‘Exceptional leadership’

While Elzbieta Sklodowska’s research and teaching interests focus on the Spanish language and the history and culture of Cuba and the Caribbean, her role as chair of the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures in Arts & Sciences takes on a much broader appeal.

“Working at the intersection of the three languages housed in one department — French, Italian and Spanish — can be both challenging and invigorating,” said Sklodowska, Ph.D., also a professor of Spanish in Romance languages and literatures. “Every day, I learn valuable lessons from the interaction between diverse cultures, experiences and perspectives.

“As a fledgling chair, I have benefited enormously from the practical advice and guidance of my predecessor, Nina Davis, who had chaired the department for six years. I think that the transition has been quite smooth, thanks to the collegiality and synergy of our department.”

Her colleagues think she’s doing a wonderful job.

“Elzbieta is an outstanding chair of Romance languages and literatures who leads by her own fine example,” said Harriet A. Stone, Ph.D., professor of French. “She is dedicated, principled and fair-minded.

“She has earned the respect of all of her colleagues for her outstanding successes in her research, teaching and administration. We are fortunate to have her.”

Sklodowska was born in Poland and speaks fluent Polish, Spanish and English. She went to high school in Warsaw and earned a master’s degree in Spanish with highest distinction from the University of Warsaw in 1979.

She then came to Washington University, where she earned a doctorate in Spanish in 1983. She returned to Poland to accept an assistant professor position at her alma mater.

She came back to the United States in the late 1980s, first for a postdoctoral Mellon Fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh and then for a research fellowship at the National Humanities Center in North Carolina.

In 1991, she was awarded the habilitacja, a postdoctoral qualification granted in many European countries.

She joined the Washington University faculty in 1991 as associate professor and was named full professor in 1997. In 2003, she was named the inaugural holder of the Raymond R. Randolph, Lee Schroth Randolph, Paula Schroth Krummenacher, and William R. Randolph Professorship.

Sklodowska works with some 40 full-time faculty and 30 graduate students. The number of undergraduate majors and minors in three language sections is well over 200.

Sklodowska attributes the health of the programs in French, Italian and Spanish to the hard work and dedication of the faculty.

“We have some of the best-regarded teachers on campus,” she said. “Our faculty and teaching assistants are attuned to pedagogical and technological innovations of our times, but they also remain focused on skills and values traditionally associated with the humanities.

“The presence of our faculty extends beyond departmental boundaries, into comparative literature, International and Area Studies, Women and Gender Studies, Film and Media Studies and into the local communities.

“Thanks to the initiative and dedication of my colleague Virginia Braxs, our outreach programs for the local Hispanic community have flourished in recent years.”

Sklodowska’s own efforts have also contributed to the success of the department.

“Elzbieta has shown exceptional leadership in running the department,” said John Garganigo, Ph.D., professor of Spanish. “She has set the department on a new course by defining its future vision. She leads by example as she continues to be a superb scholar and most able administrator.

“As a human being, Elzbieta has no equals. Washington University is fortunate to count her among its ranks.”

The other reason for the popularity of language studies is the students.

“In my 14 years at Washington University, I have witnessed a growing awareness of the importance of foreign languages and cultures,” Sklodowska said. “Our undergraduates are more cosmopolitan, more interested in travel and more open to exploring the world. At an institutional level, the University has responded very well to these changes, by restructuring and expanding a variety of study abroad programs.”

Sklodowska’s main area of study and research is Spanish-American culture and literature. Her regional focus is on the Caribbean and Cuba, and she works extensively on contemporary Cuban literature and culture.

With the support of James E. McLeod, vice chancellor for students and dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, and in collaboration with her colleague, Joseph Schraibman, Ph.D., professor of Romance languages and literatures, she developed a “Focus” seminar on Cuba, which, in its third year, has been very popular with students.

“This course covers a vast array of topics related to contemporary Cuba, including political censorship, ethnicity and religious practices,” Sklodowska said. “An added and highly significant benefit of this course is a study trip to Havana, which provides first-hand experience of Cuban everyday life.

“The visit is structured around lectures by invited scholars, writers and artists, and it includes film screenings, field trips, concerts and art exhibits. It is a truly transforming experience for the students.”

She decided to launch the program because as an undergraduate, she spent a year in Cuba.

“Creating this course for Washington University freshmen was a unique chance to reconnect, to re-explore and to share,” Sklodowska said. “My own stay in Cuba was great for my language skills and my knowledge of the culture. Creating this seminar has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve done here.”

Sklodowska visits Cuba once a year or so to continue her research, focusing much of her study on contemporary Cuban narratives. Her main interest is in the conjunction between historical experience and its presentation in literature.

She has focused extensively on Cuban writers who reinvent the history of their country by blending myth and reality.

Her ongoing project, which has been inspired by recent trips to Cuba, centers on the surge in artistic and literary activity in Cuba since the 1990s. Because much of that activity is largely uncharted by literary critics, there is a lot of material to be compiled, analyzed and published.

“Doing research on contemporary Cuban literature and culture is a truly forward-looking project, and I am happy to encourage my doctoral students to explore this line of inquiry,” she said.

Sklodowska is a recognized expert on Spanish-American testimonial literature. The hybrid genre of “testimonio” overlaps literature, anthropology and historiography and is most often an outlet for recovering voices muted by official history.

Sklodowska has published six books, including two edited volumes, and more than 60 articles, book chapters and reviews in three languages.

She has received numerous awards for her writing, including the Mexican literary award “Premio Plural” for best critical essay, and the Northeast Modern Language Association Foreign Language Book Award for her piece on Latin American testimonial narrative — the first book-length study on the topic.

Sklodowska also serves on the editorial board for five journals and is the general co-editor for Latin American literature for Revista de Estudios Hispánicos, published at the University by her department.

Sklodowska’s husband, Philip, works as a theater director and a German and Polish translator. They have two children — Alexander, 14, and Inka, 8.

When she isn’t teaching, researching or managing the department, Sklodowska likes to engage in culinary experiments, ranging from Thai curries to multilayered tortes. She also enjoys traveling with her family — both Europe and the Caribbean are on this year’s list of their travel destinations.

She also likes to read books that have nothing to do with her professional interests and to do art and science projects with her children.

While being chair of the department certainly keeps her very busy, it’s a position she truly values.

“The world I knew best before becoming chair was that of teaching and research,” she said. “Now my duties have been multiplied and my responsibilities magnified.

“For me, entering the realm of administration can be likened to the experience of learning a foreign language. Fortunately, once again, I have found encouraging teachers and patient interlocutors, both at the University and at home.”