News
Department of Modern Languages and Cultures

Sarah Sabal secured two prestigious international scholarships—a Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) and a Boren Awards Scholarship—that will allow her to spend a year intensively studying the Chinese language in an immersive setting. She is one of several students who contributed to a record-breaking year for RIT in terms of securing funding for international experiences.

As part of a gameplay and prototyping class at RIT this spring, 25 game design and development students got to participate in a virtual cultural exchange with 30 students at a Japanese college. The teams learned about each other’s cultures and overcame language barriers and time zone differences to create projects for a global game jam.

A number of students majoring in Applied Modern Language and Culture have earned a spot on the Dean's List for Fall 2020.

RIT's College of Liberal Arts honored student achievements in writing with 15 writing awards on Friday, March 19. This year marks the 41st year the awards were presented, though the first time the ceremony was held virtually.

LaVerne McQuiller Williams, senior associate dean of RIT’s College of Liberal Arts, has been named interim COLA dean effective June 1. McQuiller Williams succeeds Dean James Winebrake, who is leaving RIT on June 30 to become provost and vice chancellor of Academic Affairs at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. 

RIT’s College of Liberal Arts honored student achievement in writing with more than a dozen writing awards for essays varying from wasteful energy, maternal mortality, eyewitness testimony policies and seeking worth in a liberal arts degree. Each department within the college selected student awardees whose work embodies the ideals and standards of excellence, creative endeavor and scholarship.

Dean James Winebrake will be leaving RIT’s College of Liberal Arts to become provost and vice chancellor of Academic Affairs at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Winebrake, who came to RIT in 2002 as chair of the Department of Public Policy and became dean in 2011, will leave RIT effective June 30.

The Global Opportunities (GO) grant, a partnership between RIT’s College of Liberal Arts and RIT Global, is the latest incentive program to encourage students to experience learning in other countries.

Elisabetta D'Amanda, principal lecturer of Italian in the College of Liberal Arts' Modern Languages and Cultures Department, had her 2008 film, "As Good As Bread," given an Award of Exceptional Merit in the Depth of Focus International Film Festival in January.

A new classroom lab, complete with wireless headphones, large touch-screen monitors and retractable computers that can be lowered into desks to improve visibility, has opened in RIT’s Department of Modern Languages and Cultures.

Dr. Elisabetta D'Amanda, Italian Program Coordinator, and Sabrina McCune, SG Italian Club President will be representing RIT at this year's Italian Heritage Luncheon held at Rochester City Hall.

Growing up in Youngstown, N.Y., near Niagara Falls, Alessandra Santarosa always had the urge to explore. As she readies to graduate this month from RIT with a bachelor’s degree in political science and minors in German, and sociology and anthropology, Santarosa is ready for more adventures: joining the Peace Corps and teaching English in Kosovo for two years.