The Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies
Announcements
Congratulations! Selmer Birkelo Scholarship for 2009-2010 awarded to two Spanish Studies majors
We would like to extend our warm congratulations to two of our department’s undergraduate students who were awarded the Selmer Birkelo Scholarship for 2009-2010. These students are Chelsey Rosetter (Spanish Studies major) and Elizabeth Troolin (Spanish Studies and Political Science double major). They were two of only fourteen students in CLA to receive this award! !Enhorabuena!
To be considered for a Birkelo Scholarship, students must be majoring in fields relating to history, modern languages, classics, or the social and behavioral sciences and must be nominated to the Office of the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs by their major department. For the 2009-10 academic year Birkelo Scholarship recipients will receive up to $4,000, depending on financial need.
The Selmer Birkelo Scholarships provide one year of scholarship support for approximately 14 outstanding CLA students majoring in fields relating to history, modern languages, classics, or the social and behavioral sciences.
To be considered for Birkelo Scholarship students must intend to pursue a degree from the College of Liberal Arts and may not be enrolled in any other college. The scholarships are awarded on the basis of academic merit, with particular attention paid to depth of study in the major, general breadth of coursework, and clarity of academic purpose. For more information on CLA scholarship available to undergraduates, click here.
Founded in the 1960s, the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, is widely recognized as a pioneer in the study of language, literature and, more broadly, cultural expressions from interdisciplinary perspectives grounded in socio-historical consciousness and political urgency. We offer B.A. degrees in Spanish and in Spanish and Portuguese; M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Hispanic Literatures and Cultures, Hispanic Linguistics, and Lusophone Literatures and Cultures. Our faculty have strengths in the colonial, postcolonial and globalization triad; gender and sexuality studies; memory and witnessing; human rights; and border cultures. In Linguistics, our strengths are in the study of language in its context(s) with a focus on interdisciplinary approaches to language contact, phonology, pragmatics, second language acquisition, sociolinguistics and syntax. At present we are undergoing an exciting moment of renovation and growth, and are looking forward to further enhancing both undergraduate and graduate learning experiences through a series of presentations, lectures, films, workshops, and opportunities for professional development and for community outreach.
The department also has strong institutional ties with important research communities across campus such as the Institute for Advanced Study, European Studies Consortium, CARLA (Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition), Center for Medieval Studies, and ICGC (Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change).