News and Updates
In 2014-2015, we graduated the largest graduating class of Portuguese majors ever. Cristina Villaroel won the Hauptman medal for best major and was admitted to Duke Law School. Other graduates will pursue Law, advanced study in Nursing, and tourism. Bryan Weaver, a double major (Portuguese and Physics) returned to finish his undergraduate studies after a summer session on the UF program and an academic year at the Catholic University in Rio. Double majors continue to be a trend, as students in journalism, Spanish, business, and other fields combine interests and prepare for diverse futures.
Professors Charles Perrone and Libby Ginway continue to diversify the curriculum of the Portuguese section and their own portfolios. They have offered new multi-interest courses in the Spanish section (e.g. Latin American Science Fiction Film, Inter-American Literature) and cross-listed courses with other units (e.g. Brazilian Cinema with English, Brazil Beyond Modern with Latin American Studies). This Spring, Andrea Ferreira is again teaching with us, and in addition to language classes, she has developed a new class in on Portuguese translation. Over the next several semesters we will be developing a Certificate in Portuguese for the Professions, modeled after the successful Spanish Certificate of the same title.
See where they landed
Lewis Curtwright
Lewis Curtwright graduated in 2010 in Portugese and now he works for Delta, flying to Brazil. He uses his Portugese on a daily basis, and he said that other airlines are looking for Portuguese speakers as they expand into Brazil.
Kiefer Fairbanks
Kiefer Fairbanks majored in Portugese and graduated in 2014. He is currently finishing a Masters Degree in sustainable tourism at Arizona State University. Disney offers a college program that helps integrate college students or recent grads into the industry. In July, he received his certification from Disney.