Faculty and Staff

Catherine Nasara
Department Chair

Daniela Goldfine
Spanish

Daniela is a native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, but has lived in MN/WI almost half of her life. She finished college at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and then obtained her Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota, where she specialized in contemporary Jewish Argentinean cultural productions and post-dictatorship literature and film. She enjoys teaching Spanish language classes. Latin American and Spanish History and Literature classes, the Spanish Methods class for future K-12 Spanish teachers, and more. She absolutely loves traveling! Espero conocer y quiar a muchos estudiantes de español y crear clases donde todxs sean bienvenidxs. 

Carlos Andres Rojas
Spanish

Carlos completed his PhD in Hispanic Linguistics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, researching Spanish Second Language (L2) phonetic and phonological development, and minoring in Portuguese and Second Language Acquisition (SLA). He finished his MA in Spanish Language and Literature from Marquette University. Previously, he graduated from the Universidad del Quindio with a BA degree in Modern Languages and Education. A few of his hobbies include biking, playing soccer, exploring new parks with his toddler, and traveling. 

Julie Elias Bird
Spanish

Julie is the instructor for all 100 level sections of Spanish, as well as foreign language teaching methods for UWRF College of Education. She is a high honor graduate of Michigan State University with a major in Spanish and a minor in music. Her master degree was earned in Second Language Acquisition/Spanish, studying at Bennington College, Vermont. She is super interested in how culturally authentic music plays a role in language acquisition and cultural understanding. Outside of a class you will find Julie performing with the Sheldon Theatre Bass Band, as well as UWRF's Symphony and Community bands. Julie enjoys traveling and hearing live local music groups. She also is a regular contributes to the Bird's Eye View collumn and often posts bilingually in the blog of Life and Fish Tacos.

Lindsey Keough
Spanish

She graduated from Ripon College with a BA degree in Spanish and English. She went on to complete an MA degree in Spanish Language and Literature from Marquette University. Later, she completed education coursework at Concordia University in order to fulfill the requirements for a WI teaching license. She is interested in curriculum development and training future teachers. In her free time, she enjoys reading, trying out new restaurants, and spending time with friends and family. 

Magara Maeda
Japanese

Originally from Japan, Magara has a M.S. in Applied Linguistics from Georgetown University. She has been an advocate, leader, and mentor for Japanese language education for many years as well as an early adopter of blended learning. She is the recipient of the 2020 AATJ Teacher Award (Community College, College, and University Levels). Her extensive expertise in teaching online and building hybrid courses for Japanese has provided extensive support to language educators. She has published several articles on topics of blended learning and technology. Magara enjoys cooking, gardening, agility (dog sports), and outdoor activities. Her recent passion besides teaching is pickleball!

Rebecca Raham
German

Dr. Raham grew up on the East Coast but has lived in Minnesota, mainly in St. Paul, for many years. She teaches three German courses per semester (German 101/102; German 301/302; and one advanced German course), as well as one section of English 200. She enjoys getting to know her students and finds students' progress throughout the semester or over the course of the German minor very rewarding. She enjoys spending time with her two cats, playing the New York Times Spelling Bee game, watching British crime shows, and staying in touch with friends and family. Deutsch macht Spass!