 Fulbright
Scholar Stories |
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Geta LeSeur
Associate Professor, Department of English, University of
Missouri--Columbia, Columbia, MO
Lecturing: Rethinking, Remembering, Rereading and
Reconnecting: Black Literatures of the Middle Passage; Fictions
of Childhood in the Old and New South Africa
Host: University of Seville, Seville, Spain
February 2000 - July 2000
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In Spain, Geta LeSeur (left, with Gloria Luque) drew
upon the experiences of Pilgrims, witches and slaves in
bringing a multidisciplinary approach to American Literature.
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Geta LeSeur went to Spain to teach American literature for a
semester on a Fulbright grant, but was also driven to explain
"what America is really about." And that may have been
her greatest impact on the University of Seville, she says.
In Spain, she made Arthur Miller's The Crucible come to life
by explaining Puritanism and the Salem witch hunts; she used maps,
visual aids and recollections to supplement other lessons. Miller's
play "wouldn't have made any sense" to her students
without some understanding of the religious and cultural traditions
the early Pilgrims brought to New England from Europe, she says.
She also made sure to include a slave narrative or two in her
syllabi and to discuss the triangular trade route, in which slaves
transported by ship from Africa were exchanged like commodities
for sugar in the Caribbean or for cash in the United States. LeSeur,
native of Jamaica, adds that her presence may have helped shatter
some stereotypes in a part of Spain where "black women with
briefcases were rare." She also guest-lectured at universities
in Jaén, Madrid and León.
Multidisciplinary approaches come naturally to LeSeur. An associate
professor of English and women's studies at the University of
Missouri, she teaches American, African-American and
Caribbean literature.
In Seville, LeSeur gained insights into Spanish pedagogy that
she believes will benefit her students back home. With as many
as 75 students in a lecture hall, and less opportunity for interaction
than she was used to, she learned to anticipate unasked questions
and to pack more into her lectures. She also benefited from observing
and participating in her colleagues' classes.
LeSeur had a great deal of fun as well. She was charmed by the
church bells, Flamenco music and dance, and Seville's daily "rhythms"
of leisurely afternoon meals and late nights on the town. When
she tried to end an evening early, her companions would chide
her to "loosen up!" She encountered a large community
of American expatriates, including some former Fulbright scholars,
who she says "liked Seville so much they never left."
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