Congratulations to our 2008 graduates!

The faculty and staff of French & Italian extend congratulations to the
2008 graduates from our department. Our best wishes to each of you!

French Majors & Minors:

Lauren Anne Allegra*, Jennifer Diane Bennett, Cassandra Marie Cohen, Annie Rose Colonna,
Drew Lauren David*, Emily Kennard DeVoe*, Sarah Elizabeth Edmiston, Kortne Sade Edogun,
Emilie Marie Flynn*, Patrick Lowry Gilbreath*, Ilya Gurevic*, Claire Katherine Harris,
Mary Coleman Hooper*, William Fortune Hubbard, Haleh Kadivar, Jamie Lee Kendall*,
Cannon Philip Kinnard, Kara Nicole Lasse, Amy Catherine Leone*, Alexandra Anna Markiewicz*,
Leigh Ann Merry*, Shanna Minter, Alison Carrington Northrop, Jon Fredrick Pennycuff*,
Chelsea Leigh Pulaski, Laura Ann Raba, Allison Lea Riley, Victoria Paige Rollins*,
Taylor Bryan Sewell*, Kathryn Virginia Shuford*, Chad Edward Simpson*, Jennifer Dunn Stuhr*,
Hilary Holstead Thompson*, Lucy Margaret Thompson, Lauren Cowden Turner,
Laura Christine Vaughn, Jennifer Ann Walls*,
Lindsey Elizabeth Williamson*, Katherine Elizabeth Yeaworth*, Li Zhou

Italian Minors:

Frank Vincent Cioppettini, Rachel Marcella Dorfman, Alexandra Reed Harrington,
Matthew Jude Rabito, Hilary Holstead Thompson, Danielle Burton Yasso

* Pi Delta Phi Members

Rachel Nissleson honored by Center for Teaching

On April 30^th the Center for Teaching hosted a Celebration of Teaching, an event that honors winners of university- or school-based teaching awards and recognizes our Teaching Certificate graduates. The Teaching Certificate (TC) program helps graduate students, professional students, and post-doctoral fellows develop and refine their teaching skills through three cycles of teaching activities, each consisting of inquiry, experimentation, and reflection phases. Participants who complete the program receive a Teaching Certificate from the Graduate School and the Center for Teaching. (For more information on this program, please visit the Teaching Certificate webpage.)

Rachel Nisselson, a graduate student in French, was among seven participants of the TC program honored for their completion of the program during the past academic year. The title of Rachel’s final project was “Investigating Sub-Vocalization During the Second Language Writing Process.” Rachel was also one of two program finishers asked to speak at the ceremony about her experience within the program.

Pi Delta Phi

We are please to announce that the Kappa Lambda chapter of Pi Delta Phi, the national French honor society has grown!
We welcome new members for 2008:
Lauren Allegra
Lauren Alterman
Sara Frances Derby
Ilya Gurevic
Kristy Hamilton
Catherine Hambleton
Mary Coleman Hooper
Lindsey Jones
Gabrielle Keenan
Alexandra Markiewicz
Eleonor Mix
Victoria Patterson
Jon Pennycuff
Marc Rigsby
Ann-Louise Ryan
Taylor Sewell
Katie Shuford
Chad Simpson
Hilary Thompson
Kristina Thurin
Jennifer Walls
Lindsey Williamson
Katie Yeaworth
Dr. Susan Kevra

2008 Department Award Winners

At this year's Senior Reception on April 17, several awards were given to graduating seniors and essay winners.
Jamie Kendall was awarded the Edwin S, Gardner Memorial Prize for Excellence in French.

Matthew Rabito was the winner of the C. Maxwell Lancaster Medal for Excellence in Italian.

Four graduating seniors were given French Government Prizes: Ilya Gurevic, Amy Leone, Chad Simpson, & Hilary Thompson.

This year's Wachs Essay contest winners were Chad Simpson (essay) & Catherine Hambleton (creative).

New Book from Lynn Ramey

Palgrave Macmillan has just published Race, Class, and Gender in "Medieval" Cinema by Professor Lynn Ramey as part of the "The New Middle Ages" series. Find more information at their website.

New Books by William Franke

Associate Professor of French, William Franke, has just published a new book with the University of Notre Dame Press. On What Cannot Be Said, has been released in two volumes. Please visit the press's website for more details.

New Book by Robert Barsky

Professor Robert Barsky’s new book, his fifth, has just been published by the MIT Press.

The Chomsky Effect: A Radical Works Beyond the Ivory Tower follows up on Noam Chomsky: A Life of Dissent by considering the approach that Chomsky takes to the many fields to which he contributes, and the effects that his work is deemed to have, positive and negative, within and beyond the ivory tower. Information and sample chapters of the book are available on-line at http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11294&mode=toc

To mark the event, Professor Barsky will be giving a talk at Vanderbilt on Thursday October 11th, at 4:30 PM, in the Hyatt Room, Vanderbilt Law School. Reception will follow, all welcome!

New Book by Nathalie Debrauwere-Miller

French Professor Nathalie Debrauwere-Miller's new book has just been released! Follow the attached link for more information. Edmond Jabes