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LLC News

Dr. Veronqiue Martin’s French conversation class
utilizes videoconferences with native speakers in France to fine tune skills.

Congratulation to Professor Alejandra Aguilar
whose article “Activismo, literatura y cambio social en el Caribe hispano: aproximación en tres movimientos” was awarded the 2019 Adela Zamudio Prize for Best Published Article by a member of Feministas Unidas in the areas of feminist studies, gender studies, queer studies and studies related to works of literature and cinema by female authors. The award will be presented at the 2020 MLA Annual Convention in Seattle.

Congratulations to Dr. Cecily Corbett
(PhD in Spanish Linguistics, 2017) who has just published an article in the Journal Spanish in Context, "Short-term accommodation as a function of addressee language proficiency".

Congratulations to Lotfi Sayahi
for the new edition of his book Diglossia and Language Contact Language Variation and Change in North Africa.

Congratulations to Elise Bouhet
(UAlbany FRE MA and PhD) who won the 8th Annual Lawrence R. Schehr Memorial Award competition! The prize is awarded to the best conference paper submitted by a junior colleague in the field of contemporary French and Francophone civilization and cultural studies. Her essay investigates the role of dance performance and choreography in the representation of the French revolts of 2005 through JR’s ballet performance and subsequent short film Les Bosquet and argues that JR’s works of art offer a different perspective on the French riots.

Congratulations to Averill Park High School Students
Frédéric Meni of CLIC serves as judge on Averill Park High School Seal of Biliteracy committee for French-speaking seniors.

Congratulations to Ilka Kressner
who has received The Judy L. Genshaft Initiatives For Women Award!

Congratulations to Cynthia Fox
who received the Chancellor's 2018-2019 Award for Excellence in Faculty Service.

Congratulations
to Carmen Serrano and colleagues in 2 other departments who received funding for their StAR grant application, "Podcast Pilot Program: UAlbany Student Success Stories."

Congratulations
to Megan Solon, Alejandra Aguilar, and Lotfi Sayahi who were nominated for the Torch Faculty/Student Engagement Award, “an opportunity for graduating seniors to recognize a faculty member who has had a positive impact on their academic and personal success" and for going "above and beyond." LLC’s faculty are committed to student success and students see that, acknowledging this work in promoting positive educational experiences.

Congratulations to Professor Sara Zahler
this Spring's faculty Terra Awardee! The award recognizes contributions to the sustainability culture of UAlbany.

Congratulations to Timothy Sergay
whose article "Jakobson, Whorf, and the Fractal Vision of Language" in ACTA UNIVERSITATIS UPSALIENSIS Uppsala Studies on Eastern Europe 8 was just published. A PDF of the book is available open access here.

Obituary
It is with deep sadness that LLC shares the loss of French Emeritus Professor Robert Greene.

Congratulations
to our newest Spanish PhD graduate, Dr. Farah Ali, who successfully defended 3/13/19!

Enrollment for Fall 2019 and Summer 2019 courses starts 3/11/19!
Course offerings and fall course descriptions are available here. We look forward to seeing you in class! Students not enrolled in a degree program may enroll "non-degree" through the Office of General Studies (high school seniors who excel in their coursework are also eligible).

Congratulations to French alumnus John Teevan
who just published another book, Secret Weapon and Last Hope, a political drama about power, betrayal, love, hope, and the forces that build a nation - and prevent its utter demise.

French broadcasts on radio across the US
Read more here.

Spring 2019 LLC Activities
All are welcome to LLC’s many extracurricular activities, including LLC Seminars, LLC Clubs and Tables, and other events.

It is with great sadness that we announce the death on October 23 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida of our colleague Maurice Westmoreland.

A child of the mid-west, Maurice grew up in Iowa, received his BA from Lawrence University (Wisconsin), his MA and PhD in Spanish linguistics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and completed three years on the faculty at Ohio State before coming to Albany. As member of the Program in Hispanic Studies, he taught Spanish and linguistics from 1990-2018 and served as department chair from 2014-2017. Over the years, he taught hundreds of students, and his sense of fairness and his dedication to their success has been an inspiration to us all. Indeed, having served on every Spanish linguistics PhD committee during this time, his commitment to students in our graduate program was especially noteworthy.

Please join us a gathering to honor his memory on Saturday, December 8 from 3:00 - 4:00pm in the Alumni House, (UAlbany Uptown Campus, map here. We also welcome donations to the Maurice J. Westmoreland Award for Excellence in Hispanic Graduate Studies which we established upon his retirement and plan to confer annually to an outstanding graduate student selected by the Spanish faculty.

For more information please contact Janna Harton (jharton@albany.edu).

Congratulations to FRE graduate John Teevan!
on his new book, The Traveler’s Sketchbook, a collection of drawings from study abroad in Paris and travel around the world. More information here.

Congratulations!
to Carmen Serrano on her new book, Gothic Imagination in Latin American Fiction and Film.

LLC alumna Jayne Boisvert
has published a new book, Pilgrimage to Paris. She'll be at the Stuyvesant Plaza Book House 11/15 promoting it. More information here.

Business Spanish
ASPN407, is being offered this winter session at UAlbany as an online course. Students not currently enrolled in a degree program can enroll "non-degree" through the Office of General Studies.

The Portuguese Club
enjoyed a presentation from the Capoeira Club.

Congratulations to FRE grad John Teevan
who just published a new book, The Love Letter with a Bullet Hole. There will be a book launch Tuesday 10/23/18 at 6pm at the Albany Public Library - Pine Hills, 517 Western Ave., Albany, NY with refreshments and an author reading.

The French-Russian Connection
Dr. Timothy Sergay, Associate Professor of Russian, gave a presentation this summer at the Berkshire High Peaks Festival on his research on the cultural connections between France and Russia.

Spanish Majors Apply to Medical School
Highly competitive high school seniors planning to major in Spanish at UAlbany now have the opportunity via the Guaranteed Entrance Program to simultaneoulsy apply for admission into Upstate Medical University’s MD program. www.albany.edu/advisement/guaranteed-entrance-to-upstate-college-of-medicine.shtml

Congratulations to the 2018-19 Diversity Transformation Award recipients
Drs. Cynthia Fox and Megan Solon for their proposal “Diversity TALKS: A Film and Speaker Series on Language, Language Learning, and Social Justice,” enabling them to invite 3 special guest speakers to campus this fall. For details see the flier.

Congratulation to Ricardo Estremera!
Spanish PhD student, who won silver in the 3000 steeplechase competition representing Puerto Rico in the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games in Colombia.

For all the latest LLC Department news
from our faculty, students and alumni, visit our 2018 Spring/Summer LLC Newsletter.

Congratulations to LLC's three 2018 Initiatives for Women awardees
Drs. Alejandra Aguilar and Megan Solon, and Spanish PhD student Tara Feeney, who were recognized in the IFW awards ceremony on 7/19/18.

Congratulations to the 2018-19 Diversity Transformation Award recipients
Drs. Lotfi Sayahi and Leonardo Correa, and Tara Feeney and Anahi Bolanos for their proposal “Linguistic Diversity among Hispanics in NY.” This award is presented by the UAlbany Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

Congratulations to our Honor Societies Inductees!
PI DELTA PHI, FRENCH HONOR SOCIETY INDUCTEES
Hunter C. Belanger, Fatou Camille Ngounou Mbotchawo.
SIGMA DELTA PI, SPANISH HONOR SOCIETY INDUCTEES
Christine Andriacos, Elizabeth Batty, Patrick J Farrell, Amanda Helak, Michael Hill, Zachary Kogut, Kaitlin Moen, Niara Morrison, Nelizbeth G Muñoz, Jenna Pardi, Fransheska Olivares Pérez, Katherine Ramirez, Emily Rocks, Dayleen Santana Rodríguez, Ines García Rojas, Nikauri Silfa, Yarden Sussman, Anthony Tangredi, Brianna Tesoriero, Laine Thelian, Nadine Zaky Kotb.

Congratulations to all our LLC graduates! The LLC faculty and staff wish you the very best!

The Louise C. and Earl M. Applegate Award
Congratulations to Alejandra Aguilar, Assistant Professor of Hispanic and Italian Studies, whose project has been selected for The Louise C. and Earl M. Applegate Award made available through Initiatives for Women. This award will allow her to further her research on Afro-descendant writers in Latin America.

Presidential Award for Undergraduate Research
Spanish major Nadine Zaky Kotb received the Presidential Award for Undergraduate Research for her project “Gender assignment to English nouns in Arabic in New York.” Congratulations to her!

National Poetry Month Librarians with Lattes
Spanish major Nadine Zaky Kotb (double-majoring in Political Science) discusses poetry across culture in a National Poetry Month Librarians with Lattes podcast. Listen HERE.

University Libraries' Campus Conversations
Professor Ilka Kressner delivered a talk titled “Photographic Contact Zones: The Mexican Travel Photographs of Fritz Neugass" as part of the University Libraries' Campus Conversations in Standish series on March 28th, 2018.

LLC in the News!
Teaching, Service and Creativity Rewarded with President’s Excellence Awards
LLC is proud to be represented with this year's awardees Dr. Cynthia Fox & Dr. Véronique Martin.

Congratulations
to Farah Ali, who will start working as Visiting Assistant Professor of Spanish at Gettysburg College in the Fall of 2018.

Congratulations
to our newest French PhD graduate, Dr. Nabila El Guennouni, who successfully defended 4/23/18!

Congratulations
to one of our former French graduate students, Genevieve Fortin, on her newly released book, "Water's Edge," a historical romance that had its roots in Fortin's research with Professor Cynthia Fox in her Franco-American project.

LLC Congratulates Benjamin Mielenz
Spanish grad student and TA, who received awards from the UAlbany Graduate Student Association and the Spanish National Honorary Society Sigma Delta Pi Graduate Research Grant Award, which is particularly competitive at the national level. The awards will help pay for his fieldwork in Spain where he plans to study variation in hypothetical constructions in the city of Astorga.

Congratulations to Professor Alejandra Aguilar
for being awarded a fellowship to participate in the 2018 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) summer institute on "Women's Suffrage in the Americas."

Congratulations to Spanish major Thania Rodas
(also majoring in Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity and minoring in Criminal Justice) for securing an internship with the Office of the Attorney General, Eric T. Schneiderman. She will acquire industry related skills, while that office will benefit from her advanced language and intercultural skills.

French Dictée
The French Program held its first French Dictée March 3, 2018. Congratulations to our five dictation competition winners: Hieu Feldman-FRE101, Akua Sarpong-FRE102, Ciara Cullen-200 level, Pamela Dolcine-300 level, and Camille Mbotchawo-Francophone level!

Our congratulations to Dr. Karina Walker
who just accepted an Assistant Professor of Spanish position at Hartwick College to start this fall!

Record in the 60 meters
Spanish major Dayleen Santana Rodriguez broke her own school record and Puerto Rico record in the 60 meters on Jan. 12 at the Great Dane Classic held on Staten Island. A senior from Puerto Rico, she talks about what it was like to run so fast with her family in the stands.

Timothy Sergay
Russian Professor, was interviewed by BBC World Service Arts and Culture about 20th-century Russian singer-songwriter Vladimir Vysotsky honoring what would have been Vysotsky’s 80th birthday, 1/25/18. Discussion focused on the difficulties of overcoming the language barrier when it comes to a profound foreign appreciation of Russia’s nationally significant and beloved poets. Read the text in Russian here http://www.bbc.com/russian/features-42584197.

Congratulations
to Timothy Sergay for winning the New Russia Cultural Center’s 2017 Education Heritage Award at their Heritage Awards Dinner, December 19, 2017! The awards “celebrate and pay homage to those who have enriched the community and established a legacy in the Russian-speaking community in the Capital Region of New York State.” https://www.newrussiacenter.org/heritage-dinner/2017

LLC Newsletter
Visit our current newsletter for the all latest happenings in LLC!

Obituary
It is with heartfelt sadness that LLC shares the death of Italian Emeritus Professor Giose G. Rimanelli (obituary).

LLC Course Offerings
See fliers for new courses coming in spring, linked above right. LLC's course offerings and descriptions are online. Not in a degree program? No problem--you can enroll "non-degree" through the Office of General Studies (high school seniors who excel in their coursework are also eligible). Featured courses are linked at the right. Spring 2018 course schedules will be available in September.

Congratulations
to our newest French PhD graduate, Dr. Komla Amegashie, who successfully defended 11/29/17!

Congratulations
to our newest French PhD graduate, Dr. Evens Domond, who successfully defended 11/10/17!

2nd annual MVP Stockade-athon 15k race
LLC's own Ricardo Estremera (SPN PhD student) won the 42nd annual MVP Stockade-athon 15k race 11/12/17! Well done!

UAlbany Dissertation Research Fellowship Award
Congratuations to Nyssa Knarvik for receiving a UAlbany Dissertation Research Fellowship Award to facilitate her research!

Spanish MA in a Year
Complete your Spanish master’s degree in just 1 year!

Language Jobs
What are some industries looking for students of the languages? The 10 coolest jobs you can get learning foreign language.

Visit our LLC Newsletter for more news.