SEE ALSO Ongoing Events in the Department

Announcing: Ibero-American Comparative Studies to begin Fall 2008. The Department of Romance Languages has established a new comparative area of emphasis combining the study of the language, literature and culture of Ibero-America. This specialization, within the Romance Languages major, will enable students to develop a high level of proficiency in both Spanish and Portuguese, as well as make explicit connections between Spanish America and Brazil (and/or Spain and Portugal), with regards to their literary, linguistic, and cultural traditions. Learn more about the program.

Many congratulations are in order for the faculty at the end of the school year: Congratulations to Dr. Dana Bultman and Dr. Robert Moser for their promotion to Associate Professor with Tenure. Congratulations to Dr. Luis Correa-Diaz for his promotion to Professor of Spanish. Many appreciative thanks to Dr. Jonathan Krell for his valuable service as Associate Head, and congratulations to Dr. Bultman for becoming Associate Head in August. Congratulations also to Dr. Cathy Jones for becoming Graduate Coordinator in August. Congratulations to Dr. Hilda Mata for becoming Faculty Advisor to the Spanish Language Community, and to Dr. Rachel Gabara for becoming Faculty Advisor to the French Language Community.
Congratulations are due also to the many successful graduate students in the department: Joey Warner and Mahamadou Diaby received the Dean's Award. Jennifer Formwalt, Mahamadou Diaby and Vilay Lyxuchouky received the Artaud Award. Julia Barnes received the Excellence in Teaching Award. Outstanding Teaching Assistant Awards were also given to Julia Barnes, Sarah Martin, Rosaria Mangiavillano, Carl Wise, Liana Babayan, Jennifer Formwalt and Mahamadou Diaby.
Kudos to all.

Graduate Program is ranked tenth in the nation. According to the 2006-2007 Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index, the Romance Languages graduate program at UGA is currently ranked number 10 in the U.S. among language programs, just after top programs such as those at the University of Pennsylvania, Ohio State University, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Chicago, University of New Mexico, Columbia University, Vanderbilt University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index is produced on an annual basis and it is a method for evaluating doctoral programs at Research Universities, based on a set of statistical algorithms. It measures the annual productivity of faculty on several factors including publications (books and journal articles), citations of journal publications, federal research funding, awards and honors. This Index is unique in its focus on concrete data relating to faculty scholarly productivity. It contains no reputational assessments, and is unrivaled in the depth and detail of its content, even compiling data in areas where other assessments have found difficulty. For more information: you can read about it in "The Chronicle of Higher Education" (Nov. 16, 2007 issue) and also in the direct link to Academics Analytics.

Dr. Catherine Jones, Associate Professor of French, was awarded the prestigious Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professorship. The designation will be recognized at the Honors Day ceremony on April 2, 2008 and at the Faculty Recognition Banquet on April 22, 2008.

Daniela Gonzalez has been accepted for the Who's Who Among Students in American Universities. She is now eligible to be one of ten students randomly selected in May to receive a prize of $1,000.

Applications are now being accepted for the French and Spanish Language Communities. Improve your language skills and explore the cultures of the French and Spanish speaking world. Learn more...

The Department of Romance Languages is pleased to announce a new area of specialization in Hispanic Linguistics for the Ph.D. in Romance Languages. For complete information on the application process, please visit our admissions page.

Dr. Rachel Gabara, Associate Professor of French, has won the SAMLA Studies Award from the South Atlantic Modern Language Association for her book, From Split to Screened Selves: French and Francophone Autobiography in the Third Person. The award will be formally presented at the group's conference in Atlanta. The award honors the author of an outstanding scholarly book published during the previous calendar year.

ONGOING EVENTS

French Table
This weekly discussion group meets Thursdays at 5:00 at The Globe, Downtown Athens. Contact Vilay Lyxychouky at vilayly@uga.edu for more information.

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

Portuguese Table
This weekly discussion group meets Tuesdays at 5:00 pm at The Globe, Downtown Athens. Contact Amelia Hutchinson at ahutchin@uga.edu.

Spanish Table
This weekly discussion group meets Thursdays at 4:30-5:30 pm at The Globe, Downtown Athens. Contact Joey Warner at joeywarn@uga.edu.