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Paqui Paredes Méndez has been named ongoing dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS) at Western Washington University, Provost Brent Carbajal announced.

Paredes previously was appointed to serve for a two-year term as dean of CHSS. Her new appointment as ongoing CHSS dean was effective as of July 23, 2019.

“After a performance evaluation last spring indicated strong support for Dr. Paredes’ leadership and even advanced a consensus recommendation that her two-year term be revised to an ongoing appointment, I am pleased that Dr. Paredes has accepted this new role.  I look forward to continued work with her in support of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the centrality of its work to the core mission of the university,” Carbajal said.

Prior to serving as CHSS dean, Paredes served at Western as a professor of Spanish and chair of the �������� Department of Modern and Classical Languages.

"It has been my great pleasure and privilege to serve as dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences during the past year,” Paredes said. “I am constantly amazed by the caliber of work that takes place in the college, in all of its departments and programs, and marvel at the degree of commitment, engagement and innovation that I see from our students, staff and faculty. I am thrilled and honored that I will be able to continue serving the college and all of its people, learning with them and from them, and engaging in the exciting work to further our mission.”

Paredes is a native of Galicia, Spain, where she lived until she completed her degrees in teaching and English at the Universidad de Santiago de Compostela. She graduated with a doctorate in Spanish literature from the University of Kansas in 2002, and joined Western’s faculty in fall 2002. Paredes taught language, literature, culture and phonetics courses in Western’s Department of Modern and Classical Languages, which she chaired from 2012 to 2018. In 2015, Paredes received Western’s Peter J. Elich Excellence in Teaching Award. She served as co-chair of Western’s Strategic Planning Committee and was one of two CHSS representatives on the University Planning and Resources Council (UPRC).

Paredes’ research focuses on late 19^th century and early 20^th century Spanish literature and cultural studies, as well as late 20th and 21st century Spanish literature. Many of her publications focus on the intersection between national identity and gender identity, particularly on how nation and gender are encoded in visual culture. She is the author (with José Ballesteros and Mark Harpring) of “Voces de España,” published by Cengage in 2004 and 2013, a textbook geared toward upper division survey courses of Spanish literature.

(CHSS), the university’s largest college, is comprised of 14 departments and two interdisciplinary programs that offer nearly 50 bachelor's degrees and 12 master's degrees.