Message from the Chair

 

Welcome to the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures (MLL) at the University of Miami.  Located in Coral Gables, just south of Miami, we find ourselves in an area characterized by linguistic diversity and significant cultural offerings – music, dance, theater, cinema, fashion, not to speak of the lectures and conferences organized by the schools and departments of UM.

This year we welcome three new faculty members:  Chrissy Arce (19th and 20th century Spanish American literature and culture) Yvonne Gavela (20th and 21st century Spanish Peninsular literature and culture), and Markus Zisselsberger (19th and 20th century Austrian and German literature and culture).  They promise to add further intellectual vitality to an already energetic and creative department.

The department has contributed considerably to UM’s campus and its students.  Faculty publish regularly in their fields, and have won prestigious awards for both teaching and scholarship.  MLL professors teach a wide range of courses in linguistics, literature, and cultural studies:  Italian Renaissance theater, modern and contemporary German and French literatures, the Francophone and Spanish Caribbean, Latin American and trans-Atlantic literatures, Luso-Brazilian poetry and music, bilingualism in the United States, to name just a few areas among many others.  All our courses reflect the faculty’s interests in comparative studies and, with numerous colleagues proficient in several languages and literatures, our courses tend to have a trans-national and/or interdisciplinary emphasis.

Each year, the department invites leading scholars as visiting lecturers, and frequently collaborates with various cultural organizations in the South Florida area, such as the Alliance Française de Miami et Fort Lauderdale, the Centro Cultural Español, and the Miami chapter of the Dante Alighieri Society.  It hosts several conferences, including an interdisciplinary symposium on Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque literatures (MRB).  Last year the theme of the symposium was “Spectacle and the Spectacular in Early Modern Europe,” with scholars Alison Weber and Valeria Finucci as keynote speakers.  Also organized last year was an international interdisciplinary colloquium entitled “Les Passions de Jean Genet” (“The Passions of Jean Genet”) which attracted scholars from North America and Europe.

Through its courses and programs, our department offers undergraduate students the opportunity to hone their language skills, learn about cultures other than their own, and discover rich literary traditions.  The study of modern languages, literatures and cultures constitutes an increasingly valuable asset in a globalized world and opens doors to careers in education, business, economics, law, medicine, politics, and the arts.

For those of you interested in our doctoral programs in French and Spanish, our majors and minors in French, German, and Spanish, and our minors in Italian and Portuguese, or if you wish to begin the study of Arabic, Hebrew, Japanese, or Chinese, we encourage you to visit us in the Merrick Building.

David R. Ellison

Distinguished Professor in the Humanities

Chairman, Department of Modern Languages and Literatures