Spanish professor Eduardo Gonzalez-Viana has been an instructor and writer here for quite some time. Growing up in Peru, he went to school and began his career at Peru's National University of Trujillo. In the early 90's he was invited by the University of California, Berkeley to be a visiting professor for a year. After spending his first year there, he was invited to come back for another two years.
During this period of time in Peru there was a dictatorship ruling the country. After experiencing the freedoms that people have in America, he decided he wanted to stay instead of going back to Peru and applied for a position at Western Oregon State College in 1993. Gonzalez has been here ever since being promoted to professor in 1996. He states that the reason why he likes it here is the small size of Western, and he considers Oregon one of the more beautiful places he has ever seen.
As soon as he moved to Monmouth he noticed a "misunderstanding" between Spanish-speaking and English-speaking residents. He saw that it was hard for Mexican and other Spanish-speaking immigrants to assimilate themselves into society so that they could succeed. Because of this he started a program called "Building a Bridge" that aims to make the vast changes that these people experience less difficult.
The program sends his students who are learning Spanish into the households of Spanish-speaking families. Students go into homes and teach the family members various things. They help them with their English, American History, DMV rules and regulations, essentially anything that gives them skills for success. By his own estimation he believes since he started the program in 1993 that over 1,000 locals have benefited from the program. "My mission is to help us get along with each other, and to get along with ourselves," said Gonzalez.
Other than helping local families immerse themselves into American culture, Gonzalez loves to write. He has been writing professionally for a long time and was first published when he was 15. He writes a weekly column that gets published throughout the Americas in nearly 40 different newspapers and periodicals called "Correo de Salem." He has published over 20 books and nearly 400 articles.
He has been recognized in the Latino community as an excellent author. One of his more recent publications called "Los Suenos de America," has been translated into English and is a New York Times bestseller. It was originally published in Spain. The book is an anthology of 20 short stories that includes the accounts of some of his student participants in the Building a Bridge program and also includes some of his own experiences in America.
His most recently released novel "El Corrido de Dante" won this year's International Latino Book Award for best adventure or drama novel. His novel was selected for the award over Isabel Allende, who is one of the most popular Spanish writers in the world. The book is about a Mexican who lives on Mt. Angel. The man is a farmer from Michoacan who travels the US looking for his lost daughter. Throughout the book he tells his life story to his companion who is accompanying him, a Donkey named Virgilio. Gonzalez is almost always working on a book or some kind of other publication. Gonzalez, referencing the Jessica Todd ghost-story, jokes, "I am the ghost that really haunts Todd Hall because I am here nearly all day long working on something, even on Saturdays and Sundays." The Spanish professor won the university's 2006 Mario and Alma Pastega Award for Scholarship which honors a full-time faculty member who demonstrates outstanding creativity of scholarly accomplishments.He has just finished a biography of Cesar Vallejo, an important Latin American poet.
Gonzalez feels that his mission in life is to help people. One of the many ways he tries to help is through his writing, using his own experiences to teach and help others. The Building a Bridge program has helped many non native Oregonians settle and become more comfortable after undergoing so many changes. When he traveled to Peru, in late summer, he arrived right after an earthquake hit the central portion of the country. While visiting his native land he assisted in the relief efforts designed to help those who had lost their homes and been otherwise affected by the earthquake.
He believes teaching Spanish at Western is yet another way he can help. His advice to those learning a foreign language: "You can't learn to dance without another person." But, if you practice with a partner, or two, the lessons will be learned much easier. Through his writing and helping Spanish speakers learn English, he is giving them a voice and a better chance to realize and reach their dreams.•
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