Peter Ecke spends part of his evenings studying Polish, preparing to embark in April for four months as a Fulbright Scholar at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. 

A Professor of German Studies, much of Ecke’s teaching concerns learning new languages and cultures, and helping students to prepare for studying abroad and the intercultural challenges they might experience. One of seven University of Arizona faculty members selected as 2025 Fulbright Scholars, Ecke will see a different side of those topics during his time in Poland. 

“The Fulbright will put me back into the shoes of my students in the sense that I’m learning a new language and adapting to a new culture,” Ecke said. “It’s one thing lecturing about these things, but another to experience them again and be reminded of what the students learn as they struggle and adapt in a new culture.” 

Ecke will study in the Department of German Language Teaching and Intercultural Studies at Adam Mickiewicz University, studying what he calls a uniquely oriented department, observing classes and team teaching. The goal is to improve a general education course on intercultural communication and study abroad, which Ecke has taught to more than 1,800 students since 2013, and create a new undergraduate course on intercultural communication for majors and minors of German Studies. 

“The Polish institution has rich course offerings in intercultural studies,” Ecke said. “It’s an interesting department and I hope to learn quite a bit through my team teaching there and interacting with colleagues. At the same time, I bring in my own knowledge and expertise.” 

Ecke met the department head, Maciej Mackiewicz, when he visited Tucson in 2018. He remained in contact over the years, participated in a conference Mackiewicz organized and contributed a chapter to a book he edited. 

“We quickly noticed we had similar interest in intercultural communication and teaching German,” he said. “Over the years we were really looking for an opportunity for a more extensive collaboration and the Fulbright seemed to be the perfect opportunity.” 

An expert in applied linguistics, second language acquisition, intercultural communication, and German language teaching, Ecke led the U of A’s study abroad program to Leipzig, Germany, for 16 years and helped students adapt as they experienced new cultural environments. 

The course he has been teaching to prepare students for study abroad, “Becoming Transcultural: Maximizing Study Abroad,” will be updated based on his Fulbright research. 

The Fulbright comes on the heels of a small grant from the Arizona Foundation Board of Trustees that supported Ecke’s work on international education and an award he received from the National Endowment for the Humanities to revise another course, “Becoming Multilingual: Learning and Maintaining Two or More Languages.”

Ecke said that learning about curricula, courses and teaching methods in Poznań next year should be inspiring and help improve his courses and teaching, while the he also hopes to present at conferences and publish a paper on the project. But the cultural exchange aspect is valuable on its own. 

“Living there, I want to learn as much Polish as possible,” he said. “I’ll be a cultural ambassador of the U.S. people, show my Polish colleagues and students that we are empathetic with them in these challenging times, and engage in intercultural communication every day.” 

College of Humanities Professor Suzanne Panferov Reese will receive the Graduate Teaching and Mentoring Award in recognition for her longstanding dedication to doctoral students in the Second Language Acquisition and Teaching program. 

Panferov Reese served as the chair of the interdisciplinary SLAT program from 2020 to 2025, and over the years, she has served as dissertation chair for 10 doctoral students, comprehensive exam chair for six doctoral students and as a member of 17 doctoral dissertation committees and 15 doctoral comprehensive exam committees. She is also director of the Critical Languages Program and a specialist faculty member in the Department of Public and Applied Humanities.

The Graduate Teaching and Mentoring Awards are the highest honor presented by the Graduate College in recognition of faculty who excel in their teaching and mentoring of graduate and professional students. The awardees have demonstrated a long-standing commitment to excellence in graduate education, including mentoring, professional development and a dedication to creating a learning environment in which all graduate students thrive. The award is recognized at the Outstanding Faculty Awards celebration on Oct. 16. Awardees receive $2,500, a medallion and plaque. 

Numerous colleagues and students alike submitted nomination letters in support of Panferov Reese: 

“Suzanne strives to make the doctoral experience meaningful for the students in the programs she heads. She regularly provides advice and guidance for her students who are going on the job market and continues to stay in touch with them after they have graduated to contribute career mentoring,” one colleague wrote. 

“In addition to the myriad ways that Suzanne provides exemplary mentorship, education, and support to graduate students, she also serves the University of Arizona community (and the greater community) by serving on several committees and organizations that benefit graduate students and graduate education,” said another. 

Panferov Reese was also lauded for her leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic and for strengthening ties with external and internal faculty and alumni, with a focus on building students’ venues for mentorship and networking. 

Students also spoke of Panferov Reese’s dedication, extraordinary leadership and inspiring personal touch: 

“As an international student, my travel to the U.S. to join SLAT program amidst the pandemic was full of obstacles. When I took the Proseminar course in my first semester remotely and struggled with extremely difficult time differences, Dr. Panferov Reese provided me with valuable advice on task management and morale-boosting support, without which I might not persevere throughout the tough first semester of my Ph.D. study,” one student wrote. 

“As SLAT Chair, she has demonstrated a tireless dedication to advocate for graduate students, both on professional and individual levels, by creating opportunities for students to voice their concerns, invest in their professional development through many initiatives such as the events that SLAT organizes, establish fruitful peer mentorships, and to secure much-needed funding,” said another student. 

Kirsten H. Limesand, Vice Provost for Graduate Education and Dean of the Graduate College, said Panferov Reese’s work with SLAT students embodies the ideals of faculty mentorship. 

“I have observed first-hand Suzanne’s unwavering commitment to graduate students and the success of the SLAT program,” she said. 

Alain-Philippe Durand, Dorrance Dean of the College of Humanities, said Panferov Reese’s interdisciplinary teaching and research are an example for graduate students. 

“Graduate students come from around the world to study with the faculty in the College of Humanities,” Durand said. “Suzanne’s dedication to mentoring students through the SLAT program is second to none.” 

Panferov Reese said the award is “an absolute honor.” 

“It sounds cliché but I know that people took time out of their busy schedules to nominate me. Earning that respect from my colleagues and especially from students is such an authentic recognition of connection. My students have heard me say time and again that connecting with people is so important. It’s the core work that we do in the Humanities. It is always my hope that I connect with my students and with my colleagues through my teaching and mentoring. And being recognized for just that is amazing. May we all continue to connect in these wildly dynamic times,” she said. 

This is the third consecutive year a College of Humanities faculty member has recevied the award, following Elani Hasaki, Professor of Anthropology and Classics, in 2024, and Ana Carvalho, Professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese and the Second Language Acquisition and Teaching program, in 2023. 

The College of Humanities is pleased to welcome new faculty for the upcoming academic year.

“These are outstanding scholars who represent the breadth and diversity of Humanities scholarship and teaching,” said Dorrance Dean Alain-Philippe Durand. “Their expertise in languages and cultures around the world will further our mission of graduating students equipped with the skills they need to succeed on the global job market.” ​​​

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Abhishek Jain, Visiting Lecturer
Department of Religious Studies and Classics

Abhishek Jain (Ph.D., Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland, 2021) is a philosopher of history and literary theorist entering the Department of Religious Studies and Classics as the Tirthankara Naminath Visiting Lecturer of Jain Studies for the 2025-2026 academic year. He was the Bhagwan Vasu Pujya Postdoctoral Fellow of Jain Studies at the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt), where he conducted multiple research projects. Before joining Pitt, Abhishek was Bhagwan Mallinath Visiting Assistant Professor of Jain Studies at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. Abhishek was also a Gonda Postdoctoral Fellow at Leiden University, The Netherlands. During his PhD, Abhishek conducted research at the University of Chicago, the University of Oxford, and Apabhramsha Sahitya Akademy in Jaipur. Abhishek has taught undergraduate and graduate courses, namely Indian philosophy, Yoga, Comparative Theology, Sanskrit, and Jaina Yoga. The primary focus of his research is on classical and modern South Asian languages and literature, literary theory, classical Indian philosophy, Jain studies, and translation theory.

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Remy Matulewic, Adjunct Instructor
Department of French and Italian

Remy earned her BA in French, Arabic, and Political Science from the University of Arizona in 2021. After completing her undergraduate degree, she participated in the Teaching Assistant Program in France from 2021-2022, where she served as an English language teaching assistant in Montluçon, France teaching in both preschools and elementary schools. She then earned her MA in French from the University of Arizona in 2025

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Charles Norton, Assistant Professor of Practice
Department of Africana Studies

Charles Norton is a linguist, interdisciplinary researcher, and Hip Hop teaching artist originally from Pittsburgh, PA. He holds a PhD in Aesthetics from Université Paris Nanterre, an MA in French & Anthropology from the University of Arizona, and a BA in Caribbean Culture & World Literature from Indiana University—Bloomington.

As a language and cultural specialist, Norton has consulted for Microsoft India, AXA Banque in France, and the Seattle Sounders and Seattle Reign Football Clubs. In the world of professional sports, his clients include the captain of Haiti’s 2023 FIFA World Cup team, the 2014 FA Women’s Player of the Year, the 2016 MLS Newcomer of the Year, the 2019 MLS Cup MVP, and players representing Uruguay, Cameroon, and South Korea at multiple FIFA World Cups. 

In his research, Norton uses multi-sited ethnography and Community-Based Participatory Research to investigate human rights and empowerment in global Hip Hop cultures. His works have been published as peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and industry reports in the Americas, Africa, and Europe. He authored the first comprehensive annual human rights report for the Mediterranean nation of Malta and is currently revising monograph projects in English and French. 

As an artist and curator, Norton uses Hip Hop cultures to teach foreign languages (e.g., English, French, Spanish, Kreyol, and Arabic), sustainable fashion design, jewelry making, and Black & Indigenous histories that have been erased by white supremacy. His regular collaborators include the Neoglyphix All Indigenous Aerosol Art Exhibition, the Atlanta University Center, the Gullah Geechee Futures Project, HipHopedia, Liquid Bridge, and the American Cultural Association of Morocco. 

Beyond the University of Arizona, Norton has been a full-time faculty, fellow, and administrator at Morehouse College, Coastal Carolina University, Arizona State University, and the Université-Paris Cité. He has also served as a Faculty Research Adviser at the Center for Language Enhancement at the University of Rwanda’s Gikondo campus in Kigali.

 

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Fernanda Ortiz, Instructor
Department of Spanish & Portuguese 

Fernanda was born and raised in Sonora, Mexico, and holds an undergraduate degree in Teaching English as a Foreign Language from the Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa, as well as a Master's in Education from the Universidad del Noroeste in Hermosillo, Sonora. She has been a dedicated member of the University of Arizona community for over fifteen years. Her interests encompass methods for learning languages, training teachers, engaging students, and incorporating genuine cultural content into educational programs. With over 30 years of experience teaching English and Spanish across the US, Mexico, and Japan, she has cultivated a teaching philosophy rooted in continuous growth. She actively pursues new knowledge, professional development, and collaborative opportunities with colleagues to enhance her skills and better support her students as an instructor and mentor.

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Matthew Sherry, Visiting Lecturer
Department of Religious Studies & Classics 

Matthew Sherry earned his PhD in Classics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his BA from Wake Forest University. His research interests lie primarily in Greek and Latin poetry, especially Alexandrian and Augustan. His dissertation examined Vergil’s depiction of poetry as a means of consolation throughout the Eclogues, Georgics, and Aeneid and presented this thematic throughline as a response to the political context of the 1st Century BCE. Growing from this dissertation, his current book project explores the interrelationship between Vergil's literary and political goals. He argues that, throughout Vergil's corpus, the poet's literary endeavors (generic engagement, adaptation of literary models, metapoetics, etc.) serve thematic purposes that correspond to and enhance his political commentary.

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Agripino Silveira, Associate Professor of Practice and Director
Department of Spanish and Portuguese

Dr. Agripino Silveira joins the Department of Spanish and Portuguese as Associate Professor of Practice and Director of the Portuguese Language Program. He earned his Ph.D. in Linguistics (2012) and M.A. in Portuguese Literature and Cultural Studies (2004) from the University of New Mexico. His research focuses on subject expression in Brazilian Portuguese, with broader interests in language assessment, language pedagogy, and second language acquisition.

Before joining the University of Arizona, Dr. Silveira served as Advanced Lecturer in Portuguese at Stanford University, where he also contributed to the English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program, teaching graduate students and postdoctoral scholars in academic and professional communication. 

In addition to his teaching, Dr. Silveira has held several leadership roles in language program administration, including coordinating pronunciation courses at the Middlebury Portuguese School and co-chairing the Portuguese Special Interest Group (SIG-ACTFL). He is co-author of Modern Brazilian Portuguese Grammar and has published research on Portuguese linguistics, applied linguistics, and proficiency-based instruction in peer-reviewed journals.

Dr. Silveira is certified by ACTFL as an Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) tester and Written Proficiency Test (WPT) rater in Portuguese. He is an active member of several professional organizations, including the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), the American Portuguese Studies Association (APSA), the American Organization of Teachers of Portuguese (AOTP), and the Linguistic Society of America (LSA).

His current work explores best practices in oral proficiency assessment, task-based instruction, and the pedagogical applications of artificial intelligence in language education.

Having seen the potential and effectiveness of interactive theater in addressing challenges and difficult issues, Aurélia Mouzet is launching a new project to use theater as a forum for developing new ideas for inclusivity in education. 

Mouzet, Associate Professor in the Department of French and Italian, is awarded the Dorrance Dean’s Award for Research and Entrepreneurialism for her project, “Forum Theater as a Tool for Inclusive Curriculum Design.” The award is part of the Fearless Inquiries Project and will support Mouzet’s project with $20,000 in funding. 

The project is a continuation of Mouzet’s long-running theater program, Talk-it-OUT! One previous Talk-it-OUT! project, “History in Action,” which worked with high school students, using interactive theater to revisit and ‘restage’ the enduring questions raised by events and to work toward new and relevant ways of thinking about them. Other partnerships include local organizations like the Iskashitaa Refugee Network and St. Luke’s Assisted Living Community, which use interactive theater to stimulate discussion about real-life dilemmas in a safe environment.

Teaching theater for social justice to a group of students, one of whom is blind, led Mouzet to design the current project, using theater to stage different explorations of how to design and implement inclusive practices in the classroom. 

“There is something magic about theater because it’s so effective in bringing us together. Forum theater, a technique of Augusto Boal’s Theater of the Oppressed, aims to use theater as a tool for understanding and finding solutions to social and personal issues,” Mouzet said. “By stimulating discussion about real-life dilemmas in a safe environment, Forum Theater leads to improved self-awareness, empathy and social equality.”

The Forum Theater project will include a series of on-campus workshops, open to the public but specifically aimed at educators and future educators. 

The first, in spring 2025, will be “Visual Impairment Awareness Training.” Mouzet and a student who is blind will lead the workshop, developing skits about the types of challenges that visually impaired students have on a daily basis. The audience will then be invited to re-perform aspects of the skits, but work on adding ways to improve the situations. 

The other workshops will follow: 

Summer 2025: “Inclusive Curriculum Design and Assessment Practices: A Forum Theater.” 

Fall 2025: “Performing Arts, Education, and Social Justice.” 

Spring 2026: “Project Assessment and Future Needs.” 

The project’s ultimate goals are to promote diversity and inclusion; train education and theater professionals, as well as students in these fields, to think creatively about inclusive curriculum design; improve accessibility in education for students with disabilities in Tucson; promote interdisciplinary collaboration among educators; and provide U of A students with internship and research opportunities in the fields of artistic activism, education and disability studies.

Two College of Humanities professors are among interdisciplinary research teams awarded grants under the University of Arizona’s first Big Idea Challenge. 

The initiative, created by the Office of Research and Partnerships, incentivizes transdisciplinary, convergent research teams to incubate ideas, generate new insights, and launch transformative, high-impact projects with the potential for future extramural support. 

Matt Mars, Professor and Interim Head of the Department of Public and Applied Humanities, and Ken McAllister, Associate Dean of Research & Program Innovation and Professor in the Department of Public and Applied Humanities, were each on one of the six teams selected. Additionally, College of Humanities researchers were on 12 of the 72 proposals submitted, six of which were semi-finalists and four of which were finalists. 

The Office of Research and Partnerships, the new name for the Office of Research, Innovation and Impact, created the challenge to focus on six strategic areas: Defense and National Security, Energy and Environmental Sustainability, The Future of Health and Biomedical Sciences, The Human Experience, Space Sciences, and Data, Information Systems and Artificial Intelligence. 

Mars joined a team including Mark Beilstein (School of Plant Sciences), Rebecca Schomer (School of Plant Sciences), and Claire Darnell McWhite (Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology) on the winning project “Summoning Microbial Allies to Reduce Nitrogen Fertilizer Dependency in Modern Agriculture.”

McAllister’s winning team includes Scott Saleska (Department Ecology and Evolutionary Biology), Jennifer L. Croissant (School of Sociology), Cristian Roman Palacios (College of Information Sciences), and Solange Duhamel (Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology). The project is “From Early Earth to Mars: Advancing an Integrated ‘Landscape Terraformation Science’ of How Life Transforms Planets with a Multi-scale Collaboratory Digital Twinning of Biosphere 2.”

The selections were based on how well the projects reflected transdisciplinary research that crosses traditional academic boundaries, integrating perspectives from science, engineering, business, social sciences, arts, design and humanities to create holistic solutions to global challenges. In addition, teams needed to illustrate how projects would nucleate teams and ideas and launch high-impact, large-scale research efforts with the power to attract major external funding.

"The teams selected as awardees of the 2025 Big Idea Challenge exemplify the kind of visionary thinking and convergent research that define Arizona’s research enterprise," said Tomás Díaz de la Rubia, senior vice president for research and partnerships. "They are not only pushing scientific boundaries, they are building solutions with real-world impact for Arizona and the world."

The other four projects awarded, are:

• Convergent Digital Health for Remote Access (CoDiRA): Srikar Adhikari (Department of Emergency Medicine) with Vignesh Subbian (Department of Biomedical Engineering), Shu Fen Wung (College of Nursing), Shravan Guruprasad Aras (Center for Biomedical Informatics and Biostatistics), and Nirav Merchant (Data Science Institute).
• Making Space for off-Earth Scalable Cloud Computing and Data Infrastructure: Krishna Muralidharan (Department of Materials Science and Engineering), Robert Norwood (Wyant College of Optical Sciences), Karthik Kannan (Eller College of Management), Roberto Furfaro (Department of Systems and Industrial Engineering), Elizabeth Baldwin (School of Government and Public Policy).
• Heat and Health Resilience Innovation Consortium: Amelia Gallitano-Mendel (College of Medicine – Phoenix), Freya Spielberg (College of Medicine – Phoenix).
• Invest in TIME! – a New $4M University of Arizona Facility Poised for Global Leadership in Interdisciplinary Earth Hazards Research: Charlotte Pearson (Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research and School of Anthropology), Bryan Black (Tree Ring Lab), Joe Giacalone (Department of Planetary Sciences and Lunar and Planetary Laboratory), Soumaya Belmecheri (Tree Ring Lab), Ashraf Moradi (Department of Planetary Sciences and Lunar and Planetary Laboratory).

Originally posted on UANews. 

When Alain-Philippe Durand was applying to be a school director at the University of Arizona, he searched about the university online and found a photo of the basketball team that said “What were you doing March 31, 1997?” 

In Tucson, that fabled date is readily known as the day the men’s basketball team won its first national title. At the time, Durand didn’t know the story of Lute Olson’s championship team, but the date was one he treasured as well. 

“I knew exactly that I was doing and where I was on that day, by far one of the best days of my life. That’s the night our first daughter was born,” he said. 

March 31 was also the date of his campus interview, albeit in 2010, and as Durand rose through the professorial ranks to become Dorrance Dean of the College of Humanities, several colleagues told him it was all meant to be. 

Durand told the story at a May 21 ceremony where he was bestowed with the l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques rank of Officer, France’s highest academic honor. 

The ceremony concluded a day-long visit by the Consul of France in Los Angeles and his diplomatic delegation, who met with administrators, faculty and students to discuss current and potential collaborations. 

The Consul of France in Los Angeles, the Honorable Adrien Frier, was making his first visit to Arizona since being elevated to his current position in fall 2024. Accompanying Frier were Higher Education and French Language Attaché Benoît Labat, the French Embassy’s Higher Education Attaché Jean-Christophe Dissart, and the Honorary Consul of France in Arizona Nathan J. Fidel. 

The delegation held meetings with representatives from the France-Arizona Institute for Global Grand Challenges and French National Center for Scientific Research, faculty and graduate students from Department of French and Italian, and top university leadership, including President Suresh Garimella, and Vice President of Arizona International and Dean of International Education Jenny Lee. 

At the Palmes Académiques ceremony, Frier presided over the formal presentation, commenting about French hip-hop, one of Durand’s areas of expertise, and detailing Durand’s scholarly accomplishments. 

“Your life’s journey has exemplified the power of intellectual curiosity,” he told Durand. 

Frier discussed the history of the Palmes Académiques, which was instituted by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1808, making it one of the oldest civil distinctions awarded by the French Republic. It honors professors for their valuable contributions to education, research and the promotion of French language and culture. There are three grades, Commander, Officer and Knight. In 2007, Durand was made a Knight. 

“I am proud to recognize you as a major contributor to the relationship between France, Francophone countries, and the united states of America,” Frier said. 

The ceremony included introductions from Lee, the Dean of International Education, and Patricia Prelock, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs. 

“Well before I started, our dear friend Dean Durand has been such a champion of internationalization broadly, not just of France and Europe. This is a long overdue recognition,” Lee said. 

Prelock said that it was only her third day on the job, but she’s already heard so many amazing things about Durand and what he’s accomplished. 

“This is a considerable honor for A-P and it’s an honor to participate in such special events like this as I begin my time as provost. A-P is a tireless advocate for the College of Humanities and promotes its accomplishments far and wide. The college has a reputation as a national and international leader,” Prelock said. “As my humanities colleagues at University of Vermont said, ‘You’re going to a place that really appreciates and understands the value of the humanities.’ He’s thinking beyond just the traditional framework of the humanities and that’s what we need as we think about the future of higher education.” 

Durand thanked his family and colleagues throughout the years for all their contributions to his career and ongoing advocacy of the humanities. 

“I’m so proud to be French. I love my country. I’m so proud to be an American. I love my adopted country too. And I’m so proud to be a University of Arizona Wildcat,” he said. “I love this university and my colleagues. I love to be dean and I love my job.” 

Earlier, the French delegation met with professors and graduate students in the U of A’s French program, talking about the value of language education, for personal enrichment as well as career potential in a global marketplace. 

“It’s not only about having people with a more open mind because they are taught other languages,” Frier said. “Being taught French is not only a gateway to France, but there are 350 million people in the whole Francophone world. That is a great asset.” 

Several graduate students who chose to attend the U of A from outside the United States said that what drew them to the campus was discovering research papers by faculty members and the importance of a department with a strong academic reputation. 

“This university is an amazing place,” Durand said. “What I love most about it is we are constantly thinking outside the box and constantly developing interdisciplinary collaborations.” 

One faculty member in the Department of Religious Studies and Classics has been promoted, demonstrating excellent performance in teaching, service and research.

Dr. Konden Smith Hansen is promoted from Lecturer to Senior Lecturer. 

Dr. Smith Hansen (Ph.D. in Religious Studies, Arizona State University) specializes in American Religious History, with a particular expertise in Mormon Studies. He is the author of award winning Frontier Religion: Mormons in America, 1857-1907 (University of Utah Press, 2019) and the co-editor of the award winning The Reed Smoot Hearings: The Investigation of a Mormon Senator and the Making of an American Religion (Utah State University Press, 2021). He teaches courses on American and world religions, film and religion, religious violence and terrorism, Mormonism, and religion and popular culture. He was the Burns Faculty Fellow for 2014-2015.