Professor embraces language-culture connection
Dr. Pete Swanson, U.S. Air Force Academy Department of Foreign Languages associate Spanish professor, takes a moment before a scheduled appointment with a cadet Oct. 5, 2023. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Matthew Domingos)
By Randy Roughton
U.S. Air Force Academy Strategic Communications
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo.– U.S. Air Force Academy Spanish professor Dr. Pete Swanson has a simple educational philosophy that echoes that of the Department of Foreign Languages mission: “From the Classroom to the field to the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force.”
“We want to see the best in the cadets,” Swanson said. “It is important our cadets are highly proficient in the languages that they study. We want cadets to be able to use their target language so they can communicate competently and culturally appropriately with people, whether in Russian, Arabic or Spanish.”
An impressive reputation
Swanson was invited to the Academy as a distinguished visiting professor from Georgia State University in 2017. He had already built a reputation for his studies on highly effective language teachers as a professor of Spanish. Swanson addressed the shortage of language teachers and proposed ways to ameliorate the situation in his 2013 book, “Identifying and Recruiting Language Teachers.”
Since he was hired as an assistant professor in 2019, Swanson continues to advance one of the Academy’s institutional outcomes of increasing understanding of the human condition, cultures and societies. The outcome serves as the root for the 31st National Character and Leadership Development Symposium theme.
Enhancing language and culture education
“Dr. Swanson is an institutional asset who engages at every level across all mission elements and is currently the dean of faculty’s point of contact for the upcoming NCLS,” said Col. J. P. Peltier, Department of Foreign Languages chair. “As a past president of the American Council of the Teaching of Foreign Languages, Dr. Swanson brings internationally recognized expertise and networks to enhance language and culture education. He is a force multiplier whose presence greatly benefits the wider Academy community.”
Dr. Pete Swanson, U.S. Air Force Academy associate Spanish professor, talks to Cadet 3rd Class Roy Castellanos at the Department of Foreign Languages’ weekly Tertulia Spanish conversation gathering Oct. 10, 2023. (U.S. Air Force photo by Rayna Grace)
Connecting culture and language
Swanson considers himself a constructivist. In constructivism theory, people learn by integrating information with what they already know rather than simply receiving knowledge. His instructional style reflects that learning theory, he said.
“I believe that everybody can learn,” Swanson said. “I think people bring their knowledge with them, and we connect culture and language to that knowledge. We don’t want cadets to learn about the language in English. We want them to acquire it in Spanish, French or whatever the target language is.”
Part of an outstanding team
He is proud to work at an institution that consistently produces Marshall and Rhodes Scholars and fosters collaboration with faculty members who have impressive credentials.
“We have a retired brigadier general in the department teaching Chinese who served as the defense attaché in Beijing,” Swanson said. “To have such high-performing individuals with such extensive experience is like being taught by a Nobel Prize-winning theologian such as Albert Schweitzer or Albert Einstein.” The cadets are very fortunate to have such impressive instructors all around them.”
The Human Condition
As the leader of the team responsible for meeting the Academy’s institutional outcome of understanding the human condition, cultures and societies,, Swanson provides guidance on developing culture and language connections with cadets.
The purpose of this outcome is that graduates will be able to interact successfully with a wide range of individuals, including those representing cultures and societies different from their own. To foster cadet success, the team created a three-phased approach to help cadets achieve this understanding, including knowing oneself, knowing others and constructive engagement.
One way Swanson said they are tackling those three prongs is through the National Character and Leadership Symposium.
The 2024 NCLS theme, scheduled for Feb. 22-23, 2024, is “Valuing the Human Condition, Cultures and Societies.” Registration begins Jan. 3, 2024.
Dr. Pete Swanson, U.S. Air Force Academy associate Spanish professor, poses for photos with U.S. Air Force Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Richard Clark and Dean of the Faculty Brig. Gen. Linell Letendre at the U.S. Air Force Academy Outstanding Academy Educator Awards May 6, 2022. (U.S. Air Force photo by Josh Armstrong)