The Department of World Languages and Literatures in the College of Liberal Arts is set to host its 50th awards ceremony on Wednesday, May 8. The event will be held in the Joe Crowley Student Union, Ballroom C and will begin at 5:00 p.m. to recognize excellent student achievement over the last year.

It is important for the department to recognize the outstanding accomplishments of its students year after year and to recognize the hard work of mastering a foreign language. "The entire ceremony is a celebration of languages and cultures and of the fact that awardees have acknowledged the importance that a second (or even third) language holds for their future career connections," Miriella Melara, lecturer of French said.

Over the last 50 years, the department has been able to offer an array of scholarships and certificates of excellence. Some of the oldest scholarship awards include the Gottardi Memorial Scholarship and the Fuji Woon Scholarship. Typically, these awards are given to students who show the highest level of excellence in their language program.

Many of the scholarships awarded to students are set up as a memorial fund to honor someone who held a passion for language and culture. Other scholarships are funded by community members who earned their degree and/or taught language classes at the University of Nevada, Reno. "What all these scholarships have in common is a strong and deeply-rooted desire to reward students who have made the commitment to become bilingual or even multilingual and thus share in the donors' passion for languages and cultures," Melara said.

In addition, the department also offers the World Languages and Literatures Scholarship, which uses salary contributions from faculty in the department committed to recognizing exceptional language students. This shows the pride faculty members take in the advancement of its students in being exposed to language and culture.

Not only do students who are acknowledged show a passion for language, but they also have a desire and willingness to study abroad and volunteer in project areas across the globe where their target language is spoken. Also, many students have career goals to use their learned language in future endeavors.

The language programs recognizing its best students this year include: Arabic, Basque, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish.

For more information on attending the World Languages and Literatures 50th Awards Ceremony, please call (775) 784-6055.