Professor José Promis Excellence in Study Abroad Award
Dr. José Promis received his certification as a high-school teacher from the University of Chile and his doctorate in Romance Philology from the University of Madrid. Until 1976, he taught Latin American and Chilean Literature at the University of Chile, the Catholic University of Chile, and the Catholic University of Valparaíso. Since that year he has been Full Professor of Spanish American Literature in the Spanish and Portuguese Department of the University of Arizona. After the end of the military regime he returned periodically to Chile, invited as a visiting professor by several universities in Santiago and Valparaíso. Currently, Professor Promis is Emeritus at the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, although still actively involved in leading and supporting our various Study Abroad programs, especially that in Viña del Mar, Chile, which he established. He has published several books related to Chilean literature. The most recent, published in 2002, is La literatura del reino de Chile. He is also in charge of literary criticism in El Mercurio, the most important Chilean newspaper. In 2004 he was appointed member of the Academia Chilena de la Lengua.
This honor is awarded annually to the Department of Spanish & Portuguese study abroad student who best exemplifies the qualities of enthusiasm, flexibility, academic achievement, as well as the ability to make the most of a Study Abroad Experience.
The Department of Spanish & Portuguese Service Award
The Karen Smith Scholarship
The Mamie Bernard and Pedro Joab Aguirre Scholarship
The Sarah Doyle Scholarship for Study Abroad in Alcalá de Henares
The Elizabeth H. Gad Scholarship for Study Abroad in Segovia
The Thomas & Peggy Kauffman Hyde Scholarship in Alcalá de Henares
The Nivea Parsons Scholarship for Study in Brazil
Dr. Nivea Parsons, a retired tenured faculty member in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Arizona, was born in Fortaleza, Brazil and passed away on May 14th, 2006 at the age of 70 due to pancreatic cancer. In honor of Dr. Nivea Parsons' great accomplishments here at UA in the Portuguese program, the Department of Spanish and Portuguese is pleased to offer a scholarship in the amount of $500.00 to a motivated student who will be studying in Brazil this summer with the program that Dr. Parsons founded.
Dr. Parsons directed the Portuguese program here at UA and taught courses in Portuguese language, Luso-Brazilian Literature, and Brazilian Film and Culture from 1968 until her retirement in 2003. Even after retirement, Dr. Parsons continued to be very much involved with spreading her love for her language and culture to others, continuing to give informal lectures on Brazil as a volunteer to retired UA faculty. She was an inspiration to all her students, friends and colleagues and worked tirelessly to solidify the study of Portuguese at UA. Among other contributions, Dr. Parsons was instrumental in making the Portuguese minor mandatory for those majoring in Latin American Studies at the University of Arizona.
Contact:
Director of the Study Abroad Programs
Yadira Berigan
Office: Modern Languages 569
berigans@email.arizona.edu
626-7647