Stephen Fitzmaurice, assistant professor of American Sign Language, was awarded the National Association of the Deaf Golden Hands Award for his work with the South Carolina Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf. The Golden Hand Award is bestowed by the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) and recognizes exemplary, volunteer contributions. It is awarded to an ally who has dedicated sustained major volunteer contributions to the Deaf Community. Established in 1880, the NAD is one of America’s oldest non-profit organizations and serves as the nation’s premier civil rights organization of, by and for Deaf individuals. The NAD’s mission is to preserve, protect and promote the civil, human and linguistic rights of deaf and hard of hearing people in the United States. This award was bestowed by an NAD Board member at the South Carolina Association of the Deaf biennial conference in early August. Fitzmaurice also provided a weeklong in-service training for practicing Educational Interpreters for the South Carolina Department of Education in July and discussed his research work at the Summer Interpreting and Translation Research Institute at Gallaudet University.
Graciela Tissera, associate professor of Spanish and director of the Language and International Health program, received the Frank A. Burtner Award for Excellence in Advising at the Clemson University Faculty Meeting in May, 2015. This award is presented to “the advisors of students or student organizations who excel in developing students in the areas of leadership, devotion to duty and service.” This award is funded in honor of Burtner who served Clemson University for many years as a professor and advisor to student organizations. One nominator noted that she “selflessly serves her students by providing opportunities for us to grow as leaders and by enhancing what we learn in class by facilitating out-of-class opportunities.” Tissera also presented two research papers on film and literature at national conferences: “We Greeks are the Chosen: The Golden Era of Courage and Glory in Alexander the Great by Robert Rossen” (Film & History Conference) and “Filmic Portrayals of the Subconscious Mind and the Game of Death” (Southeast Coastal Conference on Languages & Literatures). She also chaired a session on film: “The Metaphor of Death in Film through Graphic Images and Surreal Transgressions.”
Raquel Anido, assistant professor of Spanish, received the John B. & Thelma A. Gentry Award for Teaching Excellence in the Humanities. This is Clemson’s highest honor for teaching in the humanities. Students and colleagues describe Anido as a passionate, energetic, enthusiastic and innovative teacher who pushes students to excel in a collaborative learning environment. One student noted that her “class feels like a conversation” where students learn from each other through engaging class discussion. Anido teaches courses in the literature, culture and cinema of Spain.
Other faculty news
Yanming An, professor of Chinese and Philosophy, published “Two Patterns of Cyclical View of History” in Philosophy Research, the top journal of philosophy in China, in August 2015.
Tiffany Creegan Miller, assistant professor of Spanish, received a grant from the Clemson University Humanities Advancement Board to research Kaqchikel Maya children’s songs and poetry in Guatemala in July 2015. This project is a continuation of fieldwork funded by the Tinker Foundation. Currently, she is collaborating with a Kaqchikel language instructor to produce educational recordings for her classes in Guatemala.
Salvador Oropesa, chair and profesor of Spanish, published “La épica de la derrota de la posguerra española en la novela catalana: Pa negre (2003) de Emili Teixidor y Les veus del Pamano (2004) de Jaume Cabré” in Transitions: Journal of Franco-Iberian Studies 10 (2015).
Melva Persico, lecturer of Spanish, published a book of poetry, Ink on Paper – Poems (Charleston: Melva Archer-Persico, 2014), and the article “Afro-Uruguayan Culture and Legitimation: Candombe and Poetry,” ed., Jerome C. Branche, Black Writing, Culture and the State in Latin America. (Nashville, Vanderbilt UP, 2015).
Johannes Schmidt, associate professor of German, published two articles in German on Johann Gottfried Herder; one explores Hölderlin’s reception of Herder, and the other investigates the rhetorical dimension of Herder’s religious writings. He is also co-editing a volume on “Herder and Religion” and presented a paper at last year’s meeting of the International Herder Society at Purdue University. Schmidt will serve on the Fulbright West European Literature (Germanics [German Studies]) Discipline Peer Review Committee for 2015-2016.
Daniel J. Smith, associate professor of Spanish, presented his research on the difference between noun and verb phrases in Spanish-English bilingualism at the 6th Symposium on Bilingualism and Bilingual Education in Latin America in August 2015. He is revising a book-length manuscript on Spanish-English bilingualism.
Eric Touya, associate professor of French, published two articles entitled “On Postcolonialism, Feminism, and History: Hélé Béji, Baudrillard, and the Arab Spring” in Dalhousie French Studies and “Claudel, l’Amérique, et la guerre 1914-1918” in Bulletin de la Société Paul Claudel. Paris: Classiques Garnier.
