The department hosted two major conferences in 2016-17: The International Conference of the American Pragmatics Association (AMPRA) in November 2016 organized by Professor César Félix-Brasdefer and the Colloquium of the North American Catalan Society (NACS) in May 2017 organized by Professor Edgar Illas.

Among splendid developments this year, Patrick Dove was promoted to the rank of Full Professor for his accomplishments and contributions to the Department and beyond, including having recently published a book about which you can learn more in the faculty publication section. I am also happy to announce that K. Allen Davis, Julie Madewell, and Alina Sokol were promoted to the rank of Senior Lecturer based on excellence in teaching. Award-winning staff member Jane Drake was recognized for her 25th year milestone of service to Indiana University. Israel Herrera was awarded two major teaching awards: the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching as well as the College’s James P. Holland Award for Exemplary Teaching and Service to Students. And Professor Ryan Giles was awarded the MLA’s John K. Walsh Award for most outstanding article published in the Hispanomedievalism journal La corónica.

Some news is bittersweet: After over 30 years, Professor Clancy Clements retired on June 30, 2017. We wish him all the best in retirement, but his presence will be sorely missed. On behalf of the department, I would like to thank him for the innumerable contributions he has made to the Department, the University and the field. You can learn more here about his fascinating trajectory as a scholar.

Our students continue to excel: Spanish major Kaitlynn Milvert was selected to be an IU Presidential intern; five of our majors were awarded the Indiana Outstanding College Student of Spanish/Portuguese Award by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP); and 21 majors were inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. Three graduate students were awarded year-long fellowships from the College of Arts and Sciences, and four defended their dissertations successfully.

Many of the culturally and intellectually-enriching activities highlighted in the newsletter are funded in part with the generous support of our friends and alumni, without which we would not be able to do many of the things that we do. Thus, we are incredibly grateful to all of our alumni and friends who have made a commitment to the excellence of the department by contributing intellectually, personally, and financially.

If you will be coming to town, be sure to let us know so that we can welcome you personally. The "Events" section of the department's webpage will be the place to look if you are interested in attending any of the activities planned for 2017-18, such as the 10th Anniversary Conference on Current Approaches to Spanish and Portuguese Second Language Phonology (February 23-24, 2018) organized by Professor Kimberly Geeslin, or the 2017 MESDA lecture which will be delivered by alumnus Professor Niraldo de Farias (PhD ‘95) in conjunction with our annual fall party on September 8, 2017.

Hasta luego, Até logo, Fins aviat,

Steven Wagschal
Chair, Spanish and Portuguese