Romance Languages & Literatures

The Department of Romance Languages and Literatures (RL&L) is a cornerstone of the Humanities at Wesleyan and the university’s gateway to the French-, Italian-, Portuguese-, and Spanish-speaking worlds. We represent literary and cultural traditions that extend from the Middle Ages to the present.  We teach languages, literatures and cultures that span Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Our students develop and apply their knowledge and skills through the extracurricular activities and study abroad opportunities that we promote. Through a network of collaborations across departments and divisions, we support a wide array of majors, academic programs and initiatives.

Campus News

Jackson Translates Second Play from Brazilian Playwright Newton Moreno

Jackson Translates Second Play from Brazilian Playwright Newton Moreno
A play translated by Elizabeth Jackson, adjunct associate professor of Portuguese, was performed at Yale Cabaret Oct. 25–27. The play, titled “Agreste (Drylands),” is a Brazilian tale of love and loss, desire and death, ignorance and violence, written by Brazilian playwright Newton Moreno. Based on true events, “Drylands” is a poetic narrative set in Brazil’s suffocating and…


Ponsavady’s New Book Examines the Development of French Transportation Systems

Ponsavady’s New Book Examines the Development of French Transportation Systems
Stéphanie Ponsavady, assistant professor of French, is the author of a new book titled Cultural and Literary Representations of the Automobile in French Indochina: A Colonial Roadshow, published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2018. In the book, Ponsavady aims to answer the question: How are the pleasures and thrills of the automobile linked to France’s history…


Ospina’s Fiction Nominated for Prestigious Spanish American Short Story Award
A book written by María Ospina, assistant professor of Spanish and assistant professor, Latin American studies, was recently nominated for the Gabriel García Márquez Spanish American Short Story Award. The prize is awarded annually by the National Library of Colombia and the Colombian Ministry of Culture to a short story collection in Spanish that has been…

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Contacts

Chair
Andrew Curran
acurran@wesleyan.edu

French Section Head
Jeff Rider
jrider@wesleyan.edu

Italian Section Head
Ellen Nerenberg
enerenberg@wesleyan.edu

Spanish Section Head
Olga Sendra Ferrer
osendra@wesleyan.edu

Portuguese Language
Elizabeth Jackson
ejackson@wesleyan.edu

Romance Studies Section Head
Andrew Curran
acurran@wesleyan.edu

Honors in RLL
Michael Meere
mmeere@wesleyan.edu

 

Related Sites

Office of International Studies

Caribbean Studies

Latin American Studies

Medieval Studies

Wespañol, the Spanish learning/practice site