GW Arts & Sciences
October 2015

A Message from the Chair

As a new chair of a large and disparate department, I have the privilege of working with colleagues from a broad swath of scholarly endeavors — from the study of the literatures and cultures of Medieval Europe to the role of second-language acquisition in American institutions of higher learning (and much more in between). It is my goal to make those endeavors as fruitful as possible, for that fruitfulness enriches not only our contributions to our specifics fields of study; it also enriches our teaching and the future of our most important stakeholder — our students.

Richard Robin
Chair, Department of Romance, German & Slavic Languages & Literatures

Department Year in Review

Mary Beth Stein

RGSLL supported an important commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall (co-organized by Professor Mary Beth Stein).

RGSLL’s on-going Spanish & Latin American Writers Series continued (Professor Sergio Waisman, organizer and convener), with special guest Argentine poet Yaki Setton in October 2014

Photo Caption: Professor Stein shown giving opening remarks at one of several events during a week-long celebration.

Event flyer

RGSLL co-presented  with the 25th Washington Jewish Film Festival two Spanish-Latin American films (co-organized by Visiting Professor Carola Goldenberg).

Kathryn Kleppinger, assistant professor of French and francophone studies, was the recipient of the 2015 WID Distinguished Teaching Award.

Photo Caption: Flyer for the 25th Washington Jewish Film Festival that RGSLL co-presented.

Spanish & Latin American Languages and Literatures News

IMPACTO Service Learning Student Group

The Spanish Program’s Academic Service-Learning initiative was developed and is led by Dolores Perillán, Instructor of Spanish, in partnership with GW’s Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service. The program offers GW students the opportunity to engage in diverse service projects with community partner organizations working for underserved Latino populations. Students’ participation can take place via the Advanced Spanish Service-Learning 3040 course, and GW Impacto, offered as a co-curricular component to enrich our students’ language learning at other levels, while extending their civic engagement experiences. Read more about the program here.

Christopher Britt, associate professor of Spanish, published the essays “La irrealidad histórica de España” and “Intelectuales e idiotas” in Almanaque Literario México, Universidad de Guanajuato.

María José de la Fuente, Associate Professor of Spanish, is editor-in-chief of The Open Journal of Modern Linguistics, and is on the editorial board of the journal Interlingüística. Professor de la Fuente also published the book chapter “Explicit negative feedback and computer-based, focus on form tasks: The role of L1 in promoting L2 attention and awareness” in Spanish Technology and Second/Foreign Language Learning: A Psycholinguistic and Psychocognitive Approach.

Photo Caption: IMPACTO Service Learning Student Group

» Read More

French News

French and Francophone Events this year included: a book presentation and discussion in Gelman library with Professors  Abdourahman Waberi and Kathryn Kleppinger; participation by Professor Kleppinger in the “Framing Ferguson” event with Professor Jennifer James; and Professor Masha Belenky hosting lectures by Dr. Sarah Kennel, associate curator of photographs at the National Gallery of Art; “The gastronomic meal of the French” with Jean-Robert Pitte; and a talk on Impressionist and post-Impressionist paintings by Dr. Mary Morton, director of French galleries at the National Gallery of Art.

Leah Chang, associate professor of French, published the scholarly volume Portraits of the Queen Mother: Polemics, Panegyrics, Letters (Univ. of Toronto Press), and the refereed article “Marie de Gournay" (in an Oxford Bibliography). She also contributed to the proposal for a Global Humanities Institute.

» Read More

German News

Margaret Gonglewski, associate professor of German, continued her collaboration with Professor Helm from GW’s International Business program, where she served as the GW-CIBER Business Languages coordinator; was faculty co-director for undergraduate research in GW’s Center for Undergraduate Fellowships and Research

Portuguese News

Ana Luisa Leal, visiting assistant professor of Portuguese, arrived as part of a CCAS exchange with the University of Macau. She will help to expand the Portuguese program, adding a third year of instruction and a new course in Heritage Portuguese.

Slavic News

Richard Robin, professor of Slavic languages and literatures, created the new Russian language graduate exam for American University and advised on the creation of exams for Portuguese, Spanish and Arabic.

Peter Rollberg, professor of Slavic languages, film studies, and international affairs, continued his work as director of the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies and of the MA Program in European and Eurasian Studies in the ESIA. Professor Rollberg also published a film review, a book review, an invited article, an essay for a DVD, a catalog entry and the refereed article “Mastermind, Terrorist, Enigma: Dostoevsky's Nikolai Stavrogin” in Perspectives on Political Science.

On November 19, The Russian Program hosted a panel on the premiere of the documentary Free to Rock about the impact of Russian Rock on the fall of the Soviet Union. We hosted the films producers, Doug Yeager and Nick Binkley as well as three of the film's participants, all figures in the early stages of the development of Russian Rock.

Media Coverage

Kathryn Kleppinger, assistant professor of French, appeared as a commentator in Al Jazeera America-TV’s “Inside Story” and in NTN-TV’s “Breaking News” in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attacks.

Peter Rollberg, professor of Slavic languages, film studies and international affairs, appeared in Georgian Cinema Lecture in Washington, D.C., Voice of America (Georgian Service)/Imeda TV channel (Georgia)-TV; Jonson's Russia List hosted by Institute Buzzfeed -Digital Media; was interviewed by Rosy Gray of Buzzfeed about Johnson's Russia List (the interview was later reprinted by the Ukrainian service Stopfake!); was interviewed and quoted by Larry Rohter of The New York Times for his article on Russian director Andrei Zvyagintsev.

Mary Beth Stein, professor of German, was interviewed by James Irwin for GW Today-TV: “Twenty Five Years Later; The Fall of the Berlin Wall”.

» Read More

Alumni Updates/Class Notes

Anda Andersons, BA ’62, has used her language skills over the years in various capacities including translations work at both the National Science Foundation and the Smithsonian Institute, and as a guide at the World’s Fair in Brussels, Belgium. Andersons received her MA in clinical art therapy from a graduate program in California.

Sophia Carter, BA ’11, recently graduated from Duke Law School and is currently working for Intel Corporation in Washington, D.C., and Brussels, Belgium.

Jessica Denson, BA ’07, appeared in the New York Post, The Wall Street Journal and multiple other outlets following her role in the HBO political mini-series, Show Me a Hero.

Eileen Dorfman, BA ’09, graduated cum laude from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 2015, where she was also a 2014-15 Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellow in Russian. She is currently working as a judicial law clerk in the Dane County Circuit Court.

» Read More

Donor Recognition

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

Valerie von-Mach-Browne Choudhury, class of 1959, established a merit-based scholarship for an undergraduate student who is pursuing a major or minor in the Department of Romance, German & Slavic Languages & Literatures. Valerie has a BA in French Literature from the Columbian College of Arts & Sciences at the George Washington University.

The Department of Romance, German & Slavic Languages & Literatures would like to gratefully acknowledge the following generous donors who made a gift to the school from July 1, 2014 – June 30, 2015.

Jami Avellini, BA ’01
John R. Cremer #
Nathalie C. Dalmau Botello, BA ’09
Maria J. de la Fuente +#
Daniel H. Gallagher, BA ’75
Girls Academy Soccer Program, LLC
Christopher B. Hill, BA ’11
Carolyn H. Hueston, MA ’72
Durriyyah Rabiyah Johnson, BA ’06
Karen C. Kelser, BA ’90
Jordan N. Kestenbaum, BA ’15
Julia T. King, BA ’08
Marta M. Loyola, BA ’71

Wolfgang M.L. Maier, MPhil ’72
Bennett A. Manning, BA ’65
Roric J. McCorristin, BA ’01
Deanna C. McCullough, BS ’03
Thomas E. McCullough #
Renee M. Meyer, MA ’77
Abigail A. Page, BA ’08
Maura Prendergast, PhD ’80
Kent M. Ricci ~
Mark E. Richter, BA ’79
Marissa S. Rohrbach, BA ’08
Siena V. Romano, BS ’14
Patricia G. Salazar, BA ’15

Andrea L. Sestanovich, BA ’14
Melissa A. Svenningsen, BA ’15
Edward L. Valio, BA ’02
Jonathan T. Vasdekas, BA ’12
Sonja R. Vitow, BA ’09
Maria S. Watson, BA ’67
Margit A. Williams, MA ’77
Kristen L. Zaehringer, BA ’02

+ Faculty/Staff
# Parent
~ Student

SUPPORT THE DEPARTMENT

The campaign for GW

Gifts to the Department of Romance, German & Slavic Languages & Literatures Department allow us to provide support for faculty and student research and travel, graduate student fellowships, and academic enrichment activities including guest speakers, visiting faculty, and symposia. Each gift, no matter how large or small, makes a positive impact on our educational mission and furthers our standing as one of the nation's preeminent liberal arts colleges at one of the world's preeminent universities. Please consider making a gift before June 30th.
You can make your gift to the department in a number of ways:

  • Securely online at www.gwu.edu/give2gw.  Just choose “other” under designation and type in the name of the department. 
  • By mailing your check, made out to The George Washington University and with the name of the department in the memo line, to:

The George Washington University
2033 K Street NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC  20052

  • By phone by calling the GW Annual Fund at 1-800-789-2611.

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GW Arts & Sciences