News

View the news from last year or the year before and reminisce!

 

French Ambassador visits UB

On Wednesday April 8th, Ambassador Pierre Vimont visited the University at Buffalo.

According to the Washington Diplomat, Ambassador Vimont has served as ambassador of France to the United States since Augugust 2007. He was previously chief of staff to the French minister of foreign affairs (2002-07) and as ambassador and was, from 1999 to 2002, permanent representative of France to the European Union. After joining the Foreign Service in 1977, Ambassador Vimont was first posted to London as first secretary from 1978 to 1981 before returning to the Quai d'Orsay to serve with the Press and Information Office for four years. In his next assignment, he served as second counselor with the Permanent Representation of France to the European Communities in Brussels (1986-1990), and was subsequently chief of staff to the minister delegate for European affairs from 1990 to 1993. Ambassador Vimont then served as director for development and scientific, technical and educational cooperation, and then for cultural, scientific and technical relations. He was deputy director-general of the entire Cultural, Scientific and Technical Relations Department from 1996 to 1997 and then director of European Cooperation from 1997 to 1999. Ambassador Vimont holds a law degree and is a graduate of the Institute of Political Studies and the National School of Administration (ENA).

While in Buffalo, Ambassador Vimont toured Old Fort Niagara and visited two special library exhibits: one honoring the history of the Melodia Jones Chair in French and showcasing the French legacy in the Niagara Frontier region (on display in Special Collections), and the second, on exhibit in the foyer of the Lockwood Memorial Library, entitled "The Julian Park Collection: Rare Books Portray French History and Culture."

Ambassador Vimont presented a public lecture, "The United States and France and the Renewal of Transatlantic Relations," in which he discussed the changing nature of relations between the two nations over the past several years. The talk took place at 3:00 PM. in the Drama Theatre in the Center for the Arts, North Campus, and the video of the talk can be seen here.

 

French theatre performance

Tickets for the April 4 "Femmes de lettres" performance by the Théâtre de la chandelle verte are available; those interested should send e-mail to ub-theatreinfrench@buffalo.edu. Performances are at 2:00 pm and at 6:00 pm, ad each performances lasts one hour. The venue is the Black Box theatre in the Center for the Arts at UB. The performance consist of ten vignettes based on excerpts of writings by ten women: Marie de France, Christine de Pisan, Marguerite de Navarre, Madame de Lafayette, Madame de Sévigné, Olympe de Gouges, Camille Claudel, Colette, Marguerite Duras, and Fatou Diome. The poster for the performance is here.

 

Commencement 2008

The annual RLL Commencement Celebration was held on May 9th, 2008, in the Center for Tomorrow. The ceremony began with recognition of the recipients of graduate degrees:

• Paola Margaret Kersch, PhD in Spanish
• Noemi Maldonado-Cardenales, PhD in Spanish
• Sergio Manuel Pedro, PhD in Spanish
• Adriana Primo-Vincent, PhD in Spanish
• Susana Ivonne Rodriguez, PhD in Spanish
• Keith Richard Christensen, MA in French
• Daniel Andrew Gattuso, MA in Spanish
• Laura Elizabeth Brooks Guglani, MA in Spanish
• Katie Marie Latour, MA in French
• Olga Maria Lepkyj, MA in French
• Diana Vela, MA in Spanish

The annual Alumni Address was given by Andrew Franklin. A native of Queens, NY, Andrew completed his Bachelor of Arts degree at UB, where he was in the Honors Program. He majored in Spanish with minors in Italian and Marketing. Following graduation in 2004, Andrew accepted a Fulbright Award to teach English in the Principality of Andorra. Since 2005, Andrew has been teaching Spanish and French at the Ross School in East Hampton, NY. Next year, he will be switching to a public school in Nassau County, NY. Andrew will also be beginning graduate work in Romance Languages at SUNY Stony Brook.

The awards portion of the program began with recognition of RLL seniors who had been inducted into Phi Beta Kappa: Rebecca Anderson, Kathryn Figliotti, Lauryn Ballesteros, Tracy Fort, Lynne Banks, Daniel Geyer, Juliet Barry, Lindsay Hall, Andrew Bernstein, Amy Hardy, Alana Bibergal, Christine Harvey, Amy Bouvin, Frances Karras, Kimberly Butts, Ghislaine Kersten, Devin Callan, Michael Kopalek, Julia Cole, Leila Manteghi, Brooke Dell'Oso, Lauren Mook, Jeremy Detwiler, Janelle Olmer, Kate Dunning, Ian Phillips, Chantal Englert, Holly Savage, Julia Eron, Brooke Shaughnessy, Dana Farber, and Emily Smith.

The faculty and assembled graduates then recognized the achievements of Dean's Medalist Katharine Facci, and the recipient of the Samuel P. Capen Award, Chantal Englert. Afterwards, with the help of Melodia E. Jones Professor of French Jean Jacques Thomas, Mary Ellen Gianturco recognized the winners of the annual Alliance française Prize for Excellence in French: First place to Jordan Pitts of City Honors, second place to Suzanna Friedman of Batavia High School, and third place to Chelsea Horne, of Williamsville East High School.

 

RLL picnic

RLL faculty and graduate students braved the rain to gather at Beaver Island State Park for the annual welcome picnic in September.

                
   
              

 

New faculty

We are pleased to announce the appointment to the Melodia E. Jones Chair in French of Jean-Jacques Thomas, previously Professor of Romance Studies, Literature and Linguistics at Duke University. Also new to the Department this year is Visiting Assistant Professor of Italian Laura Chiesa.

 

In memoriam

Humanities faculty from across the College of Arts and Sciences gathered to hear David Castillo deliver a Humanities Institute Fellowship lecture, and to pay homage to our late colleague Edward J. Dudley, on September 24th. Professor Dudley, a Cervantes scholar and long-time chair of the department, was remembered by Mireya Camurati, Barbara Miller and Cristy Saterbo as an inspirational teacher and graceful leader. In Professor Dudley's memory, a scholarship fund to support graduate student travel and study abroad has been created. Contributions may be made online to the Edward J. Dudley Memorial Fund (mention "Dudley Memorial Fund" in the "special instructions" box).