It wasn’t quite 8am last Friday when graduate students, professors, and guest speakers gathered for the start of the 17th Annual Graduate Student Symposium. While a cup of coffee was in nearly every hand, people did not appear to need it as most were engaged in lively conversation in anticipation of the event. 

 

The Symposium is organized annually by graduate students in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at The Ohio State University. Students, professors, and experts in the field come every year to share their research amongst contemporaries. It features two main areas of focus: Hispanic and Lusophone Studies (Languages, Literature, and Culture), as well as Hispanic and Lusophone Linguistics.  The two areas share in all of the fundraising efforts and have mutual receptions during the event. 

 

It is a great opportunity for Ohio State alumni and friends to return and show their support. Kaitlin Collins of UCLA returned to her home state of Ohio to attend. “I’m excited about the research, and to come back to my hometown to present”. Collins wasn’t the only guest to travel cross-country or longer. Justin Goodenkauf, from the University of Washington, made the trip to present on the influence of classic Arabic on Old Spanish structures and syntax. “It’s an opportunity for me to present my work and get a lot of feedback”, he smiled, “whether it’s good or not”. 

 

Each division was honored to welcome plenary speakers to the Symposium. In literatures and cultures, Jean Franco, of Columbia University and Pedro Sepúlveda, from the Universidade Nova de Lisboa lent their expertise to the event. Linguistics welcomed Gregory Guy, Norma Mendoza-Denton, Ana Celia Zentella, and Otto Santa Ana to share. Having them at the Symposium only strengthened the already strong lineup of research presented. More information on these speakers can be found on the Symposium web page.

 

The Annual Graduate Student Symposium provides a rare opportunity for experts from all over the world to descend upon our campus to sharpen one another’s skill, and leave better equipped to pursue their areas of study. The speakers at the symposium, aside from being well-accomplished, were genuinely interested in sharing their work with others. They made specific efforts to open up a dialogue during the events, shifting the feel from that of a static lecture to one of a dynamic conversation: a shining example of collegiality in research.