Carol Rifelj Faculty Lecture Series

This lecture series is named for the late Carol de Dobay Rifelj, who came to Middlebury in 1972 as an Assistant Professor, serving also at that time as Director of the Château, and of the French House. Carol received tenure in 1979, was promoted to the rank of Full Professor in 1985, and was named Jean Thomson Fulton Professor of French in 1993. She retired from Middlebury in spring 2010 after 38 years on the faculty. An energetic scholar, Carol was the author of several books and numerous articles and essays. She was also active and innovative in electronic publication, producing a significant website, Le Lexique, that won a prize in 1996 from the American Association of Teachers of French and has continued to be an influential resource for French teachers worldwide.

During her time on the faculty, Carol served on all the College’s major committees, and she held numerous administrative posts, serving as Dean of the French School from 1985 to 1987, as Dean of the Faculty from 1991 to 1993, and as the Dean for Faculty Development and Research from 2004 to 2007. Carol was an unstinting supporter and advocate for the faculty and their professional development. It is thus richly appropriate that this lecture series, which features Middlebury’s own faculty, bears her name.

2022-23 Schedule

• Wednesday, September 28| 4:30 pm, Franklin Environmental Center, The Orchard-Hillcrest 103
  Paul Hess, Physics Department
  “Once Upon a Time Crystal”
   
• Wednesday, October 5| 4:30 pm, Franklin Environmental Center, The Orchard-Hillcrest 103
  Enrique Garcia, Luso-Hispanic Studies Department
  “The Representation of Japanese Culture in Comic Books from the Americas: From Orientalist Narratives to New Globalized Aesthetics”
   
• Wednesday, October 12| 4:30 pm, Franklin Environmental Center, The Orchard-Hillcrest 103 and Zoom
  George Moore, Center for Non-Proliferation Studies, MIIS
  “Can We Control the Impact of Drone Technology?”
   
• Wednesday, October 19| 4:30 pm, Franklin Environmental Center, The Orchard-Hillcrest 103
  Miguel Fernandez, Luso-Hispanic Studies Department
  “Tom Sawyer’s Wreck: Stories of the Steamship Independence (1853)”
   
• Wednesday, October 26| 4:30 pm, Franklin Environmental Center, The Orchard-Hillcrest 103
  Gloria Estela González Zenteno, Luso-Hispanic Studies Department
  “LIMONARIA / ARRIBADA: Twin Novels in Two Languages”
   
• Wednesday, November 2| 4:30 pm, Franklin Environmental Center, The Orchard-Hillcrest 103
  Frank Van Gansbeke, Environmental Affairs
  “Beyond Bretton Woods - An Inquiry into a New International Financial Architecture”
   
• Wednesday, November 9| 4:30 pm, Franklin Environmental Center, The Orchard-Hillcrest 103
  Michole Biancosino, Theatre Department
  “Interdisciplinary Approaches in Theatre Creation”
   
• Wednesday, November 16| 4:30 pm, Franklin Environmental Center, The Orchard-Hillcrest 103
  Phanindra Wunnava, Economics Department
  “Human Capital Investment: A History of Asian Immigrants and Their Family Ties”
   
• Wednesday, November 30| 4:30 pm, Franklin Environmental Center, The Orchard-Hillcrest 103
  Stefano Mula, Italian Department
  “International Migration: The Case of Riace, ‘paese dell’accoglienza’”
   
• Wednesday, January 25| 4:30 pm, Tentative location: Franklin Environmental Center, The Orchard-Hillcrest 103 and Zoom
  Dmitry Buzadzhi, Translation & Interpretation, MIIS
  “Translation and Interpreting as Acting”
   
• Wednesday, February 22| 4:30 pm, Tentative location: Franklin Environmental Center, The Orchard-Hillcrest 103
  Jamie McCallum, Sociology Department
  “An Injury to All: Essential Workers and Social Movements During the Pandemic”
   
• Wednesday, March 1| 4:30 pm, Tentative location: Franklin Environmental Center, The Orchard-Hillcrest 103
  Mark Saltveit, College Libraries
  “Recovering Ninth-Century Palindromes and Epigrams”
   
• Wednesday, April 12| 4:30 pm, Franklin Environmental Center, The Orchard-Hillcrest 103
  Ellery Foutch, American Studies Program, and Alexis Mychajliw, Biology/Environmental Studies
  “The Art and Science of Natural History Collections at Middlebury College”
   
• Wednesday, April 19| 4:30 pm, Franklin Environmental Center, The Orchard-Hillcrest 103
  David Stoll, Anthropology Department
  “Accusations too Believable to Be False: How We Talk about the Abenakis and Eugenics”
   
• Wednesday, April 26| 4:30 pm, MBH 216
  Sunhee Choi, Chemistry Department Emerita
  “Tales of Two Basic Research Projects Leading to the Development of Drugs against Cancer and Alzheimer’s Disease”