Next, Professor Kate Myers published a new monograph, in both English and in Spanish! A Country of Shepherds. Stories of a Changing Mediterranean Landscape is based on many conversations with shepherds on pastoral practices and gives unique insight into continuities and changes in Andalucía’s landscape. It is a timely book, and a fascinating and accessible one as well! In other news, longtime senior lecturer Sandra Ortiz has been inducted to FACET, IU’s Faculty Academy on Excellence in Teaching. This is a lengthy and highly competitive process, and a great recognition of Sandra’s years of teaching and innovation. This year has also been characterized by lively discussions on the ongoing relevance and historical evolution of foreign language teaching. Deborah Cohn’s research on this topic, based on a recent MLA report on foreign language enrollments nationwide, and on additional archival research, has helped to shape this conversation nationally and internationally. Please see her spotlight for more information. Last but not least, our alumna Megan Solon was named Director of IU’s Honors Program in Foreign Languages (IUHPFL). This is a longstanding study abroad program for honors high school students in Indiana, which has important connections to our department: many of our graduate students have taught for this program in Spain, Mexico and Chile, and many of our incoming Spanish students come to study with us because they have had the opportunity to immerse themselves in the culture during their high school years. We are so delighted that Megan is now leading this Program and that we’ll all benefit greatly from her dedication and expertise.

I am glad to also share news about two new administrative appointments, a testament to our faculty’s recognition beyond the department: Ryan Giles has been named the Director of the Medieval Studies Institute at IU, beginning his four-year term in July 2024. And César Félix-Brasdefer has been named Associate Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, a position which he adds to his function as Director of the Mexico Gateway Program. Congratulations to Ryan and César for these distinctions!

In other news, I am proud to announce that we have hired a new Linguistics Assistant Professor. María Gabriela Puscama’s research lies in the areas of Psycholinguistics and Second Language Studies. A native of Argentina, she comes to us from the Pennsylvania State University, via the University of Florida, where she was on the faculty for two years. We are delighted to welcome Gabriela to campus! We have lost some of our longtime teaching faculty colleagues: Julie Madewell is an alum of the Department and had been with us for over a decade, and Paul Coats had worked with the Basic Language Program for a number of years as well. We wish them well in their new endeavors. I am glad to announce in turn that we have been able to hire a total of five new lecturers. They are Pablo Staszkiewicz (Ph.D. Purdue University); Roberto Ortiz Manzanilla (Ph.D. Arizona State University); Julia Calderón (Ph.D. UCLA); Sabrina Grimberg (M.A. Stanford University), and Hernán Matzkevich (Ph.D. Purdue University). Let’s give them a warm welcome!

I am glad to announce also that we have begun to offer a new undergraduate fellowship: the Judith G. Pasco Study Abroad fellowship. Judith earned her B.A. in Spanish at IU in 1969 and went on to teach Spanish at the high school level for many years. Her gift supports undergraduate students in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese who are participating in any IU-recognized study abroad experience where Spanish and/or Portuguese are native languages. This year the fellowship funded three undergraduate students for the first time, and we look forward to offering this crucial opportunity to undergraduate students in future years. Thank you, Judith, for this amazing gift to our students!

Much happened in the Department—among other things, there was a very successful two days of Diálogos, the graduate student conference, Teatro VIDA presented in the spring, and the Linguistics and Literature Colloquia met. You will find more details and pics in the pages of Gaceta, but I’d like to point to the visit by renowned Mexican writer Yuri Herrera, organized in November 2023 by yours truly, which gathered a mix of undergraduate, graduate students and faculty from our Department and others, right on the last day before Thanksgiving Break. Herrera turned out to be a wonderful presenter and commenter (in Spanish), on many topics, including science fiction, the art of writing, the art of translating, soundscapes, and many other things. I recommend highly his published work, in Spanish or in English translation, and especially the historical novel from which he read on that occasion: La estación del pantano. In the spring semester, a series of lectures on “African Literature in Portuguese” brought to campus, via Zoom or in person, four distinguished African writers, with help from the African Studies Program, a truly unique and wonderful experience for students and faculty.

The year ended with difficult conversations on campus, as you might have read about, but in the Department we had an event of a different kind to be talking about as well: the first 3K/5K race in honor of Kimberly Geeslin took place on Cinco de Mayo 2024 in Bloomington’s Switchyard Park. You can read about it and see pictures in the Gaceta. It was a deeply impactful experience for many of us, and we hope to make this race a tradition, moving forward. You are all invited, please mark your calendars for next year’s Cinco de Mayo weekend! Please also find information about a new virtual research hub for Kim Geeslins’s work, created by Laura Gurzynski-Weiss.

For this coming year, we look forward to the next MESDA lecture, to take place on September 13^th, 2024, and to many events and activities, which you can follow here. Please come and visit us if you are in the area!

Warm wishes for 2024-25,

Anke Birkenmaier