President's Award for Excellence in Service Learning: Galen Brokaw, Spring Awards of Excellence, Academic Year 2021-22. Portrait of Galen Brokaw

Galen Brokaw

Galen Brokaw, professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, will receive the President’s Award for Excellence in Service Learning. The award carries a cash award of $1,000.

Brokaw is a professor of Hispanic studies and Latin American and Latino studies and head of the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures. He has taught service learning courses since 2016. Currently, his course pairs MSU students with English language learners in the Bozeman Public Schools. MSU language students are placed in elementary school classes that include students not fluent in English. According to award nominators, the district reports a dramatic increase in the number of Hispanic students not fluent in English. The MSU students tutor those elementary school students in English and help them with their homework.

Previously, Brokaw worked with the World Language Initiative to bring language instruction to Irving Elementary School. He also partnered with the Gallatin County Health Department to translate flyers and documents related to food safety and the Women, Infant, and Children program.

A researcher who specializes in indigenous American cultural studies focusing on Mesoamerica and the Andes, Brokaw is the author of the book “A History of the Khipu” and was co-editor with Jongsoo Lee for two books: “Texcoco: Prehispanic and Colonial Perspectives” as well as “Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl and His Legacy.”