View some of the recent highlights of the department’s activities including faculty research, student achievements, study abroad programs and curriculum developments.
In 2015, Dr. Nicolas Carbo taught courses in Hispanic Literature, Advanced Grammar and Composition, Trends And Tendencies In Hispanic America, and Spanish Conversation. He recently translated a virtual tour that will complement Adelphi’s new interactive map into Spanish for the Office of Admissions. It will be available on the Admission website by mid April.
Dr. Jonathan Hiller presented original research at the AATI International Convention in Siena, Italy (June 2015), at the MLA Annual Convention in Austin, TX (January 2016) and at the “Gastronomy and the Arts: An Exchange of Epic Portions” conference in Toronto, Canada. (March 2016). He contributed two book reviews for publication and has been invited to submit two articles for publication on 19th-century Italian culture for next academic year. He translated the 1865 novel Paolina by Italian gothic novelist I. U. Tarchetti into English, and presented a selection of his translation at the Adelphi Faculty Works in Progress series in October of 2015.
Dr. Nicole Rudolph was promoted to Associate Professor in July 2015. In February 2016, Prof. Rudolph gave a talk at the Maison Française of Columbia University; the talk was based on her new book, At Home in Postwar France: Modern Mass Housing and the Right to Comfort (Oxford/New York: Berghahn Books). She also delivered a paper on Mère Denis at the annual meeting of the Society for French Historical Studies at Vanderbilt University in March 2016. In April, she was an invited participant at NYU’s Institute of French Studies conference on the future of French Studies, and in August she will travel to Helsinki to deliver a paper on understandings of nature in postwar French housing. She is in her third year leading the International Studies Program.
Dr. Priya Wadhera attended the Modern Languages Association’s Annual Convention in Austin TX as one of the representatives of the Executive Committee of the Division on Twentieth-Century French Literature, a prestigious position within that organization. Her first book, entitled “Original Copies: the Postmodern Aesthetic of Georges Perec and Andy Warhol,” is slated for publication in the summer by Brill–Rodopi in the Faux Titre series. She shifts her focus from art to food in her next book project, a study of how Proust’s madeleine episode has been rewritten in literary works during the course of the past century. On this topic, she has been invited to give a number of papers. Most recently, these were delivered at the20thand 21st-Century French and Francophone Studies International Colloquium.
Dr. Raysa Amador served as a Consultant, for the Center for Integrated Language Communities’ Languages at the Community Nexus research project, City University of New York, 2014- 2016. She served as peer reviewer at the International and Foreign Language Education (IFLE) office of Postsecondary Education at the US Department of Education for the National Resource Centers Competition and the Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships Program, August 4-8, 2014 in Washington, DC. She attended the ADFL Seminar East, George Mason University, Washington, DC, June 2015 and will attend the ADFL East Seminar at NYU in June 2016. Coordinating revisions to the Spanish and French curriculum, she has been invited to serve as a consultant in May 2016 for ADFL-MLA.
Dr. Amador has assumed the French, Italian and Spanish Placement Exam coordinating responsibilities as of Spring 2016. She coordinates the Online tutorial services, supervising students hired through the prestigious Hire a Panther program.
In June 2016 the Alumni reunion will take place under her direction in conjunction with the Alumni Office.
Prof. Amador is also revising proposal for the Textbook (co-authored) Lengua y vida, to be submitted to publishers in the near term.
Dr. Rakhel Villamil-Acera, in addition to teaching a variety of courses at all levels in Spanish, has published an article entitled “La tragedia en el teatro cómico (1894-1936)” in Revista de estudios culturales (Spring 2016). She also delivered a presentation entitled “Teatro y colpa: La zapatera prodigiosa (F. García Lorca, 1930) y Te he de querer mientras viva (Rafael de León y el Maestro Quiroga, 1959-1960)” at the NeMLA conference in Hartford, CT in March of 2016.
Together, the faculty of the DLLC continue to contribute to the success of the recently launched Certificate in Translation.
All of this work would not be possible without Ms. Carmen Castellón, our dedicated administrative assistant, our adjunct faculty, and so many outstanding students who make the department a stimulating place to learn, conduct research, and communicate.
It is now our pleasure to share a few thoughts and memories that some of our students have sent along to us, some from our current crop of excellent students, some students from years past. We hope you find them as compelling as we did!
From Jenna Cavuto, M.A. ’15, on the Experience of Study Abroad:
When I was a freshman, a representative from the Study Abroad office came to my FOrE class and spoke about the study abroad programs that Adelphi had to offer
Since I was so active in the Adelphi community, with on campus jobs and clubs, I decided to do a summer abroad program, so that I would not miss an actual semester on campus. In the summer of June 2013, I studied abroad in Bilbao, Spain with Professor Rakhel Vilamil-Acera. Even though I was only there for one month, I was forever changed…I finally had the chance to practice my Spanish outside of the classroom, all while learning to live on my own in a different culture, on a new continent and in a different country. It was during this time that I realized how connected I felt with Spanish culture and how much I loved everything about Spain. Once I returned back to New York, I learned about the teaching opportunities that the Spanish government offers to native English speakers. And that is where I am at now. Before graduating with my M.A. in May 2015, I accepted a teaching position in Madrid, Spain. In today’s world, I really think that every person should have the opportunity to study abroad…Living abroad has given me the opportunity to learn about other cultures and to see things from different perspectives, but at the end of the day still see how we are all just people trying to make it through life one day at a time!
From Collin Savage, B.A. ’15, on his experience studying Spanish:
I just really wanted to say gracias to all of you. Three years ago when I arrived at Adelphi, I had never taken a Spanish class, and I was never planning to. I understood a little, but I couldn’t speak a word of it. I knew next to nothing about the Spanish-speaking world, and I certainly didn’t know anything about dancing and couldn’t do it to save my life. Now I find it to be one of the most beautiful languages I’ve ever come across (not only how it sounds, but how the words are strung together into ideas and the perspective through which you see the world in Spanish)…
So, I would just like to say thank you to all of you. That’s one of those key moments in life when you realize that you’re actually making progress and understanding what’s around you, and everything we spoke about was either linked to or was taught in one of your classes…
Without all of you, I never would have been able to do that. I know that all of you came from other countries, but I’m glad you came. You went beyond just the role of professor to being actual teachers and mentors. The world needs more of that. (And I’m not the only student you all have inspired. We all get together after class and talk about how much we love the language department, and all of our friends who don’t take classes with you are actually jealous and have told us that they wish their departments were as much like a family as the language department.)
Josselyn Portillo, IS ‘09
From Josselyn Portillo, IS ’09
Accounting is not just crunching numbers. I also get the opportunity to teach others, and work with colleagues around world. Every day is different and interesting.
My translation technique classes with Professor Carbo and my International Studies have been helpful…when dealing with international clients.
Why am I an accountant? Because I like to make my dreams come true, like Santiago, which I finally visited!
When I was in 5th grade learning the capitals of all the Latin America countries, I wanted to travel the world. I wanted to meet people from different places, and have friends from different countries. From my small town back home, this was just fanciful. “It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.” — Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
What else could we say to promote ourselves better than this? If you have a moment, feel free drop an us e-mail at amador@adelphi.edu and let us know what you would like to read in future issues. As always, visit our website
For further information, please contact:
Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures
Alumnae Hall
p – 516.877.4050