SEE ALSO Ongoing Events in the Department

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. The seven-week program offers 9 courses in Spanish, 2 in International Relations, and 1 in International Business. There is also a 17-day homestay with a Costa Rican family. Should you have questions in the meantime, please contact Dr. Hilda Mata.

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. Please encourage your students to come (electronic poster attached). The public reading and dialogue will be followed by a faculty and graduate student reception at LACSI.
Josefina Báez is performer-writer-educator-director whose work explores the present and its encounters with the past and future from the personal perspective of a black-working class-migrant woman living in New York. Baez is the founder and director of Ay Ombe Theater Troup and the author of Dominicanish (2000), Compay Bliss Ain't Playin' (2008) and Yo, la Domincanyork (2011). For more information about her work, you may visit here.

Romance Languages Colloquia. Free and open to the public, all talks are Fridays, 3:30-4:30 in 115 Gilbert Hall. Please let Dana Bultman know if you are interested in giving a talk next year or if there are topics you'd like to see in the future.
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”

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.

Graduate Students Colloquium. The Graduate Students Representatives of the Department of Romance Languages would like to welcome graduate students to the Romance Languages Graduate Students Colloquium 2012. The Colloquium is going to be a one day journey to be held on March, 23rd from 3:30 to 5:00 at Gilbert Hall room 115. Each presentation will have 20 minutes followed by 10 minutes of questions/comments for each.
Questions? Contact your graduate student representative:
Spanish, Bethany Battig
Romance Languages, Cris Lira
French, Irène Xia

Flagship Program in Portuguese at UGA UGA has been awarded a prestigious federal grant to establish the nation’s first and only Undergraduate Flagship Program in Portuguese, thanks to a joint ROML/LACSI proposal. The goal of the Flagship Program is to increase the number of students who graduate with a high level of Portuguese proficiency. The program will consist  of intensive language instruction, Skype language partners in Brazil, and a year long study abroad experience at the State University of São Paulo (UNESP). Undergraduate students of all majors who demonstrate a unique commitment to the study of Portuguese are welcome to apply. More information. Interview with Dr. Quinlan. Read the Columns article.

Kudos! It is with great pleasure that we announce that Dr. Dana Bultman is the recipient of a Sandy Beaver Excellence in Teaching Award.  Please join us in congratulating her!

Dr. Cathy Jones, Professor of French and Provençal, has taken over as faculty ombudsperson at the University of Georgia. Congratulations! Read the announcement in the Athens Banner-Herald or the Columns.

ONGOING EVENTS

French Table
This weekly discussion group meets Thursdays, 5:00 p.m. at The Globe, Downtown Athens (199 N. Lumpkin St.). This event is open to everyone with an interest in speaking French regardless of level. Contact KellyAnn Tsai at kdtsai@uga.edu for more information.

Italian Table
This weekly discussion group meets Mondays, 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. at The Globe, Downtown Athens. Contact Concettina Pizzuti at pizzuti@uga.edu.

Portuguese Table
This weekly discussion group meets Tuesdays, 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. at The Globe, Lumpkin St., Downtown Athens. Contact Cris Lira at clira@uga.edu or Amélia Hutchinson at ahutchin@uga.edu. Portuguese Conversational Hour will be held at LACSI from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. every Tuesday.

Spanish Table
This weekly discussion group meets Tuesdays, 5:00 p.m. at The Globe, Downtown Athens (starting August 23rd). This is a great opportunity for you to practice and improve your Spanish. Contact Inma Garnes at igarnes@uga.edu.