Barbara Avila-Shah
PhD
Language Coordinator
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Spanish
Scholarly Interests
Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Language Education; Alternative Grading; Sociolinguistics in Caribbean Spanish; Second language acquisition and teaching; Spanish for heritage speakers; Linguistics; Sociolinguistics; Caribbean Spanish
Education
- PhD, Linguistics, Cornell University, 1996
- MA, Linguistics, Cornell University, 1993
Courses Taught
- Spanish Sociolinguistics
- Intermediate Spanish Grammar
- RLL 579 FL Teaching Methods
- Introduction to Spanish Linguistics
Recent Grants and Awards
- 2013-2014 Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service
- 2014 Faculty Honorary Coach Award — UB Division of Athletics
- 2023-2024 AI Seed Grant — Office of Curriculum, Assessment and Teaching Transformation (CATT)
- 2024-2025 AI Seed Grant (CATT)
- 2024-2025 UB Faculty Fellow for AI in the Classroom
Affiliations
- CAS Language Studies Committee
- 2025 UB Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science (IAD) Affiliate Faculty Member