Blackburn College’s Spanish professor and chair of the Department of Modern Languages Dr. Timothy Wilson teaches several classes at Blackburn College and is nationally known for his specialty in South American rock music. Wilson earned his Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and literature in 1990 at Northern Illinois University, his Master of Arts in Spanish in 1995 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his Ph.D. in Spanish in 2006 at the same university. He also managed to live in Argentina for five years, Germany for three and taught in Alaska. He is trilingual, speaking English, German and Spanish fluently, with a proficiency in Italian and Portuguese.
Wilson has taught at Blackburn for three years and recently applied for tenure, hoping to remain teaching at Blackburn for quite awhile. “I am happy to have so much contact with students,” Wilson said. Freshman accounting major Lindsey Mallot said, “I have Spanish 101 with him. His personality is amazing, outgoing and fun. My favorite part about him is that he teaches in such a unique way, he really knows how to get the class to participate and have fun.”
While he admits that his job is not always the easiest, Wilson has created activities at Blackburn in order to promote multiculturalism. “A part of my job is to bring the world to Blackburn with different cultural events,” said Wilson. Recently, he helped the Spanish club host a party to which the entire student body was invited. Wilson expressed his concern about the lack of new foreign language options on campus, “Really what I need to do here is teach students languages that they really want to learn and I am not sure what languages are in demand.” Wilson is pushing for a new language to be offered. “I would like to bring a language that would be a very useful one. For example, American Sign Language,” said Wilson. He also plans to bring back a class taught previously based on his research on Spanish rock music that he brings back every few years.
In addition to his work at Blackburn College, Wilson has several academic accomplishments. Recently, his work was quoted in the “Rolling Stone” magazine where Blackburn was also mentioned. Wilson will have an article published before the end of the year in The Oxford University Press Blog, “one of the most widely read academic blogs in the world,” according to the Oxford University Press. Wilson also attends yearly national conferences focusing on literature and music. “Last year I attended a conference in Havana, Cuba, and this year, in Europe. It always excites me to see everyone with similar passions come together in one place while representing Blackburn,” he said.
Wilson works closely with and is married to Spanish adjunct professor and coordinator of the study abroad program at Blackburn Siri Engstrom. They have three sons. Wilson is also kept busy by being the leader of an acapella Barbershop Quartet and playing in a local rock band “Sons of the Mother Road.”