Casilde A. Isabelli

Casilde A. Isabelli is a Professor of Hispanic Linguistics and serves as the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Nevada, Reno. She holds a Ph.D. in Spanish Linguistics from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and has been at UNR since 2000. Her roles include Director of the Basic Spanish Language Program (2001–2014), Chair of the Department of World Languages and Literatures (2014–2022), and co-host of the 2019 Generative Approaches to Second Language Acquisition Conference.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Spanish Linguistics and Second Language Acquisition and Teaching, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (2001)
• 1-year research fellowship at the University of Barcelona, Spain (1997–1998)
• M.A. in Hispanic Literature and Linguistics, University of Iowa (1994)
• B.A. in Mathematics (Computer Science) and Spanish, Illinois State University (1992)

Research Interests:

• Psycholinguistics and syntactic processing
• Heritage language acquisition and second language acquisition
• Language learning in study-abroad and service-learning contexts
• Spanish syntax and morphology, particularly subjunctive mood development

Her work emphasizes empirical studies on language processing, study-abroad outcomes, and pedagogical approaches.

Advising & Outreach:

• Advisor for Sigma Delta Pi (National Hispanic Honor Society chapter)
• Hosted scholar visits from experts like Abbott, Potowski, and Montrul
• Co-developed widely used Spanish language textbooks including En tu medio and Puntos de partida

Labs/Teams: Actively involved in the Department of World Languages and Literatures' academic and administrative leadership, focusing on language program development and faculty mentorship.