Meet the Senior Managing Editor of SPR, Lillian Jones!

Speciality Area(s) of Research: Spanish linguistics, second language acquisition, computer-assisted language learning, and mobile-assisted language learning. My doctoral dissertation explores the impact of text messaging on L2 oral fluency of Spanish.

Academic Affiliation: University of California, Davis

Languages: English (native), Spanish (near native), Italian (intermediate)

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1. What is your role at SPR? Currently, I am the Senior Managing Editor (SME) at SPR. I was promoted into this role in the spring of 2023. Previously, I was Managing Editor (ME) of Communications where I coordinated SPR’s social media, the AATSP Announcement & Reminders blurb, various website updates, email campaigns, and other communications related responsibilities, and I also managed a team of Associate Editors. I was the ME of Communications for about two years, and before that I was an Associate Editor where I coordinated SPR’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.

2. What does your current SPR role entail?  As the SME of the journal, I am responsible for volunteer recruitment and development, project management, overseeing and supporting all teams at SPR (Communications, Book and Tool Reviews, Copyediting, and Production), managing and updating certain pages on the website, and finalizing the production of the most recent SPR issues and and publishing the final version.

3. What does volunteering at SPR look like? SPR offers several avenues for graduate students to pursue interests and develop skills in a variety of ways. For example, our Associate Editors may offer support in Peer Review, Copyediting, social media, and blog writing. These efforts can help our volunteers develop their own writing and content creation skills, as well as gain project management experience. Additionally, our Managing Editors gain leadership and project management skills, in addition to other experience. Learn more about the many benefits and how to get started volunteering at SPR.

4. What is your previous experience with SPR? In addition to volunteering as an Associate Editor, Peer Reviewer, and Managing Editor, I have had one article published with SPR. The article was published in Volume 6 and is titled “El impacto del SMS en la literacidad y otras implicaciones”. The research in this article pertains to a portion of the data collected for my Master’s Thesis. 

5. What is your current academic affiliation and what are your main areas of research? I am a Ph.D. candidate in Spanish Linguistics in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of California, Davis. I received my B.A. in Spanish from the University of Washington – Seattle, and my M.A. in Spanish from Saint Louis University. My doctoral dissertation explores the impact of text messaging on the L2 Spanish oral fluency of non-native speakers.

6. What is an interesting or fun fact about yourself? I love running! I have run two half marathons, several 10K races, and trained for the Big Sur Marathon (including 316 miles). I’m looking forward to this year’s Turkey Trot with my team!

7. Can we find you on social media? @Lily_Jones on Twitter and LinkedIn!

Meet the Managing Editor of Communications of SPR, Ivana Frisa!

Specialty Area(s) of Research: Latin American literature, the portrayal of the Italian immigrant in Argentine literary works from 19^th and 20^th-centuries.

Academic Affiliation: University of Florida

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Languages: Spanish (native), English (native)

1. What is your role at SPR? I have recently been promoted as the Managing Editor (ME) of Communications. Previously I was an Associate Editor (AE) for Communications. As an AE, my main responsibilities were social media coordination of LinkedIn and Twitter.

2. What does your current SPR role entail? As the ME of Communications, my general responsibilities are to coordinate and oversee both external and internal communications. For example, journal promotion, audience interaction, and sharing of information such as deadlines and professional development. I also manage and assist new AEs with their roles as we aim to expand the SPR brand and audience and increase community engagement. However, before making any important decisions about social media content and/or other ideas, I always consult our Senior Managing Editor, Lillian Jones. What makes our journal special, I believe, is connecting scholars and promoting the work and research of graduate students in the fields of Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian languages and cultures.

3. What does volunteering as an Associate Editor look like on your team? AEs support the Communications team in a variety of ways. For example, through social media management (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and YouTube), contributing bi-weekly updates to AATSP for the e-newsletter, contributing to the SPR blog, creating content (i.e. call for manuscripts and seeking volunteers),meeting calendar deadlines, and much more. This is a fantastic position for graduate students seeking to acquire new skills, such as leadership, and collaborate with grad students from different universities. If you are interested in volunteering in any of these platforms or for SPR as a peer reviewer, please fill out this volunteer form!

4. What is your previous experience with SPR? In addition to volunteering as an Associate Editor, Peer Reviewer, and now Managing Editor of Communications, I have had one blog published with SPR: “5 Tips for Graduate Students Attending the 105th AATSP Conference in Salamanca, Spain“.

5. What is your current academic affiliation and what are your main areas of research? I am a Ph.D. student in Spanish/Literature track within the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Florida. I received my M.A. in Spanish from Florida Atlantic University, and my B.A. in Spanish from College of Mount Saint Vincent. For my dissertation, I am interested in the reconstruction of Italian voices and their perspective on Argentina after emigrating from Italy.

6. What is an interesting or fun fact about yourself? I love everything vintage, from films to artifacts! For inspiration, I have two large authentic black and white photographs of my grandmothers from the 1950’s hanging on my wall. It is a way of preserving their memory and family history.

7. Can we find you on social media? LinkedIn

Thank you both for your energy, teamwork, and dedication to Spanish and Portuguese Review!