Dr. Samantha Gillen, Lecturer of Italian, is a recipient of a 2025 Sandy Beaver Excellence in Teaching Award. The Sandy Beaver awards annually honor outstanding faculty in the Franklin College who have shown a sustained commitment to high-quality instruction.  Since joining the Romance Languages faculty in 2022, Samantha has designed and taught the new, online asynchronous course ITAL 2500e, participated in the pilot Experiential Learning Connect Abroad programs (Italy 2024 and Greece 2025), and taught Italian language at the UGA Cortona campus in Summer 2024.

The Romance Languages Colloquium is a series of free, open to the public events organized by graduate students of the Department. The spirit of the event is to share our department’s work with the community, making us more aware of what our colleagues do and giving us the opportunity of talking to about our production.

Hunting Shadows: Resisting Displacement Trauma Leveraging Archives

Come watch the beautiful Brazilian film Marte um, with Portuguese FLTAs Laura Mallmann and Romário Santos.

Develop your own collage inspired by Brazilian Poetry in Portuguese and in English. 

Paola De Santo, associate professor of Italian at the University of Georgia, will give a gallery talk in the exhibition “Beyond the Medici: The Haukohl Family Collection.” Her talk will expand on the exhibition through the lens of her expertise in gender and the Italian baroque. Dr. De Santo’s current research focuses on the literature and culture of early modern Italy, particularly women’s writing and performance.

Story by Dr. Sharina Maíllo-Pozo

Alexandra is a senior Foundation Fellow and Stamps Scholar at the University of Georgia, studying Cellular Biology and Spanish. She conducted undergraduate research with the Kipreos Lab and the team’s work was recently published in Nature Communications. Alexandra was nominated by Romance Languages Faculty to be a student representative on the National Humanities Leadership Council (NHLC) because of her exploration of the importance of humanistic perspectives in solving current global issues. Here's an excerpt from our interview:

The Portuguese Program at the University of Georgia is set to enhance its commitment to the Portuguese language and culture with the establishment of Sigma Pi Lambda, a new chapter of Phi Lambda Beta, a Collegiate Honor Society of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese. This initiative aims to foster a deeper appreciation for the Portuguese language and Luso-Afro-Brazilian cultures among students and faculty alike.

On Oct. 17, the Black feminist scholar Djamila Ribeiro visited the University of Georgia’s campus to speak about her new book Where We Stand — her first work translated into English.

“Seeing my work translated into English has been particularly rewarding as it allows my ideas to resonate with a broader audience while maintaining the core of what’s rooted in my experiences as a Black woman in Brazil,” Ribeiro said.

In honor of this year's National French Week, the Romance Languages Department is inviting you to a Calligram Workshop. 

A calligram is a piece of text in which the design and layout of the letters creates a visual image related to the meaning of the words themselves. In this workshop, you will learn about the history of this art form in France and, most importantly, you will be guided through the creation of your own calligram. Material will be provided.

See you there!