Faculty and Staff Awards - 2002

Akron, November 2002

The Department of Modern Languages is pleased to learn that our own Dr. Maria A. Zanetta, associate professor of modern languages, received this year's Buchtel College Early Career Research Award in a ceremony hosted by Dean Roger Creel.

Dr. Maria A. Zanetta, who joined the modern languages department in 1995, "has established herself as an outstanding teacher, a scholar of international stature and an exemplary colleague. The quality of her work is evident by the praise for her book on the Catalan painter and writer Rusiñol. Reviewers call it as 'a model of methodological rigor,' 'a disciplined, ordered and precise work,' and 'highly interesting and advisable . . . for scholars of serious Spanish literature in general, comparative literature, and fine arts.' Dr. Zanetta's articles are published in first-rate journals, and she has presented a plethora of papers at major professional meetings. Owing to her exceptional ability to make the complex comprehensible and to inspire students with her enthusiasm and love of her subject, her course on the early 20th century Avant-Garde movement stands out among the department's offerings as a greenhouse of learning in which Dr. Zanetta is the consummate academic gardener.

Spanish Professor to Receive National Award

Akron, OH: October 2002

Dr. Paul Toth, a faculty member in the Department of Modern Languages, has been selected as this year’s American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language/Modern Language Journal Paul Pimsleur Award for Outstanding Research in Foreign Language Education. Dr. Toth was awarded this prestigious award based on a national ACTFL committee review of 38 professional research journals spanning a two-year period (1999-2001). Dr. Toth’s work on the complementary contributions of learner internal factors and instructional context to the learning of Spanish as a foreign language clearly rose to the top of the list. The title of his article is The Interaction of Instruction and Learner-Internal Factors in the Acquisition of Second Language Morphosyntax published in Studies in Second Language Acquisition.

Dr. Toth will receive his award at the national ACTFL meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah (November 21-24, 2002). At the awards ceremony, Dr. Toth will be introduced and a brief summary of his research study will be presented.

The entire department joins in congratulating Dr. Toth, whose research has brought national recognition to The University of Akron.

Annual A&S Roundup, October 2002

Akron, OH: October 23, 2002

Modern Language faculty staffed a table in the new Arts & Sciences Building atrium, promoting the class and program offerings of the Department. Numerous students picked up hundreds of brochures and information about the excellent courses and opportunities offered by the language department at The University of Akron.

Student Receives National French Award

Akron, OH: September 2002

University of Akron student Drew Schmotzer has been awarded Second Prize in the National French Honor Society's French Essay Contest. The essay, whose assigned topic was The Image of the French Language in American Popular Culture, was written in French by Mr. Schmotzer and rated against a field of submissions from students throughout the United States.

The Department of Modern Languages joins the members of the French Section in congratulating Mr. Schmotzer for his impressive achievement. Mr. Schmotzer has also been taking courses in Portuguese, and plans to participate in the Assistants Américains program in France next year.

French Honor Society Inductions, May 2002

Akron, OH: May 3, 2002

On this last class day of the semester, eleven new members were honored by the The University of Akron's chapter of Pi Delta Phi, the national French honor society. The induction ceremony was held in Buchtel Hall's McCollester room, and was attended by the inductees, family members, friends, as well as retired faculty and other members of the society who work in the Akron area.

A twelfth inductee was not able to attend, as he lives in Florida: Dr. Delbert Gibson, whose generous contributions allowed us to establish departmental scholarship fund two years ago, was awarded an honorary membership in Pi Delta Phi.

Featured speakers this year were Hannae Bendali, a graduate student from Morocco, and Ann and Bruce Rowland, UA alumni who explained how useful their liberal arts degrees have been in their careers in the business world. Mrs. Rowland, who is in charge of sales in much of the world for a Kent rotational molding company, explained that in college she had "learned how to learn," a skill which has allowed her to have a successful and interesting career in a field that she had never imagined she would enter!

Akron Students to Teach in France

Akron, OH: May 2, 2002

For the fifth year in a row, University of Akron students have been accepted into a program that allows our students to work as English conversation teachers in French lycées under the auspices of a French Education Ministry program. One of our students, Kalli Connor, is seen in the photo at left displaying the letter of acceptance that she received today from the French Consulate in Washington, DC. Ms. Connor will be teaching from October 2002 to April 2003 in a lycée in the northern French city of Lille, near the Belgian border. In addition to Ms. Connor, UA students Emil Albright and Katie Tucker have also been accepted into the program and are scheduled to start their teaching assignments in France next fall.

It is through the efforts and guidance of Modern Languages' own Dr. Maria Adamowicz-Hariasz that our students have been consistently successful in their bids to take advantage of this wonderful intercultural opportunity.

UA Students Receive Alliance Française Awards

Cleveland, OH: April 21, 2002

Two UA students were honored tonight at the annual Alliance Française de Cleveland awards ceremony. Katie Tucker (at left) and Karen Mounsey (at right) tied for Third Prize in the College/ University category. Our students had competed against contestants from other universities from Northeastern Ohio. They were accompanied by their faculty sponsor, Dr. Maria Adamowicz-Hariasz, and Dr. Robert Jeantet of the French section of the Department.

The Alliance Française de Cleveland is affiliated with the Federation of Alliance Française Organizations in the United States.

Dr. Proenza Addresses Sigma Delta Pi Ceremony

Akron, OH: April 19, 2002

Sigma Delta Pi. the National Spanish Honor Society, inducted thirteen new members on Friday afternoon in Buchtel Hall's McCollester Room. University President Luis Proenza was the featured speaker in the ceremony. Dr. Proenza addressed the group, congratulating them on their linguistic abilities, stressing the point that multilingualism is an important part of education in the world today.

The regular members of Sigma Delta Pi are students who have demonstrated a consistently high GPA both in general studies and in Spanish. The new members can be seen in a group photo by clicking HERE.

A large self-running version of the panoramic image can be downloaded by clicking HERE. (536KB)

Spanish Professor Receives College Award

Akron, OH: April, 2002

The Department of Modern Languages is pleased to learn that our colleague, Dr. María Alejandra Zanetta, has been chosen to receive the Buchtel College Early Career Research Award. One award per year is given.

The guidelines for nomination state that this award "is given by the faculty of Buchtel College,"and that the selection of awardee is made by "a committee appointed by the Dean of the College." Nominees must be "full time faculty, within ten years of having received the Ph.D and having received tenure within the past three years."

Aside from the honor and recognition of outstanding scholarly performance, the award confers upon the winner "a raise of at least $500, provided that raises are given at UA." In addition, "the awardee's department receives "a grant of at least $1,000 . . . , to be used to support the research-related activities of the awardee and her/his colleagues."