2021-2022 RLL Newsletter

TABLE OF

LETTER FROM THE CHAIR, ALISON JAMES

As I look ahead to my first year as C acutely aware of having large shoes to fill as I attempt to build on the exemplary work done by Larry Norman and Daisy Delogu before him who sustained a flourishing department during the complex and trying times of the pandemic I am excited and honored to take on my new role within this extraordinary community, among both fresh and familiar faces.

This newsletter gives us the opportunity to look back at the impressive accomplishments of our faculty, instructors, students, and alumni in 2021 2022 an immense wealth of awards, prizes, honors, publications, and career milestones, too numerous to list here but summarized in the following pages. I would also like to thank our donors who provided generous support for our undergraduate and graduate programming.

The academic year saw a welcome return to the in person classroom and to international travel for study and research abroad It was still marked by challenges, stresses, and surges of COVID 19 variants The difficulties came with some silver linings; for instance, our new found expertise in running hybrid events extended possibilities for conversation beyond the walls of campus. We can be proud of the department’s adaptability and the enduring dynamism of its intellectual life.

This fall, although the virus is not completely behind us, there is a sense of renewed energy and optimism as we welcome new students, faculty, and instructors, and look forward to the revival of regular social gatherings and more frequent in person activities

We are delighted by the arrival of Sergio Delgado Moya, Associate Professor of Latin American/Latinx Studies, and Pauline Goul, Assistant Professor of French. Alongside this faculty renewal and growth, it is a testament to the vitality of our language programs that we are also joined by a talented set of new Instructional Professors: Leonardo Cabrini (Italian), Isabelle Faton (French), Pablo García Piñar (Spanish), Georgy Khabarovskiy (French), Bel Olid (Catalan & Spanish), and Nicolas Portugal (French). After a one year pause in admissions due to the pandemic, we are thrilled to be once again welcoming a cohort of incoming graduate students to campus: Yuting Cai and Étienne Grateau in French; Azucena Garza and Ricardo Soler Rubio in HLBS Last spring, Callie Manick accepted a position as our new Undergraduate Affairs Administrator, joining Jennifer Hurtarte and Emily Kort on the skilled and dedicated office team that makes our work as a department possible. We are ready to hit the ground running this quarter!

Please enjoy these snapshots of last year’s activities and achievements, and join us in looking forward to the year ahead.

Leonardo

Sergio Delgado Moya

Isabelle Faton

Pablo García Piñar

Instructional

in Spanish

Pauline Goul

Callie Manick

Bel Olid

Nicolas Portugal

ACHIEVEMENTS & HONORS

Celia Bravo Díaz, Diana Palenzuela Rodrigo, and Alan Parma were awarded a 2022 Exploratory Teaching Group grant from the Chicago Center for Teaching for their “Developing an Undergraduate Track in Spanish, Portuguese, and English Translation and Interpreting” project

Larissa Brewer García's book, Beyond Babel: Translations of Blackness in Colonial Peru and New Granada, was awarded the American Historical Association's 2021 Friedrich Katz Prize for the best book published in English focusing on Latin America, including the Caribbean. She was a Visiting Professor at Yale University from January June 2022.

Daisy Delogu was named Howard L. Willet Professor. She also served as the 2021 22 Director of the University of Chicago Center in Paris.

Sylvie Goutas was promoted to the rank of Associate Instructional Professor.

Alba Girons Masot received the 2022 Janel M. Mueller Award for Excellence in Pedagogy. She was also promoted to the rank of Associate Senior Instructional Professor.

Alison James received a grant from the University of Chicago International Institute for Research in Paris for a collaborative project on “New Directions in Fiction Studies.”

Robert Kendrick was named the Robert O. Anderson Distinguished Service Professor.

Agnes Lugo-Ortiz won the Nineteenth Century Section of the Association of Latin American Studies' 2022 Best Article Award for “After Redemption and Abandonment: José Antonio Aponte’s Libro de pinturas in the Field of Visual Portraiture.”

Miguel Martínez was awarded a 2022 23 Newberry Library Long Term Fellowship for his project on colonial Manila and the global renaissance. He was also promoted to the rank of full Professor.

Noémie Ndiaye was named the Randy L. and Melvin R. Berlin Assistant Professor of Renaissance and Early Modern English Literature.

Claudia Quevedo-Webb and a colleague from the University of Cincinnati launched Diversity Equity and Inclusion in Second Language Teaching, an open educational resource website offering support to educators who want to bridge language teaching and social justice.

Danielle Roper and Traci Ann Wint (Smith College) were awarded honorable mention in the Black Women's Studies Association’s inaugural Toni Cade Bambara Article Prize competition for “The Tambourine Army: Sonic Disruptions and the Politics of Respectability.”

Rocco Rubini was promoted to the rank of full Professor.

Juliano Saccomani won a 2022 23 Provost's Global Faculty Award for “Virtual Reality: a critical immersive perspective from Rio de Janeiro.”

Victoria Saramago’s Fictional Environments: Mimesis and Deforestation in Latin America won the 2022 Brazilian Studies Association's Roberto Reis Book Award for First Monograph and was a finalist for the 2022 Association for the Study of Literature and Environment Book Awards. Her article, “The Rights of Nature, the Rights of Fiction: Mario Vargas Llosa and the Amazon,” received honorable mention for the 2022 Latin American Studies Association’s Amazonia Section Article Award. She was awarded a 2022 23 Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society faculty research fellowship, with Elizabeth Chatterjee (History) and Ryan Jobson (Anthropology), for “Fossil Capitalism in the Global South.” Victoria was also promoted to

Literatura y pintura en Cervantes y Lope de Vega Jesús Botello López Canti (PhD'12), Edition Reichenberger, 2022

Gastronomical Arts in Spain: Food and Etiquette

Frederick de Armas (co editor with James Mandrell), University of Toronto Press, 2022

Cervantes’ Architectures: The Dangers Outside

Frederick de Arms University of Toronto Press, 2022

Más allá de Babel. La traducción de lo negro en Perú y la Nueva Granada del siglo XVII

Larissa Brewer García, Ediciones Uniandes, 2022

Arabic translation of Felwine Sarr's Habiter le monde (Mémoire d'encrier, 2017)

Khalid Lyamlahy (translator), Kulte Editions, 2022

Posterity: Inventing Tradition from Petrarch to GramsciSatisfaction Pablo Ottonello, Tusquets, 2021 Rocco Rubini, University of Chicago Press, 2022

Queering the Medieval Mediterranean: Transcultural Sea of Sex, Gender, Identity, and Culture Felipe Rojas (PhD'13; co editor with Peter E. Thompson), Brill, 2021

Modernist Idealism: Ambivalent Legacies of German Philosophy in Italian Literature Michael Subialka (PhD'12), University of Toronto Press, 2021

GRADUATE STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS & HONORS

Eufemia Baldassarre: 2022 23 Vigneron Dissertation Completion Fellowship

Miriam Borrero Robledo, Ysé Bourdon, Cristina Esteves-Wolff, Beatrice Fazio, and Peadar Kavanagh reached PhD candidacy.

Ryan Brown: 2021 22 ENS Exchange Student

Laura Colaneri: 2022 23 Franke Institute for the Humanities Residential Dissertation Completion Fellowship

Beatrice Fazio: 2021 22 Rebecca West Dissertation Grant; 2022 23 Chicago Center for Teaching Fellow

Isabela Fraga: Two year Mellon Fellowship of Scholars in the Humanities at Stanford University starting in 2022 23; Assistant Professor of Spanish in the Department of Romance Studies at Tufts University starting in 2024

Lou Gargouri: 2022 François Furet Travel Grant; 2022 23 ENS Exchange Student

Daniela Gutiérrez Flores: Visiting Assistant Professor at University of Californa, Davis

Peadar Kavanagh: 2021 22 ENS Exchange Student

Darren Kusar: 2021 22 Rebecca West Dissertation Grant

Loriane Lafont: 2022 23 Martin Marty Center Junior Fellow

Eduardo Leão: 2022 23 Teaching Fellow in the Humanities

Kirsten Lopez: 2021 22 Thomas Pavel Endowment Fund Award

Enrique Macari: 2022 23 Teaching Fellow in the Humanities

Caterina Nicodemo: “Sull’episodio gerioneo: osservazioni e nuove proposte" won the Dante Society of America's 2021 Charles Hall Grandgent Award for best graduate student essay; received funding to participate in the 2022 Institute in Italian Paleography at the Newberry Library.

Maximilien Novak: 2022 23 Teaching Fellow in the Humanities

Filippo Petricca: 2022 23 Teaching Fellow in the Humanities

2021 2022 Graduate

French & Francophone Studies

Esther Van Dyke, Dissertation (with honors): "Sublime Racine: Theatrical Practices of the Ineffable" (Director: Larry Norman)

Undergraduate

French & Francophone Studies Majors

Katie Davis Ayushi Hegde Anna Kuryla Danielle Mishler Karina Nugent

Hispanic & Luso Brazilian Studies Majors

Jasmine Chahal Murphy DePompei

John Delaloye III Adina Gray Andre Hall Audrey Kaus Sarah Kwon Karla Lopez Maggie Lu Sofia Nam Sam Okum Margaret O’Shea Emily Pardo Emma Picker Rosie Wakely Daniel Zea

Major in Two or More Romance Languages, Literatures & Cultures Devon Wenzel

Catalan Minor Marisa Kelath

French & Francophone Studies Minors Sahana Brahmal Deniz Duman Kate Ferrera Hopie Melton Daniel Montano Deven Mukkamala Isabel O'Malley Krohn Olga Obolenets Julianna Pereira Alexander Rodriguez Juliette Thibodeau Alex Vinarov Italian Minor Alicia Haydon

Portuguese Minors Elliot Machado Diego Pedulla Smith Spanish Minors Aida Basic Elliot Duprey Jack Falk

Ife Fariyike

Sofia Gonzalez Kosasky Isabella Hurtado Lia Kim Laura Pape Eseme Segbefia Claire Shackleford Ángel Soba Pat Taylor Pamela Velazquez

(From left: Noel Blanco Mourelle, Anna Kuryla, Ayushi Hedge, Sofia Nam & Larry Norman)

Carmelo De Grazia Parra, Samuel T. Fleck Prize for the best paper written in Italian: "Change and Society An Italian Story of Love and Disaffection."

Murphy DePompei: Bridge Builder Award. Kate Ferrera: Fulbright U.S. Student Program.

Ayushi Hegde, honors thesis: "'Nul être humain n’est une île’ Un nouveau contrat social dans Les Rêveries du promeneur solitaire" (Adviser: Robert Morrissey); Theodore Lee Neff Prize for Excellence in the Study of French Literature & Culture; Fulbright U.S. Student Program.

Anna Kuryla, honors thesis: "Habiter le lieu: habitude et impression chez Proust" (Adviser: Chiara Nifosi); Theodore Lee Neff Prize for Excellence in the Study of French Literature & Culture

Sarah Kwon: Ignacio Martín Baró Human Rights Essay Prize; Fulbright U.S. Student Program.

Marisa Kelath, Danielle Mishler, Sofia Nam, Sam Okum, Alex Vinarov, and Daniel Zea: Phi Betta Kappa Society.

Sofia Nam, honors thesis: "Interacciones entre las mujeres y las tradiciones religiosas de la diáspora africana: una lectura feminista, espiritual y sociocultural de Barravento y El espíritu de mi mamá" (Advisers: Mario Santana & Victoria Saramago); Best Honors Thesis or Essay in Hispanic & Luso Brazilian Studies.

Well Done!

Mia Fierberg (BA'18) is employed as a Press Officer at the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in New York City.

María A. Gutiérrez Bascón (PhD'18) accepted a three year position as Academy of Finland Fellow, University of Helsinki.

Hilda Larrazabal Cárdenas (PhD'21) was a finalist for the II Premio de Ensayo Hispánico Klaus D. Vervuert, conducted by Editorial Iberoamericana Vervuert. Her dissertation was recommended for publication.

Silvie Guslandi (PhD'20) is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Italian in the Modern Languages & Literatures Department at Kenyon College.

Glenn Roe (PhD'10) was awarded a European Research Council Consolidator Grant for the ModERN project ("Modelling Enlightenment Reassembling Networks of Modernity through data driven research").

Michael Subialka (PhD'12) was promoted to Associate Professor of Comparative Literature and Italian at the University of California, Davis.

Elizabeth Tavella (PhD'20) was awarded the Humanities Division’s 2022 23 Julius Rosenwald Postdoctoral Fellowship

Jacqueline Victor (PhD'20) accepted a position as Education Manager at the Swedish American Museum in Chicago.

2021 2022 Chicago Italian Appreciation Organization (CIAO) representatives (From left: Carmelo de Grazia Parra, Kavitya Sarma & Jackie Oien)

First Place: Alice Tay, "Tlacolula Market" (Oaxaca, Mexico)

"This photo is of the Tlacolula Market that we visited on one of our class excursions. I had never learned Spanish before going to Oaxaca, but one of the first things I learned to quickly pick up was vocabulary about buying food, which came in handy at the markets we went to. Although the photo seems quite empty, because we visited on a Tuesday, Tlacolula Market is actually a very bustling and lively market on Sundays with vendors coming from all the pueblos around Oaxaca City to sell and exchange their goods."

Second Place: Mia McNair, "Alebrijes" (Oaxaca, Mexico)

"This photo was taken in San Martín Tilcajete, which is one of the pueblos that is right outside of Oaxaca de Juarez. Visiting different pueblos was one of my favorite ways to learn more about Mexican and Oaxacan culture. This village in panicular is known for making beautiful hand carved and hand painted sculptures that have roots in indigenous heritage."

Third Place: Angelina Torre, "Goal" (Corniglia, Italy)

"Painted on the back exterior wall of a 14th century church in Corniglia, Italy, is a simple rectangular box. The neighborhood children in this clifftop town use this box as a makeshift goal for their pickup soccer games. After making the 5km trek to Corniglia, I sat and watched these kids play soccer like it was a bonafide FIFA match."

Conversation with Aparecida Vilaça | Oct. 8 Aparecida Vilaça spoke about her book, Paletó and Me: Memories of my Indigenous Father, and was joined in conversation by Victoria Saramago.

Las lenguas de los pueblos originarios: El guaraní | Oct. 13 RLL alum Rafaela Fiore Urízar (PhD'09) joined El Cafecito for a discussion about the Guaraní language.

Champs Elysées Film Festival | Oct. 19 21

The virtual festival featured screenings of various short films and a talk on the French film festival industry.

Fiction Studies Paris to Chicago | Oct. 28

Visiting Research Associate,Françoise Lavocat (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle) reflected on her research and scholarly collaborations around fiction and fictionality.

Basque & Catalan Book and Movie Clubs

Oct. 28: Sis dies corrents directed by Neus Ballús Nov. 4: El mecanoscrit del segon origen by Manuel de Pedrolo Nov. 18: Belarraren ahoa by Harkaitz Cano Dec. 2: Bertsolari directed by Asier Altuna

Quattro Chiacchiere in Compagnia di Emilio Fantin | Nov. 16 Italian artist Emilio Fantin joined the Italian Language Program in conversation

Heirloom | Jan. 27

A screening of the documentary was followed by a Q&A with the director, Michela Maria, and producer, Taylor Taglianetti.

Collage Workshop with Ame Soler | Feb. 11

Students learned how to make a collage of images, using aphorisms from the Valencian writer Joan Fuster as inspiration

Quattro Chiacchiere in Compagnia di Emilio Fantin | Nov. 16

Aparecida Vilaça

Champs Elysées

Mardi Gras Mask Making | Feb. 28

Students created their own masks and learned about the multiple ways Carnival is celebrated across the Francophone world.

Impossible Fictions Conference | Mar. 2-4

This conference explored how fiction models our understanding of what is possible in the real world and how our sense of what is possible in reality constrains what is perceived to be possible or impossible in fictional worlds

Conversation with Laurent Binet | Mar. 3

Laurent Binet discussed his novels HHhH, T Function of Language, and Civilizations with A Akihiro Kubo (Kwansei Gakuin University) & Lavocat (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle).

Seminari de literatura catalana contemporània Catalan writer Damià Bardera discussed collection of short stories, Un circ al pati de cas works.

Lo humano en los márgenes | Apr. 14 16

The Sixth Chicago Graduate Conference in H Luso Brazilian Studies was organized by gradu from UChicago, Northwestern University University of Illinois at Chicago.

Eduardo Mendoza & Matěj Číp | Apr. 18

El Cafecito and the Masaryk Club presented a lecture and musical performance by Bolivian musician Eduardo Mendoza and Czech musician Matěj Číp

Impossible Fictions | Mar 2 4

Conversation with Laurent Binet | Mar. 3

(From left: Eduardo Mendoza, Irena Cajkova, Verónica Moraga, Matěj Číp & Antonín Kolář)

Seminari de literatura catalana contemporània | Apr. 4

Lo humano en los márgenes | Apr 14 16

Borja Penalba | Apr. 20

El desig i el convit | Apr. 20

Performance by Catalan composer and musician Borja Penalba.

Poesía y poética | Apr. 27

At this bilingual (Basque and English) poetry reading based on his recent publication, Good Wolf, Bad Wolf, Basque writer and Koldo Mitxelena Chair of Basque Studies Harkaitz Cano explained his approach to literary creation.

In Pursuit of Style | May 5 Elizabeth Harris discussed her experience translating the fiction of Italian writers Andrea Bajani and Claudia Durastanti.

Beyond Fordlândia | May 10

A screening of the film about the town built by Henry Ford in the Amazon rainforest, followed by a Q&A with

Poesía y poética | Apr. 27

On Modern Poetry | May 12

Presentation of On Modern Poetry, Guido Mazzoni’s (Univ di Siena) unified account of modern poetry in the Western tradition.

HLBS Literature and Materiality Series

Guest scholars and graduate students from RLL's Hispanic and Luso Brazilian Studies (HLBS) section discussed the speakers’ recent work, the state of their respective fields and interdisciplinary issues.

May 13: Sandra Guevara (UNAM) in conversation with Andrea Reed Leal & Paulina León

May 16: Remedios Zafra (Spanish National Research Council) in conversation with Leora Baum & Jean Vallejo González

May 18: Jorge Téllez (Univ. of Pennsylvania) with Daniela Gutiérrez Flores & Luis Madrig

The Action and the Gesture | May 13

Visiting Fulbright Chair in Italian Studi Gaetano (Univ of Calabria) explored the diffe Italian and American cinema

The New Politics of Multilingualism: Catalo

Beyond | May 19

A talk by the Joan Coromines Visiting C Studies, Peter A. Kraus (Augsburg University)

Philosophizing Covid 19 | May 24

A roundtable conversation in Italian featuring Franco Berardi, Donatella Di Cesare, Roberto Esposito and Elettra Stimilli, moderated by Maria Anna Mariani.

On Modern Poetry | May 12

The Action and the Gesture | May 13

Philosophizing Covid | May 24

HLBS

and Materiality

| May

Lunch after El Cafecito visit to National Museum of Mexican Art | Nov 7

French Language Program card making event for la Saint Valentin | Feb. 11

Creole poster making and puzzle building activity

Italian majors, minors, and faculty

left to right: Annika Lundsgaard, Emily Feigen, Sara Dallavalle, Alec Abramson, Veronica Vegna, Lauren Megan Botha & Kavitya Sarma)

Assistant Instructional Professors (Cockwise from leftt: Diana Palenzuela, Sara Dallavalle, Juliano Saccomani, Pau Cañigueral Batllosera, Verónica Moraga, Alan Parma, Claudia Quevedo Webb, Irati de Nicolás Saiz, Celia Bravo Díaz)

Nadine Di Vito