paris. When I am not busy in the classroom or researching in libraries, I enjoy a match of ‘le foot’ with my children, re-mastering the cello, and strolling the banks of the Saône river in Lyon.