University of Florida - Spanish and Portuguese Alumni and Friends

05/19/2026

Summer is here, and I know you miss us: let's revisit the Spring semester! 🌞
Congratulations/Enhorabuena to our amazing 10 Spanish majors who were recognized at the CLAS Student Recognition Ceremony! So proud of you! 👩🏽‍🎓👨‍🎓
We would also like to recognize and celebrate SPS professor Greg Moreland for his last Graduation Ceremony! Muchas gracias, Dr. Moreland! 🐊🙏🏼

05/11/2026

Summer is here, and I know you miss us: let's revisit the Spring semester! 🌞
Here are some of the SPS students and faculty shining during the SPS Awards Ceremony ✨️🏆

05/08/2026

The SPS newsletter is fresh off the press! Check out what our wonderful faculty and students have been up to. Gracias to Antonio Sajid for this always excellent newsletter:

“My journey with Spanish began as a calling to bridge a gap with a population I felt disconnected from simply by language.”

03/25/2026

The week after Spring Break we had two wonderful events with SPS professor M. Elizabeth Ginway and SPS alum Enrique Muñoz-Mantas, the translators of "The Voice of Blood" by Gabriela Rábago Palafox. 🦇

On Monday, March 23, they gave a talk at The Lynx; on Tuesday, March 24, we had an informal bilingual talk at the Club de lectura.

03/13/2026

The week after Spring Break we have two wonderful events with SPS professor M. Elizabeth Ginway and SPS alum Enrique Muñoz-Mantas!

Monday, March 23:

A Chat with the Translators of The Voice of Blood:
The Lynx Bookstore 601 South Main Street 6:00-7:00 pm https://thelynxbooks.com/events/4518720260323

Tuesday, March 24:
*Club de lectura, La voz de la sangre/The Voice of Blood
Dauer Hall 240, 4:30 pm
Charla informal (bilingüe) con los traductores -
Informal Talk (bilingual) with the translators

03/11/2026

📚 Latin American Stories: Connecting Communities
Building bridges through digital humanities and literature! 🌎✨

Join us on Wednesday, March 25, for a special bilingual conversatorio (Spanish/English). This dialogue brings together scholars from UF and UNF to present their new books, exploring powerful themes of inequality and resilience in communities across Puerto Rico, Colombia, and Mexico.

Born from a connection at the Latin American & Caribbean Digital Humanities Symposium, this event is a unique opportunity to see how interdisciplinary research transforms into impactful stories.

👥 Featuring:

Antonio Sajid, Assoc. Instr. Prof. (Spanish & Latin American Studies, UF)
Anne Pfister, Assoc. Prof. (Sociology, Anthropology & Social Work, UNF)
Constanza López Baquero, Assoc. Prof. (Languages, Literatures & Cultures, UNF)

We invite students, faculty, and community members to join the conversation!

🗓 When: Wednesday, March 25
🕓 Time: 4:05 p.m.
📍 Where: MAT 0119 (Matherly Hall)

Don’t miss this chance to hear from these scholars and celebrate their new work. Mark your calendars—we'll see you in MAT 0119!

📢 Evento bilingüe: ¡Todos son bienvenidos!

03/05/2026

SPS grad student Nazita Fazlkhah presented her research at a conference! Here is what she wrote about the experience:

"I was honored to present my research at the 10th Biennial Conference on Current Approaches to Spanish and Portuguese Second Language Phonology (CASPSLaP) at Brigham Young University.

My talk focused on cross-linguistic influence in the sound systems of L2 learners and Spanish heritage speakers, examining how language experience and proficiency shape stop-consonant perception across English and Spanish.

I am grateful to Dr. Gillian Lord-Ward for her guidance and support, and to Brigham Young University and Dr. Scott Alvord for hosting such a stimulating conference."

¡Enhorabuena, Nazita! 👏🏼

03/02/2026

First Colloquium on Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala at UF: Colonial and Indigenous History, Art, and Literature Intertwined

Join us at the University of Florida for a landmark two-day colloquium exploring the art, narrative, and historical significance of the 1615 manuscript by Indigenous Peruvian intellectual Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala.

Across two days, we will host 23 scholars from across the globe alongside three world-renowned keynote speakers:

✨ Dr. José Carlos de la Puente (Texas State U.)
📅 March 5 | 6:00 PM | Keene Faculty Center

✨ Dr. Rocío Quispe Agnoli (Michigan State U.)
📅 March 6 | 11:30 AM | Smathers 100

✨ Dr. Thomas Cummins (Harvard U.)
📅 March 6 | 6:00 PM | Harn Museum

From digital humanities to political science, help us bridge the past and present of Andean history and literature.

🔗 Full Program: https://people.clas.ufl.edu/paolauparela/files/GPC-Program.pdf
📧 Questions? Contact Dr. Paola Uparela at [email protected]

02/27/2026

30 years of excellence! 🏆✨️💕

Congratulations to SPS Professor Dr. M. Elizabeth Ginway for this amazing achievement: 30 years of service to the University of Florida! 🐊Dr. Ginway is a renowned expert in Brazilian Literature and Cinema. In her classes, you can learn about science fiction, vampires, Brazilian society, short stories, advanced composition and syntax, and much more. Her students and colleagues are very grateful to have her in our team.

Parabéns e obrigada, Dra. Ginway!👏🏼🤗🎊

02/26/2026

Dr. Jorge Valdés Kroff recently visited his alma mater, Penn State University, to give an invited talk for the Center for Language Science Distinguish Speaker series. His talk, titled "Shifting away from switch costs reveals the cognitive benefits of bilingual code-switching," presents new approaches on the experimental study of bilingual speech.

¡Enhorabuena, Dr. Valdés Kroff! The SPS Community is so proud of you. 👏🏼