Ali Alsmadi, Ph.D. student in Hispanic Literatures, has been awarded the President’s Diversity Dissertation Fellowship by the University Graduate School. Ali will be finishing his dissertation entitled “Morisco-Aljamiado Literature: Spanish Morisco Writing in the Early Modern Period.”

Aline Araujo, Ph.D. student in Portuguese, has been awarded a College Arts & Humanities Institute Graduate Research Travel Award for her project, “From Site-Specific to Immersive Performance: Space and Audience in Experimental Lusophone and Hispanic Theater.” Aline has also received a Timothy J. Rogers Summer Dissertation Fellowship.

Andrea Carrillo, Ph.D. student in Hispanic Literatures, has been selected to co-chair the Indiana Sigma Delta Pi Committee for the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP). Andrea is also the recipient of the Ana María Matute Award 2022 for demonstrating outstanding achievement in coursework completed and exemplary involvement in extra-curricular activities as related to Spanish/Hispanic Studies and an AATSP travel grant to present her paper, “Viaje a la tierra del abuelo: Un Bildungsroman hispanoamericano y latine por Mario Bencastro” at the AATSP 2022 Conference in July.

Mackenzie Coulter-Kern, Ph.D. student in Hispanic Linguistics, was awarded a Tinker Field Research Grant to carry out research in the Dominican Republic this summer. Her project is entitled: “Examining Willingness to Communicate and Acquisition of Spanish During the Peace Corps and Short-term Study Abroad in the Dominican Republic.” She has also been awarded a Future Faculty Teaching Fellowship (FFTF) and a Grant-in-Aid of Doctoral Research. Mackenzie also helped to conceptualize and create a promotional video for our graduate programs this year.

Bruna Kalil Othero Fernandes, Ph.D. student in Portuguese, received the People's Choice Award for her presentation, Brazilian Palimpsest: National Identity in Three Acts, for the 2022 Three Minute Thesis Competition sponsored by the Indiana University Graduate School. Bruna has also been selected to co-chair the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP) Indiana Portuguese Events Committee. She was also one of three students to receive the Global Citizen Scholarship for her video on global citizenship.

Rachel Garza, Ph.D. student in Hispanic Linguistics, has been awarded a Spanish and Portuguese Doctoral Student Award for Academic Achievement (DSAAA) and a travel grant.

Marcela de Oliveira e Silva Lemos, Ph.D. student in Portuguese, has been selected to co-chair the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP) Indiana Sigma Delta Pi Committee. Marcela has also been awarded the J.M. Hill Prize for an Outstanding Graduate Student Paper and a Pre-Dissertation Travel Grant for Summer for her project “Traces of Missing Women in the Post and Collective Memory of the Brazilian Military Dictatorship.”

Katherine Lindley, Ph.D. student in Hispanic Linguistics, has received a travel grant from the department.

Ricardo Martins, Ph.D. student in Portuguese, has been awarded the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP) Indiana Rising Star award for his service, academic, and leadership record. Ricardo has also received a COAS Travel Award.

José Luis Suárez Morales, Ph.D. student in Hispanic Literatures, has been awarded a departmental travel grant to present his paper, “On Survival and Niche Markets: Nature and Cultural Difference in Cristina Gallego and Ciro Guerra’s Pájaros de Verano,” at the Northeast Modern Language Association Conference in Baltimore. José Luis has also received a Latino Studies Dissertation Fellowship.

Ollin García Pliego, Ph.D. student in Hispanic Literatures, has received a COAS Travel Award.

Matthew Pollock, Ph.D. student in Hispanic Linguistics, has been awarded a College of Arts and Sciences Dissertation Fellowship for 2022-23. Matthew will be completing his dissertation, “Crossing the Party Line: A sociophonetic comparison of the production and perception of Andalusian dialectal features in peninsular Spanish political discourse.” He has also been awarded a Grant-in-Aid of Doctoral Research.

Enrique Rodríguez, Ph.D. student in Hispanic Linguistics, has received a travel grant from the department.

Adam Singh, Ph.D. student in Hispanic Literatures, has received a COAS Travel Award and a travel grant from the department.

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Ph.D. conferred

• Molly Cole
• Megan DiBartolomeo
• Damián Solano Escolano
• Kane Ferguson
• Caitlin McClelland-Methvin
• Dylan Jarrett
• Daniel Runnels
• Tingting Zhang

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M.A. conferred

• Shelby Bruun
  
• Mariah Cardenas
• Erika Sosa García
• Elizabeth McHugh
• Giada Mirelli
• Maria Moron Nozaleda

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Recent Graduates

Megan DiBartolomeo, Ph.D. in Hispanic Linguistics, has accepted a tenure track position as assistant professor of Spanish and Pedagogy at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia.

Dylan Jarrett, Ph.D. in Hispanic Linguistics, has accepted a position as teaching assistant professor of Hispanic Studies at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC.

Laura Merino, Ph.D. in Hispanic Linguistics, has accepted a position at the Institut für Romanistik of the prestigious Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany. Her professional title is “Wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin,” and rather than a postdoc, this appointment corresponds in the German system to an assistant professor position, lasting six years.

Daniel Runnels, Ph.D. in Hispanic Literatures, received a Graduate Conference Travel Award to present at the Midwest Modern Language Association and to further his research efforts. Daniel has accepted a position as assistant professor of Spanish at the University of Central Missouri.

Damián Solano Escolano, Ph.D. in Hispanic Literatures, has accepted a position as an assistant teaching professor at Penn State University in College Park, where he will also be serving as assistant director of the Spanish Language Program. Damián has also received a COAS Travel Award.

Mazinha Vieira has accepted a position at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill as an assistant teaching professor of Portuguese. Mazinha was also awarded a Symposia and Workshop Grant by the College Arts and Humanities Institute. This support will help her to organize the event “Brazilian Modern Art and Culture: 1922-2022.”