From New Jersey to Louisiana to Arizona: The Travels of a Mets Fan
If you ever ask Danielle Alfandre—the newest Writing Programs lecturer in the Department of English—about what made her opt for her area of research, you will get a one-word answer: “people.” An exemplary empathizer, she was the English “department” at the Lake Havasu campus.
As the lone English faculty at that satellite campus, she was actively involved in several curricular programs, which ranged from organizing a study abroad program to Costa Rica to conducting a criminal justice camp.
She is a true believer in creating her classes as affinity spaces for her learners, and her workplace as a collaborative platform for her colleagues. Acutely aware of the global value of English, she considers her classes to be successful only if her learners actively co-create a mutually beneficial knowledge ecology.
Originally from New Jersey, her studies took her to Baton Rouge—where she earned an MA and a PhD in linguistics from Louisiana State University. There, she also fell in love with the local cuisine.
Currently, besides wearing the multiple hats of a mentor, motivator, and guide for her students, she loves to explore places across Arizona. She enjoys Arizona’s cosmopolitan sociocultural milieu and regularly accompanies her son Alex to his baseball coaching classes.
Yes, she is a true-blue Mets fan!
Image: ASU Directory photo of Danielle Alfandre.