Spotlight

Gabrielle Ehling near the leaning tower of Pisa in Italy

Student Spotlight: Gabrielle Ehling, Undergraduate Student (Italian Studies)

“Learning a new language can open doors to professional opportunities, help to grow your network of colleagues and friends, and is fulfilling and rewarding in so many intangible ways. I am lucky to have an employer that supports staff to pursue learning and development.”

Nobel Prize winner Le Clézio with Dr. Laurence Bongie.

Remembering Larry Bongie

Professor Emeritus Laurence (“Larry”) Bongie passed away on December 26th, 2020, but his legacy on French Studies at UBC and the larger realm of 18th century French literature continues on. During his time at UBC from 1953 to 1992, where he served as Department Head for 26 years, he supported the growth of many faculty […]

Man in a protest

The Role of the Humanities During Times of Crisis

Explore why the humanities are crucial during times of crisis, and why reducing access to a humanities education can threaten healthy critical thinking, humanistic debate and, ultimately, democracy.

Student tutoring another student.

Learning Centre tutor offers simple tips for mastering new languages

Undergraduate student Liz Carvalho shares why she volunteered to tutor at the FHIS Learning Centre and two simple tips for learning new languages.  Tutoring at the Learning Centre I discovered the FHIS Learning Centre when I started learning French at the Department of French, Hispanic and Italian Studies (FHIS). My prof was always telling us […]

Profile photo of Min Ji Kang

Staff Spotlight: Min Ji Kang, Student Programs Coordinator

Min Ji Kang became the first Student Programs Coordinator of FHIS in the summer of 2020. Here she describes the core aspects of her role, along with how she fell in love with Spanish language and culture. How Spanish expanded the horizons of a high school student in South Korea As a 16-year-old, I spent […]

Profile photo of Dr. Fabricio Tocco in Australia

Alumni Spotlight: Fabricio Tocco, Assistant Professor (Spanish)

Dr. Fabricio Tocco offers practical advice for succeeding in the competitive job market and explains how his graduate experience at UBC helped him land a position as Assistant Professor at the Australian National University.

Profile photo of Javier Alvarez-Jaimes with a suit and glasses.

Alumni Spotlight: Javier Alvarez-Jaimes, Assistant Professor (Spanish)

Former PhD student in Hispanic Studies, Javier Alvarez-Jaimes, shares about how his experience as an FHIS graduate student helped him land a career in academia.

Profile photo of Juan Felipe Hernandez smiling

Digging ‘mining literature’ out of forgetfulness: a significant yet overlooked topic in Latin American literature

The mining industry has played a significant role in Latin America, yet few scholars have paid much attention to its appearance in literature. Juan Felipe Hernandez, PhD candidate in Hispanic Studies, plans to change that.

Several men sitting on a vintage car in La Habana, Cuba

Karen O’Regan: Reimagining Relationality through Hispanic Caribbean Diasporic Literature

Dr. Karen O’Regan, former PhD student of Hispanic Studies, explores how narratives of the Hispanic Caribbean diasporas invite readers to contemplate other ways of being in the world—ways that value difference and open relations over bounded identities.

15th Century French painting of a royal court

Research Spotlight: Digital Humanities & the Evolution of Philology in French Literature Studies

Dr. Anne Salamon explores the use of digital humanities to expand knowledge of 15th century French literature.