Office Hours: Faculty profiles

Catalina Iannone

Assistant Professor in Spanish and Portuguese

An assistant professor in Spanish and Portuguese, Catalina Iannone specializes in contemporary Iberian studies. With a primary focus on Spanish urban spaces and popular culture, her area of expertise has been carefully crafted over the years.

Her passion for the Spanish language and culture was confirmed after a study abroad experience in Spain following her undergraduate degree at New York University in 2010. Because of how that experience impacted her career, she encourages students interested in similar fields to do the same.

“Immerse yourself as much as possible, be it through studying abroad or traveling to a Spanish-speaking country or Portuguese-speaking country,” she said. “If you can't do that, find ways to immerse yourself locally through different communities, such as taking the ‘Spanish in Ohio’ course at Ohio State.”

Iannone leads a four-week study abroad course called Global May Spain, which is based primarily in Madrid where students get to experience classroom lectures, guided tours of Madrid, day trips to regional cities, guided visits to museums and cultural centers, a Flamenco dance class, a cooking class and other cultural activities. She also encourages students to apply for the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant Program.

Abby Zbikowski

Associate Professor of Dance

Radioactive Practice, a show choreographed by Associate Professor Abby Zbikowski and her dance company Abby Z and the New Utility, reminds us that dance is more than the beauty of choreographed movement and physical expression. It is an exercise that compels each of us to reflect and look beneath the surface to find nuance and complexity in the world around us.

For Zbikowski, the classroom is more than a space to push the physicality of dance — it is where the boundaries of dance are explored through the interpretation of contemporary issues. In her class, students are encouraged to look within themselves to find those answers and discover their limits.

“What is it about people that they opt-in to do things that are hard and physically uncomfortable?” she said. “There are people who thrive on that and there’s a psychology that I’m interested in that has always been in my work. … What is that like when you know the edge of what you can handle? How do you proceed? How do you process?”

Zbikowski began dancing at a young age, finding comfort in the movement that helped process aspects of her life. “Dance has the possibility to represent individuals from the inside out,” she said.

She shares those nuanced layers of dance with students, encouraging them to enter the space with an open mind and be prepared to face challenges head-on.

“Just because someone hasn’t done it before who looks like you or thinks like you doesn’t mean it can’t be done,” she said. “It’s not about perfection. It’s all about the process.”