DEPARTMENTAL NEWS AND EVENTS UGA in Costa Rica is holding an orientation session on Thursday, February 16, at 2:30pm, in Tate 482, for any student interested in the International Studies Program. Read more or contact Dr. Hilda Mata for more informantion. Josefina Báez, a vibrant writer, director, performer, and founder of Ay Ombe alternative theater, will be offering a public reading from her new performance text, Yo, la domincanyork, on February 28 at 4.00 p.m. MLC 102. Read more. Romance Languages Colloquia. All talks are Fridays, 3:30-4:30 in 115 Gilbert Hall: February 3 Leslie Gordon (Ph.D. Georgetown University), “L2 Spanish vowel perception and other fun stuff” February 24 Chad Howe, “Gradience in speech: A sociophonetic perspective” March 2 Tim Raser, “Baudelaire and Photography” March 23 Graduate Student Panel: 1. Bethany Battig: "The Effects of the Fable Genre in Miguel de Cervantes' El casamiento engañoso y El coloquio de los perros" 2. Chantell Smith: "The Blues and the Son: Langston Hughes's and Nicolás Guillén’s Transnational Exploration of Black Identity" 3. Althea Hubbard: "Expressing Truth through Fiction and Orality through Literacy: Birago Diop's Les Contes d'Amadou Koumba" March 30 Francis Assaf, “The Funeral Ceremony of Louis XIV in Madrid : Image and Fascination of Royal Power.” April 13 Tom Peterson, “On (translating) the poetry of Amelia Rosselli” Read more. Congratulations! James Chesnut (PhD French, 1992), Professor of French at North Georgia College and State University, will be awarded the title of "Chevalier de l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques" by the French Ministry of Education, on February 22, for lifetime service to French language and culture. Weekly Language Tables See our News and Events page for meetings times for weekly discussion groups in French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish.		FEATURED TRAVEL AND STUDY ABROAD