David Engel, Senior Instructor of Spanish, has been teaching 100 level, 200 level and independent study courses at OSU-Cascades since 2015.

David also co-directs the Faculty Support Center, is a Unit Representative on the Academic Faculty Council, represents OSU-Cascades as a fellow with the OSU Center for Teacher and Learning, and is faculty advisor to the Spanish and Culture Club.

Additionally, David has served on the Higher Education Committee of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP) where he played a role in the development of the organization’s Statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. He has presented at national conferences for AATSP as well as with the Confederation in Oregon for Language Teaching (COFLT), and has served as the instructional coordinator of COSSI, the Central Oregon Summer Spanish Immersion Program since its inception in 2016.

David is Co-Founder of Ventanas, LLC, which develops and leads cultural immersion programs in Spain and Portugal. He has provided Spanish instruction and training in Oregon since 2006 with such organizations as Central Oregon Community College (COCC), Bend-LaPine Schools, Redmond and Jefferson County School Districts, Deschutes County, St. Charles Medical Center, Deschutes Public Library, Bend and Redmond Fire Departments, Sisters Park and Recreation, Sunriver Resort, Crook County Library and Crescent Ranger District. He does official document translation for public institutions.

David earned a Master of Arts in Spanish Language Teaching from Southern Oregon University and Universidad de Guanajuato, a Diploma of Spanish as a Foreign Language from the Cervantes Institute in Madrid, a Master of Divinity from Denver Seminary, and Certifications in Catalan from Escola Oficial d’Idiomes in Girona, Spain and in Outdoor Leadership from the Generalitat de Catalunya in Barcelona.

His interactive teaching approach empowers students to advance their communication skills in Spanish and create meaningful connections and opportunities in the local community and the world. His scholarship focuses on the use of literature in the acquisition of Spanish.

In 2022 David was an honoree for the OSU-Cascades Bend Beavs Culture Award. In 2017 he received the COCC Faculty Achievement Award as Part Time Instructor of the Year. In 2016 he was a recipient of the Robert G. Mead, Jr. Travel and Research Scholarship. He has traveled to more than thirty countries and has led service projects to Honduras, Mexico, the Navajo Reservation in Arizona and multi-cultural urban settings in Los Angeles.

Selected Presentations

Engel, D.M. (2022, July). Presentation-Based Learning – Students as Architects in the Spanish Language Classroom. Presentation at the national conference of AATSP, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Engel, D.M. (2019, October). La historia y la cultura de tapas: un recorrido por el pasado y el presente de España a través de los platos compartidos. Presentation at the bi-annual conference of the Washington Association for Language Teaching (WAFLT) and (COFLT), Portland, OR.

Engel, D.M. (2019, July). Pasión por la lectura: la incorporación de la literature en la enseñanza de español como lengua extranjera. Presentation at the national conference of AATSP, San Diego, CA.

Engel, D.M. (2017, October). Creating Immersion Experiences in the Foreign Language Classroom. Presentation at the annual conference of COFLT, Eugene, OR.

Engel, D.M. (2015, October). Using Authentic Texts in the Beginning Level Spanish Class. Presentation at the annual conference of COFLT, Portland, OR.

Engel, D.M. (2006, January). La explotación de dinámicas y otras actividades en la naturaleza. Presentation at the international conference of LATINA, Quito, Ecuador.