Department of Modern Languages and Literatures

03/24/2026

03/13/2026

Deeply grateful to the Embassy of Poland, Ottawa 🇵🇱and the Embassy of Ukraine 🇺🇦for their support for the screening of Mama's Voice we held yesterday at the University of Ottawa 🇨🇦. Bravo to Larysa Iarovenko and the entire film crew! Mr. Ambassador Witold Dzielski, thank you for the delicious pączki 🍩☕️😊!

02/14/2026

Please come see the new Ukrainian documentary about the refugee experience through the eyes of women. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with producers Larysa Iarovenko and Dmytro Konovalov.

From the official press kit: "In the early days of Russia’s full-scale invasion, film director Ganna flees with her children and elderly mother from Russian gunfire near Kyiv. Amidst the chaos, they find shelter in Poland with Kaja, an artist, singer, and mother of five, who welcomes them as a family. Despite the language barrier, the Ukrainian and Polish mothers form a deep bond that helps Ganna confront trauma, loss, and the terrifying new reality of war. Ganna’s family is torn between those who left and those who stayed. Her father, Petro, refuses to abandon his land near Bucha, surviving the Russian occupation while stubbornly tending to his garden. Her young daughter Malva quickly adapts to life in Poland, while her teenage son Orest struggles with loneliness. Meanwhile, Malva’s father—a renowned folk musician— promises to reunite with them at a music festival in Poland, though wartime restrictions rarely allow Ukrainian men to leave the country. What will it take for this family, fractured by war, to come together again? Told through the lens of a refugee, the film captures the experiences of Ukrainian women and children in Poland during the early months of the Russo-Ukrainian war."

01/17/2026

On the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Vered Jewish Canadian Program and Chair of Slovak and Central European Studies, in partneship with the Embassy of the Republic of Poland, invite you to the screening of the acclaimed Polish director Andrzej Wajda’s film Korczak – the story of Dr. Janusz Korczak, a writer, pediatrician, educator, and the ultimate Jewish hero, who protected the orphans of the Warsaw Ghetto, in the Nazi-occupied Poland, to the last. Wajda's masterpiece, described by Steven Spielberg as “one of the most important European pictures about the Holocaust,” is a vital account of self-sacrifice and the strength of the human spirit in the face of evil.
The screening will be preceded by remarks by the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to Canada, Witold Dzielski, and an opportunity to try Polish sweet treats.
📅 Date: January 27th, 2026
🕒 Time: doors open at 6:15 PM, start at 6.30
📍 Location: University of Ottawa, 57 Louis Pasteur FTX 227
✨ Free admission – all are welcome!

11/03/2025

𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝘂𝗢𝘁𝘁𝗮𝘄𝗮. Last Saturday, Nov 1, the Chinese Program (DLLM) and Ottawa’s Chinese community co-hosted a Chinese Culture Experience for ~100 participants, including students, alumni, and community members.
The program featured performances by uOttawa students and local artists (songs, storytelling, poetry, sword dance, drama, Erhu, Kunqu opera), followed by hands-on stations in calligraphy, Chinese painting, paper cutting, and Hanfu.
The event fostered meaningful engagement with Chinese language and arts, and participants expressed strong interest in future editions. Special thanks to Yukang Peng, Chinese Program Coordinator at the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures https://www.uottawa.ca/faculty-arts/modern-languages-literatures

08/06/2025

Thrilled and humbled to have my teaching work featured in an article by the Gazette of the University of Ottawa! A huge thank you to the Gazette for publishing this wonderful piece and for sharing my story. I'm so grateful for this recognition.
https://www.uottawa.ca/en/news-all/guadalupe-escalante-rengifo-teaching-connects-transforms

04/25/2025

The Department of Modern Languages and Literatures in the Faculty of Arts extends its warmest congratulations to Professor Guadalupe Escalante Rengifo on receiving the 2024 Part-Time Professor of the Year Award.
This recognition is a testament to her outstanding dedication, excellence in teaching, and meaningful contributions to our academic community.
We invite you to join us on Tuesday, April 29, 2025, at 4 p.m. (Eastern Time) in Room DMS 12102 for the presentation of the Part-Time Professor of the Year Award and to celebrate the excellence of the recipient.

03/11/2025

Rejoignez-nous le mardi 11 de 11h30 à 13h00 dans l’Espace Créateur (Pérez Hall, salle 302) pour la série d'ateliers DH Toolbox !

02/06/2025

This Saturday, February 8, at 10:30 am, as part of International Development Week 2025, Dr. Guadalupe Escalante Rengifo will be part of the panel on Human Rights and Social Justice. The panel will be held at the FSS building on the University of Ottawa campus, and the meeting room will be Room 4007. If you are interested in this topic, come and join us!

11/25/2024

Guest Lecture:
Colonial Ekphrasis: The Hidden Links between Texts, Images, and Buildings
Michael Falser
Technical University of Munich, Germany &
Visiting Professor, School of Political Studies, University of Ottawa
Thursday, 28 November 2024, 6:00 pm
Room 509, Hamelin Hall, 70 Laurier Ave. East

From around 1880 to 1920, the German Empire was one of the colonial powers of Europe. Its colonial territory comprised regions on three continents: in Africa (German Southwest Africa, Cameroon, Togo, German East Africa), East Asia/China (Kiautschou/Tsingtau), and Oceania (German New Guinea, Micronesia to Samoa). It can be argued, that architecture, urban planning, and infrastructural projects were then – and still are until today – the most powerful visible and physical evidence of this period of violent impact on local societies around the globe.
However, there is still no critical history of the German colonial building cultures on three continents. This presentation takes the first steps in this direction by offering a critical evaluation of links between circulating texts, images, and building cultures in German colonial media. Based on a recent exhibition and catalogue project, the talk will analyze the relations between various forms of colonial-era print media (scientific journals, biographies, guide books, travel literature, exhibition catalogues, and postcards) and visual depictions such as plans, drawings, maps, detailed sketches, photographs, artistic representations, advertising graphics, postcard images, panoramas, stereo images, and early colonial films.

Michael Falser studied architecture and art history in Vienna, Paris and Berlin, and is project leader at the Technical University of Munich for a research project on “German Colonial Architecture as a Global Building project around 1900 and as Transcultural Heritage Today” (Homepage). In 2023 he curated the exhibition “German Colonial Building Cultures – A Global Architectural History in 100 Primary Sources” at the Central Institute of Art History in Munich and edited an exhibition catalogue with the same title. He is currently a Francophone Mobility Chair at the University of Ottawa.

11/07/2024

Join us for the Latin American Heritage Conference at uOttawa! We’re thrilled to welcome Dr. Guadalupe Escalante Rengifo for a cultural presentation on El español de herencia: migración y memorias intergeneracionales latinoamericanas. This is a special opportunity for students, community members, and artists to come together and explore the powerful role of language in preserving cultural identity. Artists interested in contributing are invited to contact us to participate in this celebration. Limited spots available, so sign up through the link in our bio! November 7, 6:30-8:30 PM at Simard Hall, Room 125, 70 Laurier Avenue East. Don’t miss it!

11/07/2024