Dr. Pilar Valenzuela
Associate Professor of Spanish Linguistics

Pilar Valenzuela received a B.A. in Hispanic Linguistics & Literature and a Diploma in Anthropology from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, as well as a Master’s and a Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Oregon. Her doctoral dissertation, Transitivity in Shipibo-Konibo Grammar, received the “Mary R. Haas Book Award” granted by the Society for the Study of the Indigenous Languages of the Americas.

Dr. Valenzuela’s publications comprise two books and various articles, especially on Panoan and Kawapanan languages; topics include synchronic & historical syntax, ethnobiological taxonomy, verb borrowing, and the bilingual testimony of an indigenous Amazonian woman. She has also worked as researcher, instructor and consultant in language development and intercultural bilingual education among the indigenous peoples of Peru and Bolivia. Professor Valenzuela has been awarded the prestigious Wang-Fradkin Professorship for Scholarly Excellence (2006-2008) as well as a National Science Foundation grant to document the languages of the Kawapanan family in Peruvian Amazonia (DEL BCS-0853285). 

Courses Taught at Chapman:

• SPAN 102 - Elementary Spanish II
• SPAN 345 - Advanced Spanish Conversation
• SPAN 343 - Advanced Grammar & Composition
• SPAN 396 - Intro to Hispanic Linguistics
• SPAN 440 - A Multidisciplinary Approach to Spanish Bilingualism
• SPAN 441 - Spanish Phonetics and Phonology
• SPAN 499 - Documenting Shiwilu: A vanishing language from the Upper Amazon
• IELP 201GC - Individual Experiential Learning Project (Jeberos, Peruvian Amazonia)

Undergraduate students discussing their involvement with the Shiwilu Project

Chapman undergraduate students discussing their involvement with the Shiwilu Project, specifically in the elaboration of a trilingual (Shiwilu-Spanish-English) dictionary.