Wayne Steely, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Spanish
Contact
Phone: 860.231.5257
E-mail:
wsteely@sjc.edu
Web Page:
www.sjc.edu/wsteely
When Dr. Wayne Steely is in the classroom, he conveys the excitement, energy and love that he has for languages. It sometimes makes for a noisy class! Dr. Steely contends, "It's an absolute necessity to be interactive, so we all have conversations. You don't get away with not opening your mouth. You have to keep your mind going and thinking."
Although Dr. Steely likes to pair students up in groups of two to four, he also breaks off into one-on-one meetings with them to work on grammar and other individualized needs.
One of the aspects of language study that appeals most to Dr. Steely is that it "teaches you to have a lot of guts." For many people, speaking and writing in another tongue can be frightening; just ask Dr. Steely about his trip to Mexico when he was 15. The way to succeed is to be unafraid of making a mistake. "As long as students have prepared themselves and done the lessons, we can have lots of fun."
Perhaps the best gift that teaching at Saint Joseph College, as experienced by Dr. Steely, is the transformation of some students who initially face challenges with the academic coursework, but later graduate as "tremendous scholars who do wonderful things in society."
Among Dr. Steely's areas of interests are Medieval Spanish Language and Literature, Pre-Columbian and Colonial American Civilization.
Degrees
Ph.D., University of Connecticut
M.A., University of Connecticut
B.A., Drew University
