Faculty research on the page and on the ground
Department of Classical & Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures (CMLLC) faculty conduct, present and publish research in a wide variety of disciplines. Here are just a few of this semester's accomplishments.
Professor Eugenia Casielles-Suárez's article, "Gender assignment to Spanish-English mixed DPs: singleton vs. multiword switches," was published in the journal "Spanish in Context." Her paper investigates if feminine-marked mixed Determiner Phrases (DPs) are restricted to singleton switches in written discourse by analyzing a mixed-language text, which contains both types of switches (singleton and multiword).
At the invitation of the Haitian Network Group of Detroit, Prof. Victor Figueroa gave a lecture titled "The Haitian Revolution in the Caribbean Literary Imagination" at the WSU Law School. The Black History Month event was followed by a signing of his book "Prophetic Visions of the Past: Pan-Caribbean Representations of the Haitian Revolution."
Professor Elena Past's most recent book, "Italian Ecocinema Beyond the Human," was published in January of this year by Indiana University Press. Based on interviews with film crew members and close readings of Italian films, Past's book uncovers cinema's ecological footprint and its potential to open new perspectives on environmental questions.
Professor Michele Valerie Ronnick's latest contribution to scholarship on William Sanders Scarborough was published this year by Bolchazy Carducci, with a foreword by Ward W. Briggs, Jr. Professor Ronnick edited and wrote the introduction to William Sanders Scarborough's "First Lessons in Greek: A Facsimile of the 1881 First Edition," after finding one of the few remaining copies of the rare volume. Professor T. Corey Brennan wrote in praise of the work, saying "We all owe a debt of thanks to Michele Valerie Ronnick for bringing this exquisitely rare volume, crucial in the intellectual and civil rights history of America, back to the light of day."
Summer research travel
Faculty in CMLLC study places around the globe, so their research takes them far and wide, too.
Professor Alina Cherry will be giving a talk entitled "Lifestyle, Death-style: Gherasim Luca's Onto-poetic Variations" at the 12th annual Deleuze and Guattari Studies International conference, to take place at the Royal Holloway, University of London, July 8-10.
Professor Anne Duggan will be carrying out research in Paris in September at the Cinémathèque française for her book project Engagé Animation: Tales of Social Justice.
Dr. Christine Knapp will be going to Washington, DC in May for a professional development course on teaching business French and international relations through the French Embassy and Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. Dr. Knapp will also be traveling to Nice, France for a two-week Professional Development Course for French professors from around the world in July offered through the International Federation of French Professors.
Professor Elena Past will be investigating a new research project, currently titled "#FilmIsAlive: Ferrania Film and the Multiple Lives of Italian Celluloid," on Italian celluloid production at the Ferrania film factory near Savona, Italy.
Because of her exemplary work with the Spanish Learning Community, Dr. Roxana Zuniga is one of four faculty members selected by the Office of the Provost to attend the Institute on High Impact Practices and Student Success, sponsored by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). This year's institute will be hosted by Villanova University in Pennsylvania.