2018 RLL Commencement Speaker Announced
Paola M. (Giacobbe) Kersch, Associate Professor of Spanish and Director of Foreign Languages at D'Youville College, will serve as keynote speaker at the annual departmental commencement celebration. The event will take place at 10 am May 18, 2018, at UB's Center for Tomorrow.
A 2008 graduate of the University at Buffalo with a PhD in Hispanic Literature and Culture, Paola also holds a BA in Spanish and English with a minor in the Classics from Canisius College, and an MA in Comparative Literature from UNC at Chapel Hill. For over 15 years, she has taught courses in Spanish and Italian, composition and culture at numerous colleges and universities. Her scholarly work explores the child figure in plays and films about the Spanish Civil War and the Franco dictatorship and the response of contemporary female playwrights to acts of terror and domestic abuse. During her tenure at D'Youville, Paola has cultivated an interest in Spanish among students, faculty and administration and developed a BA in Spanish, recently approved by the New York State of Education Department in January 2018. In addition, she strives to immerse students in the languages and cultures they study by securing new study abroad and internship opportunities and by curating a wide array of multicultural events on campus. Paola is also an active board member of Centro Culturale Italiano di Buffalo and Friends of Hispanic Arts, two local non-profit groups that promote language and culture in the Buffalo community.