WLL Commencement
The World Languages & Literatures Department gathered together on Sunday morning, May 20th to celebrate the commencement of our graduating seniors. In an intimate ceremony, faculty members had the opportunity to stand in front of students, families, and friends to share a collection of stories and fond memories of each of the graduates.
Our student speaker, Danielle Richard, graduating with a B.A. in Comparative Literature, gave an inspired address in which she looked back on her experience in the department studying worlds as various as holocaust studies, Persian epic poetry, Queer theory, and the Russian novel. In her speech, Richard reflected on language’s ability to “structure the world” and on the connection between becoming a better reader and becoming a better person. Click here to read Danielle’s student address.
In addition to the presentation of diplomas, there were also a handful of prizes awarded to students, including the College Prize Award and the Barbara Argote Awards for each major.
The College Prize Award is given to one student each year who demonstrates exceptional academic achievement throughout their undergraduate studies. This year, the CAS College Prize Award was awarded to Yiran Weng, who received her degree as a double WLL Major in both Comparative Literature and Russian Language and Literature. Congratulations, Yiran!
The Barbara Argote Senior Award is given to students who demonstrate academic excellence within their major. Barbara Argote was a BU student in the 1940s who majored in French; she left a bequest to the University in 1987 that is now used to fund student prizes in World Languages & Literatures, Romance Studies and Linguistics.
This year, the Barbara Argote Award was given the following students:
Aurelia Paul, Chinese Language & Literature
Maria Penas, Comparative Literature
Hannah Finton, German Language & Literature
Xajavion Seabrum, Japanese Language & Literature
Laird Bloore, Russian Language & Literature
Congratulations to all of our Argote award winners!
In addition to these two prizes, we also awarded a German Language & Literature student with the Waldo C. Peebles Book Prize. Waldo C. Peebles is a former Professor of German at Boston University whose memory is preserved with the prize. This year’s Waldo C. Peebles prize was awarded to Shawn Foley. Congratulations, Shawn!
One more congratulations to all WLL graduates. We are very proud of you!
