Until the last decade or so, African-American and working-class white women cleaned the houses of the well-off in the American South. There has been a striking changeover in recent years. The Maid Project, funded by Humanities Writ Large, focuses on the experience of Durham’s Latina housecleaners. The project brings together faculty, students, and the women themselves to explore the politics of immigration, gender, and labor. It will generate a traveling exhibit featuring the housecleaners’ stories. There is an activist… read more about Emerging Humanities Network: The Maid Project »
With a genuinely warm, familial atmosphere, the Romance Studies Department both nurtures and challenges students to master a foreign language within the cultural context of its native country. I fully enjoyed the balance the Romance Studies Department struck between developing grammatical competency in the written & spoken language and gaining cultural literacy. By immersing myself in classes ranging from the Italian-American Experience to Modern/Contemporary Spanish History, Art and Literature to the Literary Guide to… read more about Nelly-Ange Kontchu ('13) »
Deb Reisinger has been named the new chair of the AATF (American Association of Teachers of French) Commission on French for Business and Economic Purposes. read more about Reisinger Named Chair of AATF »
David Bell, Professor of Romance Studies, has been selected by the French government to be a member of L'Ordre des Palmes Académiques, a French honorary society that recognizes academics and educators for their contributions to the teaching and dissemination of French language and culture. His selection marks the fifth current or emeritus faculty member of the department to receive the prestigious honor, an indication of the department’s international stature. Other Duke members of the order include emeriti professors… read more about Bell named Chevalier of L'Ordre des Palmes Academiques »
Margaret Greer, Professor of Spanish & Latin American Studies and of Theater Studies, has been awarded the 2010 Richard K. Lublin Teaching Award. This Trinity College Distinguished Teaching Award is one of four that recognizes truly outstanding teaching in the College. Trinity College's four teaching awards recognize faculty members for teaching excellence and their ability to encourage intellectual excitement, inspire the discovery of knowledge, and foster critical inquiry in the classroom, lab, or studio.… read more about Greer Wins Teaching Award »
Laurent Dubois has been inducted into the Bass Society of Fellows for excellence in undergraduate teaching and research. He will hold the title "The Marcelo Lotti Chair in Romance Studies and History" from 2010 through 2015. In addition, Professor Dubois has also received a New Directions Fellowship from the Mellon Foundation in order to study Musicology and Ethnomusicology. read more about Dubois named Bass Fellow »
Roberto Dainotto, Professor of Romance Studies, has been awarded the 2010 Laura Shannon Prize in Contemporary European Studies for his book Europe (In Theory) (Duke University Press, 2007). Presented by the Nanovic Institute for European Studies at Notre Dame University, the Shannon Prize is given annually to the author of the best book in European studies that transcends a focus on any one country, state, or people to stimulate new ways of thinking about contemporary Europe as a whole. This is the first year that… read more about Dainotto wins Shannon Prize »
The new book of Professor José María Rodríguez-García, The City of Translation: Poetry and Ideology in Nineteenth-Century Colombia (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), has won the 2010 PROSE Award for Excellence in the category of Literature, Language, and Linguistics -- one of several American Publishers Awards for Scholarly and Professional Publishing handed out every year. The book was also a finalist in the Humanities category. The City of Translation sets out to answer two questions: how did poetry,… read more about Rodriguez-Garcia wins 2010 PROSE Award »
Joan Clifford was nominated by colleagues for service as one of the “madres fundadoras” of service-learning within the Spanish Language Program at Duke, and has won the 202 Alden Service-Learning Award. In the words of one nominator, Joan “believes in the ideals of service-learning and has shown a steadfast commitment to the community partners that she has sought out and maintained… never content just to have students in Spanish happen to ‘volunteer’ somewhere where people might speak a word of Spanish, but insisting on the… read more about Clifford wins Alden Service-Learning Award »
Laurent Dubois, who holds joint appointments in the Departments of Romance Studies and History, received the 2012 Howard D. Johnson Award. The Howard D. Johnson Award is one of four Trinity College teaching awards. The four awards recognize faculty who have broad knowledge of an academic field, theability to consistently communicate well to students, demonstrate responsiveness to students' needs, skillfully and creatively organize courses, encourage intellectual excitement, inspire the discovery of knowledge, foster… read more about Dubois Wins Howard Johnson Award »
In May, 2014, the Dean’s Leadership Award, intended to recognize the outstanding combined efforts of a group, went to the Spanish Language Program’s Civic Engagement Initiative. The team includes: Eileen Anderson, Joan Clifford, Rebecca Ewing, Bethzaida Fernandez, Lisa Merschel, Joan Munne, Liliana Parades, Maria Romero, Melissa Simmermeyer, Rosa Solorzano, Graciela Vidal, and William Villalba. The effort to incorporate civic engagement into the curriculum goes back a decade with the launch of a service-learning course… read more about Spanish Language Program wins Dean's Leadership Award »
On April 17, 2013 in the beautiful Gothic Reading Room, Professors David Bell and Michele Longino received the prestigious des Palmes Académiques (Order of Academic Palms) presented by the Consulat Général de France à Atlanta, Denis Barbet. Also present were Nicolas Florsch, Scientific Attaché, David Kibler, Cultural attaché and Marie-Claire Ribeil, Honorary Consul. read more about Bell and Longino Receive des Palmes Academiques »