The Portuguese Studies Program at Rhode Island College (RIC) has inducted three outstanding students and three honorary members into the Sigma Chapter of the Phi Lambda Beta Portuguese Honor Society. The ceremony also included recognition of the 2014 recipients of the John A. and Mary V. Lima Scholarship in Portuguese Studies.
The National Portuguese Honor Society of Phi Lambda Beta, an auxiliary of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, recognizes and honors outstanding achievement in the field of Portuguese language studies and Portuguese, Brazilian, African Lusophone cultures and literatures and their diaspora.
This year’s honor society inductees are Denise DePina, a nursing major with a minor in Portuguese, from Wood River Junction; Bruno Ramos, a biology major with a Portuguese minor, from Pawtucket, RI; and Justin Soares, a history/anthropology major with a Portuguese minor, from Rumford, RI.
From left, Dr. Earl Simson, Dean, Faculty of Arts and Sciences; Mrs. Marie Fraley, Director, Institute for Portuguese and Lusophone World Studies; Bruno Ramos; Denise Depina; Justin Soares; Leonel Teixeira; Paulo Silva; Dr. Peter Mendy; Dr. Silvia Oliveira, Assistant Professor of Portuguese.
Members must be RIC students who have completed a minimum of three years of college Portuguese or the equivalent, including at least one course in literature. They are nominated on the basis of high scholarship, requiring a minimum grade point average of 3.25 in Portuguese courses, and a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.00 scale.
This year’s honorary members of the Phi Lambda Beta Portuguese Honor Society are Peter Mendy, RIC professor of history and African studies; Leonel Teixeira, retired vice-consul of Portugal in Providence, RI; and Paulo Silva, IPLWS community advisory board member. Mendy also presented the keynote at the ceremony titled “Post-Independence Lusophone Africa: Societies, Cultures, and Literatures.”
Honorary members are selected on the basis of high service, scholarship or advocacy in the promotion of Portuguese Studies, the Portuguese language and Portuguese, Brazilian and African Lusophone cultures at Rhode Island College and in the community.
From left, Christopher Barbosa of Cumberland and John Lima Jr.
From left, Bruno Ramos of Pawtucket and RIC Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Earl Simson.
Christopher Barbosa and Bruno Ramos are the recipients of the 2014 John A. and Mary V. Lima Scholarship. This scholarship of $2,000 each is awarded annually to students who demonstrate high academic achievement and a commitment to studying Portuguese at RIC.
Part of the Modern Languages Department at RIC, the Portuguese Studies program offers classes in beginner through advanced Portuguese language and in the literature and culture of all Portuguese-speaking nations.
Source: Portuguese Studies Program at Rhode Island College
