Faculty & Staff

headshot of Dr. Kasongo Mulenda Kapanga
Professor of French
Chair, Department of Languages, Literatures, & Cultures
Africana Studies Advisory Board Member

Specialties:
  • Francophone Literature
  • Post-Colonial Criticism
Contact:
(804) 289-8104
headshot of Dr. Julie A. Baker
Senior Teaching Faculty of French
Director, French Intensive Language Program

Specialties:
  • French and Francophone Language and Culture
  • Language Teaching Methods
  • Second Language Acquisition
  • Intercultural Competence
  • Medieval French Literature
Contact:
(804) 287-6817
headshot of Dr. Kurt  Beals
Visiting Associate Professor/ Humanities Fellow in Literary Translation
Contact:
804-287-6432
headshot of Dr. Sonja  Bertucci
Assistant Professor of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures (Film Studies)
Contact:
headshot of Dr. Leslie  Bohon
Director of English Language Learning

Specialties:
  • U.S. Culture
  • Academic Writing
  • ESL Teaching Methods
Contact:
(804) 287-6305
headshot of Dr. Thomas P. Bonfiglio
Professor of Literature and Linguistics
William Judson Gaines Chair in Modern Foreign Languages
Interdisciplinary Program Coordinator, Linguistics

Specialties:
  • Sociolinguistics
  • Language and race
  • American dialectology
  • Historical linguistics
  • Linguistic relativism
  • Psychoanalysis
  • Comparative literature
Contact:
(804) 289-8102
headshot of Dr. Kathrin M. Bower
Professor of German Studies

Specialties:
  • East/West German Relations
  • German Cultural Studies
  • German Film
  • Holocaust Representation
  • Political Satire
  • Postmigrant Comedy
Contact:
804-287-6060
headshot of Dr. Jessica Ka Yee  Chan
Associate Professor of Chinese Studies
Contact:
(804) 289-8096
headshot of Dr. Olivier  Delers
Professor of French
Interim Chair, Department of Theatre & Dance

Specialties:
  • 18th Century French Studies
  • Film Studies
Contact:
(804) 289-8106
headshot of Dr.  Gengsong  Gao
Associate Professor of Chinese Studies

Specialties:
  • Modern and Contemporary Chinese Literature and Intellectual History
  • Popular Culture and Modernity Theories
  • Technology in Foreign Language Education
Contact:
(804) 289-8096
headshot of Dr. Caity  Giustiniano
Visiting Assistant Professor of Russian Studies

Specialties:
  • 20th Century Russian and Soviet literature
  • Nonsense literature
  • Children’s literature
  • Absurdism and carnival
Contact:
headshot of Dr. Yvonne H. Howell
Professor of Russian and Global Studies
Global Studies Concentration Advisor: Cultures and Communications
Interdisciplinary Program Coordinator, Global Studies

Specialties:
  • Russian literature and culture
  • Czech literature and culture
  • Sociobiology in cross-cultural perspective
  • History of science (Soviet Union)
Contact:
(804) 289-8101
Adjunct Instructor of Languages, Literatures & Cultures
Contact:
(804) 289-8096
headshot of Dr. Alaa  Magableh
Visiting Lecturer of Arabic Studies
Contact:
(804) 484-1643
headshot of Dr. Michael  Marsh-Soloway
Teaching Faculty of Literatures, Languages, and Cultures
Director, Global Studio

Specialties:
  • Technology-enhanced learning
  • Russian literature and culture
  • Linguistics
  • Intellectual history in the sciences
  • Translation
Contact:
(804) 287-6838
headshot of Dr. Natalie  McCauley
Teaching Faculty of Russian
Director, Russian Studies
Contact:
(804) 287-6345
Adjunct Lecturer of Languages, Literatures, & Cultures
Contact:
Associate Professor of French and Visual Culture

Specialties:
  • French literature, art, and culture
  • Art Criticism
  • Critical Museum Studies
Contact:
(804) 289-8109
headshot of Dr. Luca  Peretti
Assistant Professor of Italian Studies

Specialties:
  • Italian cinema
  • Postcolonial cinema
  • Italian cultural and intellectual history
  • Industrial and sponsored cinema
  • Cinema and history
  • Mediterranean studies
  • Transnational cultural practices
  • Jewish Italian Culture
Contact:
headshot of  Amalia  Pizzardi
Adjunct Professor of Italian Studies

Specialties:
  • Language development and construction. Language structure.
  • Social function and role of Art.
Contact:
(804) 289-8096
headshot of Dr. Lidia  Radi
Professor of French and Italian Studies

Specialties:
  • Early Modern Studies (French)
  • Transnational Literature (Italian Studies)
  • Albanian Diaspora
Contact:
(804) 289-8110
headshot of Dr. Hilary C. Raymond
Teaching Faculty in French

Specialties:
  • French Language and Francophone Cultures
  • Teaching Methods for World Languages
  • Second Language Acquisition
Contact:
(804) 287-6322
headshot of  Jaime  Rung
Jaime Rung
She/Her
Academic Administrative Coordinator
Contact:
(804) 289-8096
headshot of Dr. Anthony  Russell
Associate Professor of English and Italian Studies
Coordinator, Italian Studies Program

Specialties:
  • Renaissance Studies
  • Comparative Literature (English, Italian, French)
  • Shakespeare
Contact:
(804) 289-8294
Visiting Assistant Professor of Arabic Studies
Contact:
(804) 289-8096
headshot of Mr. Akira  Suzuki
Teaching Faculty of Japanese
Director of the Japanese Language Program
Contact:
(804) 289-8293
headshot of Ms. Gabriella  Valsecchi
Visiting Instructor of Italian Studies
Contact:
(804) 287-1893
headshot of Dr. Caroline  Weist
Associate Professor of German Studies

Specialties:
  • Performance in and of German-language literature
  • Theater and performance studies
  • Disability studies
  • Gender studies and queer theory
Contact:
(804) 289-8096

Emeriti Faculty

headshot of Dr. Françoise  Ravaux-Kirkpatrick
Professor of French & Film Studies Emerita, Co-Director, Annual UR/VCU French Film Festival

Specialties:
  • Contemporary French literature and culture
  • French film
  • Semiotics
Contact: