Performers can either do karaoke, sing an original song, or lip sync — the one stipulation is that it must be in a language other than English. This year, there were 13 performances with songs in five different languages: French, Arabic, Spanish, German and Korean. 

GlobalVision was inspired by the EuroVision song competition. However, the event at ������Ƶ is for languages across the globe, not only languages spoken in Europe.

The first GlobalVision happened in the spring of 2022 in Global Commons. Since then, the event has grown and is now an annual event in Irazú. This event has seen a lot of change in just three years, and will continue to evolve in the years to come.

There were three prize baskets for the winners filled with international candies, snacks and drinks. All winners also got a bouquet of fresh flowers. In addition to the other two prizes. The first place winners also went home with a trophy.

The first place winners, sophomores Ali and Andi Dalton ’27, sang an original song with guitar in French. First-year student Andrew Juhasz ’28 was the second-place winner and sang a song in German. In third place was a trio who sang karaoke to “Cómo la flor” by Selena. Their charisma had the audience involved and excited about the performance.

Although not all 13 groups that performed went home with prizes, they all went home with a fun and memorable experience.

On May 6, the French section of the World Languages and Cultures Department inducted 13 new members and two honorary members into Pi Delta Phi, the national French Honor Society. Since the Lambda Omicron chapter’s founding at ������Ƶ in 1995, distinguished students of French have been invited annually to attend an induction ceremony celebrating their successes and making them members.

This year’s ceremony was led, in French, by co-presidents Annie Leeper ‘24 and Nina Paolucci ‘24 and Sophie Adamson, faculty advisor and associate professor of French. While invitees enjoyed their delicious dinners of poulet à la dijonnaise, petits pois et champignons de Paris, and courgettes et courges, the room was filled with enthusiastic French of all levels. The energy in the room was high as new and old friends and Francophiles conversed.

Following dinner, inductees and guests enjoyed a heartfelt keynote speech by Morgane Haesen, who was born and raised in French-speaking Belgium and currently works as an assistant professor of French at High Point University. She spoke about the role that the French language and Francophone cultures have played in her intercultural mindset and relationships, in addition to the opportunities French has created in her professional life. Inductees were then pinned and given their certificates and graduation tassels. After the ceremony, students, faculty, staff members, and guests stayed to take some photos and continue speaking in French. Although the French community at ������Ƶ is relatively small, this evening highlighted how strong and full of life it is!

Congratulations to the following new members:

• Elizabeth Cameron
• Catherine Crawford
• Kiara Cronin
• Rachel Curtis
• Zoe Eusemann
• Tessa Gladwell
• Cece Guyader
• Emily Kahn
• Sophie Kronenberger
• Dylan Kysela
• Mallory Mease
• Lila Noble
• Bridget Santacroce
• Cassie Kircher, Senior Faculty Fellow in English
• Shannon Tennant, Associate Librarian and Coordinator of Library Collections

Wimperis began his journey writing this book during his time while completing his doctorate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2015, so it took a long journey to publication – almost as long as the journey of the hero Aeneas that the book is based on. As the title suggests, the book focuses on the ancient Roman epic poem “The Aeneid” written by the poet Vergil in the 20s BC, a time when Rome was undergoing major social and political changes as it became an empire. Vergil’s epic tells the mythical story of Aeneas, a Trojan hero who leads a community of refugees (the future people of Rome) to a new home in Italy.

Through this tale, “The Aeneid” is especially engaged in questions of national identity and how new identities are formed. These are also the kinds of questions being asked in Vergil’s own time about changes in Roman identity during that era. Wimperis’ book focuses on how cultural identities like this are formed, expressed and used in politics, inside the fictionalized world of “The Aeneid” and in the real-world Roman Empire.

Wimperis’ work at ������Ƶ and beyond ties in deeply to his book. Two of the courses he teaches at ������Ƶ are CLA3700: Race and Ethnicity in the Ancient Mediterranean and COR1100: Storytelling and Community. Each of these courses focuses on communities in the ancient and modern world and how they were able to share their traditions among themselves and other communities.

To Wimperis, an important part of how communities and cultural identities are formed is through the stories that they tell about their past, in the form of historical events or mythology. Memorializing Roman history in statues, poems, and other artworks was a major way that ideas about Roman identity were passed on between generations. And, fascinatingly, “The Aeneid” shows the fictionalized communities within the poem memorializing their past and expressing their cultural identity in the same ways as Romans do. Wimperis explores this evidence and argues that it opens new ways of understanding the poem’s messages for its many audiences.

“Constructing Communities in Vergil’s Aeneid: Cultural Memory, Identity, and Ideology” can be used as a valuable tool in learning about not only ancient cultures, but also inspiring critical thought about how identities are formed through community and history across time periods. This book offers a unique perspective in exploring Vergil’s “Aeneid” and cultural memories.  and at the ������Ƶ bookstore.