Archived News
2022
Nominations for Chair of the Department of Languages and Cultures
Nominees and applicants must hold a tenured appointment at Western. All candidates affiliated with Languages and Cultures will be considered.
The Chair appointment will be effective July 1, 2023, for a five-year term, renewable. Nominations shall be sent to:
Chair of the Selection Committee for the Chair of Languages and Cultures
Michael Milde, Dean (Email: mmilde@uwo.ca; cc: jgribbo2@uwo.ca )
Faculty of Arts and Humanities University College, Rm. 2220G
Western University London ON N6A 3K7
The committee will commence its review of nominations and applications after January 3, 2023 and will continue until the position is filled. Applications should include a CV and a statement of intent and qualifications. Official posting
(Understanding) N’SATUNG
October 22nd, 2022
This film was created in partnership between Ogiima Keesis G’Nadjiwon, Laurence de Looze and Greg De Souza. The project was funded by a grant that Professor de Looze received from the Office of Indigenous Initiatives, with supplemental funding from SASAH. The film interviews indigenous people in Southern Ontario of all ages about their experiences and their hopes for education.
The film is premiering on Saturday, October 22nd at the Forest City Film Festival at 10:15am. More information can be found here.
Western News Feature: George Wang BMSC’22
June 21st, 2022
George Wang, who earned his bachelor of medical sciences (honours specialization and biochemistry and cell biology), as well as a major in Italian language and culture, is one of approximately 8,000 students graduating this spring. Learn more about George's journey at Western here.
Barbara Romero Ferron wins Graduate Internship at The Getty Institute in Los Angeles
April 20th, 2022
Barbara Romero Ferron, PhD Hispanic Studies, has won a Graduate Internship at The Getty Institute in Los Angeles. This is a fully funded 12 month internship that has applicants from all over the world. Congratulations Barbara!
Dr. Matteo Brera awarded the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellowship
March 28th, 2022
Congratulations to Dr. Matteo Brera, recipient of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellowship for his work on the project A Darker Shade of Whiteness: The Italian Ethnic Press in Louisiana and the Making of Racial Awareness in The Gulf South (1877-1945).
The grant will allow Dr. Brera to work for the University of Padua (Italy) after a two-year research secondment at Stony Brook University (Suny, USA). Dr. Brera's project investigates a highly relevant theme at the intersection of diaspora studies, hierarchisation of racism, memory and the construction of the racial discourse and will be relevant to understand current race, migrations, and public discourse by exploring a very under-researched aspect of the history of race relations and racism in the USA.
Prof. Mona El Samaty named winner of the 2021 Leithwood Award for Outstanding Thesis of the Year
February 25th, 2022
Congratulations to Prof. Mona El Samaty, winner of the 2021 Leithwood Award for Outstanding Thesis of the Year
from OISE at the University of Toronto. This award is given once a year for one outstanding PhD dissertation. Congratulations Mona!
2021
December 22, 2021
Western University and the Department of Languages and Cultures will be closed from December 23, 2021 until January 4, 2022. Email and phone will not be monitored during that time.
December 16, 2021
November 14, 2021
Submission for 2022 Photo Contest Opening Soon!
November 12, 2021
Languages and Cultures Students and FaParticipate in Shalwar Kameez Cultural Walk Against Islamophobia and Racism.
November 9, 2021
International study experiences in Seville, Spain and Rondine, Italy are back! Information Sessions are scheduled November 16, 2021 from 11 am-12 pm (Seville) and 4:30-5:30 pm (Rondine). Register now for these exciting in-person presentation events via our event registration OWL site.
November 2, 2021
Congratulations to our Award winners!
Erin Christensen is the winner of the Edna Jeffery Scholarship. Erin is a third year Spanish major student in the Department. Erin states:
"My experience in Languages and Cultures has been one of my favourite parts of Western so far. I’ve absolutely loved every Spanish class I’ve taken; there isn’t a more supportive and fun group of people than those in the Languages and Cultures department. I’m so happy to be part of such a welcoming community full of creative and passionate individuals!"
Richard Martinez is the winner of the Harriet Beatrice Freele Scholarship. Richard is a third year Honor's Specialization in Spanish Language and Hispanic Cultures student in the Department. Richard states:
"Because of the Languages and Cultures department at Western, I have been able to connect with faculty members and other students to a much better extent than in other programs. Additionally, the work opportunities I have received have been incredible and have taught me many skills that will be useful in future academic environments. I know that choosing this program was not a mistake and I cannot wait to further expand my knowledge of topics regarding the Spanish speaking world through the variety of interesting courses offered by the department."
In addition, Bruno Quintella Oliveira is the recipient of the Earl Arscott Memorial Scholarship.
Megan Somerville is the winner of the 2021 Alfred Edward Hathaway Petrie Scholarship. Megan states:
"I have thoroughly enjoyed learning Spanish throughout my time at Western. I look forward to continuing my learning in the future."
We are so proud of Erin, Richard, Bruno and Megan's academic achievements. Congratulations to all our award winners!
October 30, 2021
Dancing to a New Tune: Cuban Musical Transitions Through Generations. Register now for this exciting in-person presentation event via our event registration OWL site. Seats are limited, all Western, local and provincial H&S guidelines apply.
October 26, 2021
Recruiting Participants For An Exciting Language Research Study!
October 22, 2021
Día de muertos Instagram Contest Now Open.
October 16, 2021
Italian Conversation Group cancelled October 27, 2021.
October 16, 2021
Día de muertos Celebration October 28, 2021.
October 16, 2021
Graduate Studies Applications Now Open for Hispanic Studies and Comparative Literature Programs.
October 13, 2021
Language Conversation Groups Are Back.
September 18, 2021
Western launches action plan and Task Force on Sexual Violence & Student Safety.
September 13, 2021
Linda Ahima is giving a talk on "The third language imitation of Spanish rhotic-lateral contrast by Akan-English bilingual children and adults: the effect of first versus second language transfer, orthography, and age of acquisition" on September 15th, 2021 at 1:30pm
September 8, 2021
Shana Tovah! Wishing everyone celebrating Rosh Hashanah a Good Year.
September 7, 2021
New Course Offering: Spanish 4908A Special Topics: Sociolinguistics of Spanish.
August 18, 2021
If you missed the Border Crossers event with Carolina Orloff last month you can read the transcript of the event here or view a recording of the event here.
July 27, 2021
New Course Offering: Persian 1030 Persian (Farsi) for Beginners and Persian 1035: Beginners Persian for Heritage Speakers.
July 8, 2021
Congratulations to Jerika Caduhada, winner of the Dr. R.N. Shervill Gold Medal.
July 6, 2021
Join us for a live Q&A session with Carolina Orloff!
Wednesday, July 21st — 10 - 11am EST, 3 - 4pm BST.
You can find the event details here.
June 24, 2021
Congratulations to Matthew Cave, winner of the Gold Medal for the Honours Major in Italian Language and Culture.
June 21, 2021
Dr. Ana Garcia-Allen, Undergraduate Chair, wins 2021 Teaching Excellence Award. See full article here.
June 20, 2021
Fourth Year Priority Enrollment Period Commences July 5th, 2021
Check your Western email account for your specific enrollment appointment time or consult the Office of the Registrar for more details.
June 14, 2021
Congratulations to Magdalena Masciantonio, winner of the Gold Medal for the Honours Specialization in Spanish Language and Hispanic Cultures.
June 10, 2021
Thousands Mourning the Souls of the London Attack Victims
June 3, 2021
Feel free to contact uwospanishclub@gmail.com for more info!
June 1, 2021
Photo Contest 2020/2021 Winners Announced!
2020
It's International Week at Western: an event held annually in November as a campus-wide celebration of all things international. Be sure to experience everything it has to offer! View schedule.
2019
International Week 2019 - from November 11th - 15th. Come explore your #globalwesternu! International Week is for everyone - students, faculty, staff, and the public. Click here to plan your week.
March 29th, 2019
MLL Photo Contest draws about 60 finalist photos, on display now in University College. READ MORE
March 6th, 2019
Professor Juan Luis Suárez and his CulturePlex team explore global reach of Nobel prize winner, Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez. READ MORE
2018
Professor Yahya Kharrat making headlines about accepting the challenge of Arabic's grammatical cases. READ MORE
David Darby, Languages and Cultures, was recently awarded the The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Awarded for achievements in the political, economic, social or intellectual realm and for all kinds of outstanding services to the nation in the field of social, charitable or philanthropic work, this is the nation's highest honour.
David has contributed greatly to German-Canadian relations through various ways, most notably through his role as Academic Director of the partnership between Ontario and the State of Baden-Württemberg Learn more about Ontario/Baden-Württemberg Student Exchange (OBW)
May 10th, 2018
MLL's own Professor Alena Robin speaks with Western News about her research on Mexican painter Antonio Enríquez and her upcoming book. Read full article here. (Photo credit Aniruddho Chokroborty-Hoque/Western News).
May 10th, 2018
Congratulations to Professor Perpiñan, who has put the Department of Languages and Cultures and Western in the headlines in Catalonia, Catalunya, Spain. Read more here.
April 13th, 2018
The end of year project for the Spanish 1030 students made Western News! Congratulations to the students, the TA's, and the instructors for this far reaching and impactful initiative. Read full article here (photo credit paul Mayne/Western News).
March 8th, 2018
Congratulations to the following MLL instructors who made the USC's Honor Roll for 2016-17: Mitsume Fukui, Maria Laura Mosco, Parastoo Nasrollahzadeh, Luca Pocci, Alena Robin, Rie Shirakawa, Kathryn Steinbock, Vladimir Tumanov, and William Turkel.
See full list here.
February 16th, 2018
MLL's Dr. de Looze draws upon his extensive background in linguistics to discuss the basic components of communication and what a conversation with alien life may look like. Read full interview.
February 8th, 2018
Professor Yasaman Rafat develops the Canadian Multilingual Speed Database, a site that collects and documents speech samples of multilingual immigrants who speak both in their native languages and English, as explored in Western News.
The University of Western Ontario and the University of Toronto present the Canadian Spanish Teaching Assistant Dailogues (CASTAD 2018) Friday, February 9th, 2018.
February 1st, 2018
M 
LL's very own Professor Constanza Burucua is making headlines: Documentary project celebrates legacy of Expo 67 (photo credit Paul Mayne//Western News)
Rondine, an Italy based NGO, has been working for peace for 20 years. Rondine's President, Franco Vaccari, and Dr. Blerina Duli will explain why and how.
The Department of Languages and Cultures is proud to present The Mind of Poetry: A Bilingual Conversation (English/Spanish) on Poetry , featuring Vladimir Hachinski (Professor of Neurology and Epistemology, UWO) and Teo A. Noriega (Emeritus Professor, Trent University), on Tuesday, Jan. 30th, 2018 at 2:45pm, in the Dr. David S.H. Chu International Centre (IGAB). All are welcome!
Professor Alena Robin captures the essence of an alumna's adventures from Mexico to Canada. Read article here.
2017
Professor Yahya Kharrat's article ' Arabic has found historic home in London' published in Western News (page 4).
Dr. Laura Mosco discusses the structure, collaboration, and student reactions to Western's Study Abroad at Rondine in recent interview.
1967: Canada Welcomes the World - A new documentary project focused on the national pavilions of the sixty countries that participated in Montreal's 1967 World Exhibition by Prof. Constanza Burucúa (Modern Languages & Literatures) will soon be exhibited in multiple locations in conjunction with Canada 150.
Italian Professors win 2016-17 CEL Award
MLL Professor named Graham and Gale Wright Distinguished Scholar
Comparative Literature professor interviewed by the National Post
MLL Alumna has students create handmade children's books in Spanish
2016
Modern Languages Offering Two First-Year Seminars
July 6, 2016
Starting in September 2016 the Department of Modern Languages will be offering seminar courses for first-year students: CLC 1040: Ideas & Apps That Changed the World and CLC 1050E: World Cultures, Literatures and Arts Across the Ages. Read the Western Gazette article here or check out our course page for course content and syllabi.
MLL Professor Offers a Sentence to the Letter
June 23, 2016
In his forthcoming book, The Letters & The Cosmos, Comparative Literature and Culture professor Laurence de Looze seeks to restore meaning to letters and the alphabet. Read the full interview for Western News here.
Congratulations to Maria Laura Mosco and Pietro Pirani, awarded the 2016-17 Faculty CEL Award to develop ITA 1033
June 17, 2016
Pietro Pirani and Maria Laura Mosco, Assistant Professors of Italian in the Department of Languages and Cultures, were awarded the 2016-17 Faculty Community Engaged Learning (CEL) Award to develop Italian 1033, a new course that combines in-class/online course work with a community based project. Students will also have the opportunity to contribute to the building of a digital archive of stories collected through interviews with the local Italian-Canadian community. Congratulations Pietro and Laura!
Congratulations to Angela Borchert, named Teaching Fellow 2015
April 12, 2016
Angela Borchert, Associate Professor and Undergraduate Chair in the Department of Languages and Cultures, is among the 2015 cohort of Teaching Fellows. Named by the Teaching Support Centre, Angela will develop an e-portfolio-based curriculum in intercultural communication in the context of a community of practice in Languages and Cultures. With e-portfolio templates, Arts & Humanities students will create individual learning plans, demonstrate learning outcomes and showcase creative critical thinking.
Congratulations To Alena Robin, recipient of the Graham and Gale Wright Distinguished Scholar Award!
March 31, 2016
Alena Robin, Associate Professor in the Department of Languages and Cultures, was among the recipients for the Graham and Gale Wright Distinguished Scholar Award for 2016! This Faculty-based award recognizes Robin's prominent contributions as an internationally-recognized researcher in her field. Appointments to the Graham and Gale Wright Distinguished Scholar Fellowship are for a one-year period and will provide faculty members with one half-course teaching relief, allowing them to focus on research. See the list of current and past recipients here
Congratulations to our faculty members who received the 2014-15 USC Teaching Honour Roll Award of Excellence!
March 10, 2016
Congratulations to C. Caracchini, M. Ebrahimi Eshratabadi, M. Fukui, A. Garcia-Allen, A. Ishai, Y. Kharrat, Y. Kim, A. Lausch, R.M. Lopez Bajonero, J. L. Miller, A. Mioc, R. Montano, I. Moreno Villamar, M.L. Mosco, P. Pirani, L. Pocci, Y. Rafat, B. Reis, A. Robin, Y. Sangalli, R. Shirakawa, A. Soto-Corominas, K. Steinbock, and V. Tumanov - who all received the Teaching Honour Roll Award of Excellence for 2014-15! See the full Honour Roll for main campus.
MLL Alumna and students create handmade children's books for preschool in Mexico
January 29, 2016
MLL alumna María Eugenia de Luna Villalón, Ph.D. Hispanic Studies, had her first year Spanish students at Wilfrid Laurier University create an illustrated children's book by the end of the year in Spanish. De Luna says the project makes students realize how they can make a big impact through their education.
Comparative Literature Professor interviewed by National Post about El Chapo and 17th Century Spanish Literature
January 25, 2016
Laurence de Looze, Professor of Comparative Literature with the Department of Languages and Cultures, was interviewed by the National Post about Don Quixote, a 17th century Spanish epic, and El Chapo. Read the National Post article by clicking below:
2015
Conectando el Ambiente Universitario con la Comunidad
December 28, 2015
Por primera vez en la historia del Departamento de Lenguas Modernas y Literaturas de la universidad, se ha desarrollado un curso de pregrado que congrega estudiantes de los programas de español, italiano y alemán.
CulturePlex Lab shows Paris attacks may be remembered by One Direction tweet
December 3, 2015
A CulturePlex Lab study led by Juan Luis Suárez charted approximately 4.3 million tweets in the wake of the Paris attacks on November 13 and found that one tweeted by Tomlinson at 6:47 a.m. on November 14 was the most active and widely shared Twitter message related to the event with more than 173,000 retweets and 208,000 likes
PhD candidate using video games to teach Italian Renaissance Epic poetry
November 11, 2015
Andrea Privitera, a PhD candidate in the Department of Languages and Cultures, is using role-playing video games to teach Italian Renaissance Epic poetry
Cultureplex measures beauty in art using 'big data'
June 29, 2015
A recent study by Western's Cultureplex lab, published in International Journal for Digital Art History, concludes that the representation of facial beauty has varied over time and that these variations can be measured and tracked throughout the history of painting.
2015 Pearl Seferian Award
April 21, 2015
The Pearl Seferian Award is given to a first year Comparative Literature and Culture 1020 student for their best essay. This year on April 21st, 2015, the award was given to first year student Leah Berson-Weinberg in a small reception held in the Department of Languages and Cultures. Leah was enrolled in Professor Laurence De Looze's CLC 1020 course, From Homer to Picasso and Ramanpreet Kaur Grewal was her Teaching Assistant for this course. Congratulations to Leah on this academic achievement.
3M National Student Fellowship Award Recipient
April 1, 2015
Italian Language and Culture student, Nicola Paviglianiti, is named among 10 3M National Student Fellowship Award Recipients. Introduced in 2012, the 3M National Sudent Fellowship Award honours undergraduate students in Canada who have demonstrated qualities of outstanding leadership and who embrace a vision where the quality of their educational experience can be enhanced in academia and beyond.
Each winner receives a $5,000 award, registration at the STLHE conference, participation in a day-long retreat held in Vancouver, B.C., as well as accommodation and funds toward travel to the conference.
Snapshots of experience tapped as winners
March 19, 2015
Three Western students nabbed top honours in the 2014 Languages and Cultures Photo Contest for snapshots of their varied international experiences.
Student takes Korean language prize
March 14, 2015
Modern Languages student Sana Nawab won the Grand Prize in the Korean Speech Contest recently held in Toronto. Nawab receives a trip to Korea, along with a summer language course. Another Modern Languages student, Michelle Alacron C. took second place in the beginners category. This annual competition features contestants from various other universities and colleges in the province.
2014
Portrait pilferer returns to scene decades later
November 6, 2014
It was the perfect crime- until it became the perfect mystery.
"It was really surprising, like something out of a novel. Why would you steal this picture- of all pictures," laughed Joyce Bruhn de Garavito, professor and chair of Languages and Cultures. "Think of this picture, and then think of it 'decorating' someone's dorm room.
The mystery began May 21, when a package arrived at the University College offices of Languages and Cultures.
25 years after the fall of the Berlin wall
October 30, 2014
On Aug. 13, 1961, the Berlin Wall was erected, thereby dividing overnight a city, families, and dueling ideologies for the next 28 years. On Nov. 9, 1989, the world watched as jubilant crowds gathered on both sides of that Wall to celebrate the opening of its crossings. Germany's postwar division was over.
Next month, we mark the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. To commemorate that event, Western News asked five scholars to reflect on its meaning a quarter century out.
Class opens eyes - and minds- to Guatemala
October 23, 2104
Community Service Learning in the Hispanic World: Guatemala- History, Culture and People in Context is an interdisciplinary community service learning (CSL) course on- and in- Guatemala taught by Languages and Cultures professor Alena Robin. The course includes a three-week community-service trip to Guatemala, where students experience first-hand the lives of the people and communities studies. The class partners with Miguel Angel Asturias Academy, located in the city of Quetzaltenango. Western News asked two students from that class- Dilani Logan and Madison Price- to reflect on that trip.
Domina: Ukraine at War: When history becomes personal
September 24, 2014
Natalya Domina is a second-year PhD student in Comparative Literature at Western. Her research interests include utopian studies, Soviet experimental fiction and Ukrainian and Russian contemporary literature.
The Russian invasion into the eastern part of Ukraine was highly predictable. But the four months I spent at home in Mariupol, a densely populated city in southeastern Ukraine, was the time when this very history became personal and rather painful.
Grad students take second place in provincial competition
March 2014
Congratulations goes out to two of our Hispanic Studies PhD Students, David Brown and Javier de la Rosa. They teamed up and entered the Communitech Data.Base Challenge. Out of a few hundred teams that applied, David and Javier's project was selected to be one of the five finalists to come to Waterloo last weekend and present their project to a panel of judges. Their project DATA.CARE: Data for a Healthier Ontario, won second place.
2013
If These Walls Could Talk: The Downtown Oral Histories Project
A graduate of the Comparative Literature PhD program, Roberta Cauchi Santoro discusses the history of Downtown in the London Free Press article
Western arts and humanities getting tech infusion
By Chris Montanini The Londoner, June 11, 2013
Researchers at Western University are leading efforts to rejuvenate arts and humanities studies and they’re reaching out to students in more technical disciplines for some help.
Italian is alive, well and growing
By Stephanie Grella Panoram Italia Magazine June 4, 2013
Students can now feed their curiosity about anything Italian at Western University in London, Ont. In addition to having a thriving Italian student association, the school has recently expanded its Italian major program thanks to demand and growing enrollment. Read More
Replanting the Forest City, one textbook at a time
The new Digital Humanities program at Western is already making an impact on the world around us. Students from the Digital Humanities 2121G course took a class project outside of the classroom and are looking to add more trees to the forest city.
