Ana-Isabel Aliaga-Buchenau, associate professor of German, is the 2018 recipient of the International Education Faculty Award. The honor was presented at the 24th annual UNC Charlotte International Education Celebration, held in the Atkins Library Halton Reading Room.
Aliaga-Buchenau, also associate chair of the Department of Languages and Culture Studies, has been a UNC Charlotte faculty member since 2002. During her tenure, she has embraced international education in her teaching, service and research.
According to her nominator, Michèle Bissière, “Dr. Aliaga-Buchenau has significantly impacted the internationalization of UNC Charlotte. Her contributions in curriculum creation, fundraising, community outreach and research have changed the landscape of international education in the German program, the Department of Languages and Culture Studies and UNC Charlotte in general.”
Aliaga-Buchenau’s contributions to international education are numerous, including proposing a spring break model for short-term study abroad; creating and offering unique spring break short-term study abroad programs to Berlin, Germany, Auschwitz, Poland, Vienna and Austria; assisting with the design of the minor in Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights; spearheading the design of the minors in Chinese and Arabic Studies; and supporting the design of the Certificate of Translation in Japanese and the Graduate Certificate in Translation Studies in German.
During the past 16 years, Aliaga-Buchenau has assisted with efforts to increase the number of German majors from 32 to 110. She has worked tirelessly to expand students’ opportunities to study, work and/or intern abroad, and her outreach work with the German community of the greater Charlotte region has resulted in cooperation with the German Language and Culture Foundation that includes issuance of $2,000 scholarships to 30 students to study in Germany during each summer. She also designed a four-week intensive language program at the prestigious Goethe-Institute for study abroad opportunities.
Furthermore, Aliaga-Buchenau established internship options in Charlotte and abroad for students studying German. She sends students to Germany to complete internships through the American Chamber of Commerce Program in Atlanta, Georgia. In addition, students have numerous opportunities to work as interns in German-American companies here in Charlotte. During one semester, Aliaga-Buchenau placed 27 German majors as interns in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools’ German Language programs.
Aliaga-Buchenau received a plaque and a $2,000 stipend, presented by the faculty review committee chairperson Dolly King, associate dean for research and graduate programs in the Belk College of Business, on behalf of Assistant Provost Joël Gallegos and the Office of International Programs.