Faculty Accomplishments Archive

Sonja Bertucci was promoted to associate professor of languages, literatures, & cultures. She is a filmmaker and her most recent feature-length documentary, The Diamond Couple (2024), is an intimate meditation on love, aging, and the transmission of memory. She is currently working on a new experimental project inspired by French writer Georges Perec’s Lieux.

Sara Pappas, Associate Professor of French and Visual Culture, published the book Naturalism's Imaginary Museum, French Art, and the Eclectic Nineteenth Century.

Michael Marsh-Soloway, teaching faculty of literatures, languages, and cultures, published The Mathematical Mind of F. M. Dostoevsky: Imaginary Numbers, Non-Euclidean Geometry, and Infinity.

Gengsong Gao, associate professor of Chinese studies, published "The long-term impact of the great Chinese famine experiences on trust in the current Chinese government" in the Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies.

Olivier Delers, professor of French, has been named Associated Colleges of the South Mellon Academic Leadership Fellow for 2025–27.

Kurt Beals, visiting associate professor of German studies and humanities fellow in literary translation, published a new translation of Erich Maria Remarque's classic anti-war novel All Quiet on the Western Front.

Julie Baker was promoted to senior teaching faculty of French. Baker is the director of the French Intensive Language Program, and her specialties include French and Francophone language and culture.

Gengsong Gao, associate professor of Chinese studies, published "Fan Engagement with Chinese Celebrities’ Political Signaling on Weibo" in the Journal of Contemporary China.

Caroline Weist, associate professor of German studies, received the 2024 Distinguished Educator Award from the University of Richmond at Colloquy.

Sonja Bertucci, assistant professor of languages, literatures, and cultures (film studies), was awarded the Special Jury Award for Inspirational Filmmaking for the film The Diamond Couple at the 2024 Arizona International Film Festival.

Natalie McCauley, director of Russian Studies, published “Televising the Gulag in Putin’s Russia: Dekabristka, Melodrama, and Russia’s National Narrative” in the Slavic and East European Journal.

Gengsong Gao, associate professor of Chinese studies, published the chapter "Exploring L2 Chinese Learners: Connective Usage in Writing: An Error Analysis Approach" in Developing Writing Competence in L2 Chinese Classrooms: Research and Application.