Pablo Oliva
Office
McCone Building M111
Tel
(831) 647-4173
Email
poliva@middlebury.edu

Pablo M. Oliva is an Associate Professor and Program Chair in the Language Studies Department (LS) and has over 20 years of experience in second language acquisition and teaching. His expertise includes consulting work for private companies in Argentina and teaching languages at various levels in both public and private educational institutions. Dr. Oliva moved to Monterey from Argentina in June 2006 to teach during the Summer Intensive Language Program (SILP) and was subsequently asked to join the Institute’s Spanish faculty.

Dr. Oliva is a proponent of the Institute’s signature pedagogy of “CBI” (Content-Based Instruction), integrating relevant content (international policy, environment, human rights, social justice, peace studies, human trafficking) with the teaching of second language skills. His international experience encompasses six years teaching Spanish as a Second Language and EFL in Argentina and two years in Spain teaching summer school for aspiring Spanish language practitioners at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. His teaching experience extends to Empire State College in New York and California State University in Monterey Bay. In recognition of his teaching excellence, he received the Institute’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2009 and the Allan Griffin Award for Excellence in Teaching at the graduate level.

Courses Taught

Course Description

Terms Taught

Fall 2024 - MIIS, Spring 2025 - MIIS

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Course Description

Terms Taught

Spring 2025 - MIIS

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Course Description

Terms Taught

Spring 2025 - MIIS

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Course Description

This course is an intermediate level class designed to strengthen language skills and the development of cultural competence. This course will emphasize communication and seeks to develop different skills in: conversation, reading comprehension, listening comprehension and writing in appropriate contexts. The course also seeks to develop cultural competence in second language acquisition.

Terms Taught

Fall 2022 - MIIS, Fall 2023 - MIIS, Fall 2024 - MIIS

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Course Description

This is a content-based, learner- centered course that aims at developing and enhancing the students' cultural competency and their language skills. This course will focus on authentic communication in contents related to students’ academic needs and interests. It will seek to develop and strengthen different skills in speaking, listening, reading and writing.

Terms Taught

Spring 2024 - MIIS

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Course Description

The Spanish Language and Culture II course provides a panoramic view of some of the most relevant aspects of the language, culture and society of the Spanish-speaking world, particularly Latin America. The course provides a space for participants to effectively develop their Spanish communication capacity at a high intermediate level. The course is designed for graduate students of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey interested in deepening their knowledge of the Spanish language and some social and political aspects of Latin American society in order to be able to apply them in their personal and professional field.

Terms Taught

Spring 2022 - MIIS, Spring 2023 - MIIS

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Course Description

The objective of this course is to provide students with a holistic comprehension of sex trafficking as one of the most complex problems with numerous contributing factors mainly rooted in intersecting inequalities. In this class, we will focus largely on the Spanish speaking countries and students will have weekly readings, research and class discussions. We will examine the dynamics of sex trafficking, its causes and effects, prevalence, types of trafficking and methods of traffickers, the role of international communities, and grassroots efforts to prevent and respond to sex trafficking. This course will also facilitate interpretive, interpersonal and presentational skills development of Spanish Language at the mid/upper intermediate level. It will also aim at communication, the development of critical thinking, communication, and civic engagement.

Terms Taught

Spring 2022 - MIIS, Spring 2024 - MIIS, Spring 2025 - MIIS, MIIS Second Half of Term

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Course Description

This course is designed to provide an overview of Latin America's significant political and economic transformations during recent decades. Throughout its history, the region has undergone various political systems, including military regimes and variations of democracy, as well as economic models such as commodity export and innovative developmentalism. In this course, we will examine the impact of these political and financial systems on contemporary societies, with a particular focus on topics related to poverty, corruption, and inequality. The classwork will involve weekly readings, investigations, and mini-debates designed to foster critical thinking and also develop interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational skills in Spanish at an advanced level.

Terms Taught

Fall 2024 - MIIS

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Course Description

Peace Education for the 21st Century
The objective of this course is to discuss and generate ideas on how peace education awareness can be created and purported. In this course, we will examine the dynamics of a few approaches to peace education based on the learner’s thinking about the concept of peace in different contexts. This course will also facilitate interpretive, interpersonal and presentational skills development of Spanish Language at the upper intermediate level. It will also aim at communication, the development of critical thinking, communication, and civic engagement.

Terms Taught

Fall 2022 - MIIS

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Course Description

Terms Taught

Fall 2023 - MIIS

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Course Description

In this course, we will discuss the relationship between human rights and different issues of identity, gender and inclusion. The course will also attempt to analyze this relationship through public policies and different agents of change.

Terms Taught

Spring 2023 - MIIS

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Course Description

Terms Taught

Spring 2024 - MIIS

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Course Description

Advanced Spanish Grammar for T&I (TISP 8560) offers a comprehensive review of the grammatical structures that are most problematic for Spanish B translation and interpreting students, with particular attention paid to Spanish pronominal and verbal systems. Students will analyze grammar on the sentence level and develop strategies for translating/interpreting problematic structures.

Terms Taught

Fall 2024 - MIIS

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Areas of Interest

Content-based Instruction (CBI), (CLIL), Latin American Politics, Learner motivation in L2 and autonomy, curriculum design and scaffolding in CBI/CLIL, testing, distance/ hybrid Learning. Spanish linguistics. Recent research has focused on heritage speakers(Code-Switching) and languages in contact.

Academic Degrees

  • PhD in Foreign Languages Education (Spanish), with a Concentration in Applied Linguistics, Universidad de Granada, Granada Spain, 2016
  • MA in Educational Leadership & Linguistics, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, 2000
  • BA in English as a Foreign Language and Linguistics, Universidad Nacional Entre Ríos, Argentina, 1990

Professor Oliva has been teaching at the Institute since 2006.

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