Tatyana Gershkovich, who has been awarded an NEH fellowship to work on her latest book project Tolstoy Red and White, which examines Tolstoy's legacy in the early Soviet era and in post-revolutionary Russian emigrant communities. The NEH Fellowship program is extremely competitive, and this honor is a recognition of Dr. Gershkovich's cutting-edge research and her exceptional contributions to Russian Studies. 

A huge congratulations to Dr. Gershkovich for this recognition!

Kiyono Fujinaga-Gordon was appointed visiting researcher at the National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics for the 2026–2027 academic year. During this time, they will be working on designing and conducting experiments on critical thinking skills and question generation and language documentation of Miyako.

Sue Connelly-Colizza, Vera Lampley, Maddy Marrow and Karen Richters received LCAL Staff Excellence Awards, established in honor of Nancy Monda, for their dedication and exceptional service during the department's recent difficult transition.

[Photo from Nancy Monda's retirement celebration – L to R: Karen Richters, Sue Connelly-Colizza, Nancy Monda, Vera Lampley, Maddy Marrow, Anne Lambright]

Uju Anya published a chapter in the Routledge Handbook of Language and Race titled "Uju Anya in conversation with Sinfree Makoni and the African Studies Global Virtual Forum: Blackness: multiple and scalable?"

Isabelle Chen published "Nation, Narration, Translation: Hybrid Forms in Lydie Salvayre's Pas pleurer." doi.org/10.1353/frf.2025.a975493. More recently, her French-to English translation of Samia Kassab-Charfi's article "Atlas Scarred: Traumatic Analogies in Patrick Chamoiseau's Poetics" was released in the journal Yale French Studies.

On Jan. 11, José Estrada virtually presented “A City Transformed: Alva’s Nahuatl Translation of Lope’s La madre de la mejor” on the panel Global Encounters, Translations, and Transformations in the Comedia at the 2026 Modern Languages Association (MLA) Convention.

Joseph Garcia and Khaled Al Masaeed published "Challenging Misconceptions About Studying Moroccan Arabic: Beliefs of L2 Multidialectal Learners Beginning a Year-Long Study Abroad in Morocco" in Languages, vol. 11, issue 1. doi.org/10.3390/languages11010004.

Giuseppina Gemboni published "L’inesauribile e il molteplice. L’ecocritica mediterranea a partire dal saggio di Serenella Iovino" in the volume Fragili idilli: Per un’ecocritica del Mediterraneo, edited by Angela Fabris and Steffen Schneider. doi.org/10.1515/9783111437866.

Sanghee Kang published two research articles with her colleagues: "Examining a multilingual learner's pair dynamics and translanguaging during collaborative writing tasks in a task-supported L3 classroom" in the Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development. doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2025.2599452 and "Learning honorific request-making expressions in Korean during mobile text-chat tasks: Comparing provision of primes and recast prime" in Studies in Second Language Acquisition. doi.org/10.1017/S0272263125101344.

On Jan. 12, Jonathan Walton (ETC) and Gang Liu presented their innovative project at the R.W. Moriarty Science Seminar at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, showcasing how 3D digitization and game design can bring ancient Chinese oracle bones to life through virtual models that make these artifacts more accessible and engaging for researchers, students and the public.

Mame-Fatou Niang keynoted “Decentering Europe’s Art Scene” at the Royal Theatre of Brussels, during which she engaged questions developed throughout the fall semester with LCAL students. Dr. Niang also attended the Centenary of Frantz Fanon’s Birth at the Museum of the Black Diaspora in Dakar, Senegal, where she presented on the presence and absence of Fanon in the French educational canon.

David Parker published "What do I look like from there? Outsideness and aesthetic seeing in Andrei Bitov's early works" in Canadian Slavonic Papers. doi.org/10.1080/00085006.2025.2584858.

Devon Renfroe and Khaled Al Masaeed published "Style shifts into an informal speech style in L1–L2 Korean interactions" in the Journal of Pragmatics. doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2025.12.008.

Sue-mei Wu served as a National Screening Committee Member for the Fulbright U.S. Student Program 2026-2027. In this role, she helped review and evaluate the applicants who wish to teach English in Taiwan (Fulbright ETA in Taiwan program). 

Students in Mame-Fatou Niang’s fall French course Paris Between Myths and Realities authored the French-language mural text for the alumna-created art installation in Posner Hall.

Formatted like a comic strip, the installation featured an original message of hospitality and belonging in English. New messages adhering to the same theme have been created by our students in nine different languages. Each language offers a unique perspective, inviting viewers to reflect on hospitality and belonging through a new lens.

These new language panels will begin rotating this spring. Stop by the third floor of Posner Hall to see them for yourself!

LCAL's language conversation groups are open to all students at CMU, regardless of field of study or experience level. Led by graduate students and/or faculty, our conversation groups offer students the opportunity to practice their language skills in a relaxed environment while engaging in fun cultural activities like playing games, dancing, watching movies/tv shows, eating snacks, etc. 

Please note: groups only meet when regular classes are in session.

CBESA has several major projects in the making, including developing a Global Network for the Study of Africans and People of African Descent (G-SAP) and applying for it to become an official UNESCO network, launching a new first of its kind academic journal SEA: A Journal of Black European Studies, organizing a three-day event at the House of European History in Brussels this summer (the official museum of the European Union) and contributing with messaging and content for a global campaign #KickRacism that will take place during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. More details coming soon!

We are now accepting applications for our summer 2026 study abroad programs in Doha, Qatar; Freiburg, Germany; Madrid, Spain; Monteverde, Costa Rica; Nantes, France; Seoul, South Korea; and Shanghai, China!

Scholarships are also available to any student participating in one of our seven programs. Plus, declared LCAL majors are guaranteed a scholarship! We're also excited to offer additional funding to students participating in the Nantes and Monteverde programs. The application deadline for these programs (and scholarships!) is Fri., Jan. 16!

• Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics & Second Language Acquisition
• M.A. in Applied Linguistics & Second Language Acquisition
• M.A. in Applied Linguistics & Second Language Acquisition — Advanced Study
• M.A. in Global Communication & Applied Translation

Visit our website for more details!