Why settle for just learning Italian or cooking Italian food while you can do that at the same time?

In a fun-filled morning, the students of Italian 1 gathered in the kitchen at Morgan Hall to learn how to cook authentic Italian cuisine. The activity aimed to give the students a hands-on experience of cooking some classic Italian dishes and to rehearse their knowledge of food vocabulary. » read more »

Mia Fuller has been promoted to Full Professor. Mia’s promotion is a recognition of her excellence in research, evinced by her many significant interventions into the field of Italian Studies (and beyond), and her outstanding teaching profile. Many of us know that this also includes countless hours of first-rate graduate student mentorship. All of this is even more commendable given the steady and thoughtful leadership she’s provided as Department Chair and the Director of the Program in Romance Languages and Literatures over the past several (and uniquely challenging) years. Please join us in sending her congratulazioni vivissime!

Congratulations to Nicole Trigg on receiving a Summer Dissertation Writing Award from the Berkeley Graduate Division! Complimenti, Nicole!

Congratulations to Ph.D. Candidate Sean Wyer on being awarded a Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship! Complimenti, Sean!

The Newcombe Fellowship, funded by the Charlotte W. Newcombe Foundation, is the largest and most prestigious award for Ph.D. candidates in the humanities and social sciences addressing questions of ethical and religious values in interesting, original, or significant ways. Fellows receive a 12-month award of $30,000 to support the final year of dissertation writing.

Sean Wyer can be found on Twitter (@sean_c_wyer) and on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-w-494b034b/).

Congratulations to Mariagrazia De Luca on being awarded a Daniel E. Koshland Jr. Fellowship in the Art of Teaching Writing!

This fellowship is a grant designed to provide graduate students teaching Reading and Composition courses in 2023-24 the opportunity to improve existing and develop new pedagogical skills and practices. Only twelve students receive this stipend to participate in the Summer Writing Institute, led by Joseph Harris, a leading scholar in composition studies. Recipients are also invited to participate in the Fall 2023 Art of Writing fellow meetings concerning writing pedagogy. Complimenti, Mariagrazia!

Complimenti to Cristina Farronato on being awarded a BLC Fellowship for Spring 2024!

These fellowships will provide lecturers with the equivalent of one-course release time to work on individual projects designed to further their own professional development. Research projects might include: designing and developing instructional materials of various kinds; developing innovative uses of technology; developing new course syllabi or curricular innovations or assessment plans; engaging in independent study of an area of relevant literature, including enrolling in a course of relevant interest offered at UC Berkeley; doing an empirical study of some aspect of language learning; preparing a research paper for public presentation or publication in a professional journal. The fellowship culminates in a presentation to the UC Berkeley language community and a report published on the BLC website. Past fellows have also presented their research at conferences, or published their work in established journals.

Congratulations to Kyle Thomson, who has been awarded the Berkeley-Muenster Research Fellowship and the Berkeley-St Andrews Research Fellowship, which will enable him to complete his dissertation in Europe! Complimenti, Kyle!