Welcome back! We hope you enjoy this year’s newsletter featuring our award-winning students and faculty in the Michele Bowman Underwood Department of Modern Languages and Literatures (MLL) at the University of Miami. You will also find information on our events, new policies and programs, and other departmental initiatives.
2025-2026 is in the books and it was another great year for the department. We welcomed fantastic new colleagues, boasted the biggest student participation ever in our study abroad programs, and conducted an impressive array of cutting-edge research projects. In the pages that follow, you will read about the publications and prizes awarded to MLL faculty and students. These research initiatives complemented the nearly 400 courses we offered to undergraduate and graduate students at the university. Our dedicated instructors spent countless hours imparting linguistic and cultural knowledge because global literacy and cultural awareness are at the heart of everything we do.
You cannot be global if you live in only one language. The students and faculty in MLL will continue to hit this point home in every course, program, and event we offer. As generative artificial intelligence complicates traditional assignments and classroom activities, our department is rising to the challenge through a two-pronged strategy. Many of our faculty are integrating AI into our pedagogies and showing students how to use AI to craft highly individualized and rigorous exercises and projects. At the same time, we are demonstrating to our students that gaining cultural awareness, fine attention to linguistic detail, and the ability to communicate confidently and multilingually are the absolute best ways for them to compete in an increasingly challenging job market.
This year, we challenge all our faculty to shout this message from the rooftops: LANGUAGES = JOBS (and so much more).
To our friends and colleagues at the university, in our community, and beyond: engage us. We are here to help you. Come to our events; email our faculty to gain their insights; hire our students and former students because they are qualified, smart, professional, and impressive.
If you can, please support us with a financial contribution (turn to the back cover for more information on how you can help us achieve our goals).
2026-2027 is already off to a great start. We hope that this academic year brings you good health, happiness, and many opportunities for curiosity and wonder. Take care and please be in touch!
Yours,
Dr. Logan J. Connors
Professor and Chair
and
Lillian Manzor
Interim Department Chair
Michele Bowman Underwood Department of Modern Languages and Literatures
College of Arts and Sciences
University of Miami
Coral Gables, Florida
USA
