University at Albany
State University of New York
Department Languages, Literatures and Cultures

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Anthony Gisolfi 
Memorial Scholarship

MAILBAG

Faculty Books

Graduate Student Bulletin

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The children of the late Anthony M. Gisolfi have established a memorial scholarship in accordance with their father’s wish to recognize “academically outstanding undergraduates majoring in Italian who intend to pursue a career in teaching.” Dr. Gisolfi was a member of the Hispanic and Italian Studies faculty at UAlbany from 1967 through 1976. Diana Gisolfi, Laura Gisolfi Gilbert, Mimi Gisolfi D’Aponte and Peter Gisolfi made the $10,000 gift to the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures last May on their father’s behalf. The gift will enable LLC to make an award of up to $500 each year. 

LLC faculty and staff were delighted to learn of the gift. Maria Keyes, now a full-time lecturer of Italian for the department, remembers her former professor fondly: “I had the pleasure of being one of Professor Gisolfi’s students in the mid-seventies. I was particularly impressed by the respect and love that he showed for Italian culture, the art of teaching and his students. He was a serious educator who loved traditions and had a great sense of humor. The remembrance that I have of him is one of respect and gratitude.” Department Chair David Wills adds, “The Gisolfi award provides a great boost for our already thriving Italian program, ably led by Professors Pelosi and Keyes and a dedicated cohort of majors. It is both touching and gratifying to see children of a former colleague determined to keep alive the flame of Italian studies at Albany.” 

Scholarship recipients will also receive Dr. Gisolfi’s autobiographical novel, Caudine Country: The Old World and an American Childhood, copies of which were donated by the Gisolfi family. LLC has established a committee to review scholarship applications and select candidates. The first scholarship winner will be announced in May 2003, at LLC’s graduation ceremony.
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Dear LLC,

My name is Annette Scheuer and I received my M.A. from the Department of French Studies in 1990. Many of my professors have retired, but I remember them all fondly. Please send regards to Professors Winn, Santoni, the Brières, Professor Fox and Professor Salomon. Maybe some of them will remember me... 

After receiving my Masters, I taught at Skidmore College for three years full time. In 1994, I had a daughter, Nina. She’s now 8 years old! I stayed home with her full time for three years (the most challenging three years of my life) and then went back to teaching part time at Union College. 

In 1999, a dream came true for us. My husband, employed by the NYS Department of Health as an engineer, was able to get a transfer to the Saranac Lake District Office of the Health Department. We were able to move to our beloved Adirondack Mountains just in time for Nina to start kindergarten. We live in Saranac Lake, about 5 minutes from Lake Placid. Saranac Lake has a sister city in Burgundy, a tiny town called Entrains-sur-Nohains. 

I never expected to find employment in my field; I was prepared to do something else with my French, perhaps in the tourism industry, in exchange for being able to live here and have the quality of life we always wanted. But as it happened, Paul Smith’s College, which is known for its culinary/hospitality school and great forestry/outdoor recreation program, was looking for a French instructor. I really “stepped in it” as some might say. I teach elementary and intermediate language courses, as well as an intensive cultural immersion course for the students going to Entrains for their culinary externship. They work in hotels, restaurants, bakeries, charcuteries, etc. for ten weeks. Those who do the externship in the Fall work on the vineyards during the wine harvest.

I now have a perfect balance between the teaching that I enjoy so much and motherhood. I am fortunate that the college works my part-time schedule around my daughter’s school hours. It’s also great for me to have another balance - being able to pursue my passion for teaching French language and culture, and to be able to do it on the shores of Lower St. Regis Lake, where faculty can borrow canoes whenever they want! Inhaling vast amounts of balsam fir while you’re making your students listen to Renaissance court dances is great for the soul... 

I wish everyone well and am happy to hear news from the department. I can say that as a product of the French Studies Department, I have found my niche amongst the lakes and mountains up here; couldn’t ask for more. I hope to return to France very soon; it’s been too long -Switzerland was the closest we got in Summer 2002 -have told my daughter that France is way more fun...but there’s no place like home.

Best regards to all, Annette Scheuer M.A., French, '90
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Les Français Third edition textbook, co-authored by Jean-François Brière, French Studies Program. Published by Prentice Hall, 2001. 

Bravo! Fourth edition textbook, co-authored by Jean-François Brière, French Studies Program. Published by Heinle & Heinle, 2002.
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Congratulations to the two doctoral students in the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures’ Hispanic and Italian Studies Program who were awarded Ph.D. degrees in 2001-2002: Enrique Morales-Díaz and Montserrat Mochón. Dr. Morales-Díaz is now an Assistant Professor of Spanish at Hartwick College’s Modern Languages Department in Oneonta, New York. Dr. Mochón is teaching Spanish at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts.

Receiving Master’s degrees in 2001-2002 were Michael C. English, Mark I. Fisher, Barbara Garcés, Toby Gillen and Jennifer Reed (French Studies); Faith Dymond, Diana Natalie, Veronica Puente-Windle, Maria Magdalena Slone and Colleen Young (Hispanic and Italian Studies); and Lynne Blackburn, Sara Detmer and Jionglu Xia (Slavic and Eurasian Studies). (Back to What's Inside)