Chapter Chi Zeta #262 of Phi Sigma Iota Honor Society

Congratulations to Our Newest Members

2019-05-07T10:08:00.003-07:00

On May 1, 2019 Chi Zeta 262 inducted 30 new members into Bryant's chapter of the Phi Sigma Iota foreign language honor society. New members represent all four of the languages studied at Bryant University: Chinese, French, Italian, and Spanish.

Students in the undergraduate program at Bryant who are pursuing a major, minor or concentration in one of the languages offered at the university, Chinese, French, Italian or Spanish, are eligible if they:

have completed at least one course at the 300 level (305 or above)
have completed 45 semester hours (second semester sophomore)
have a minimum grade point average of 3.0 overall
have a minimum grade point average of 3.5 in their language courses
rank in the top 35% of their class.

New members and officers

Chi Zeta officers, along with members Katie Malo and Bobbie DiScuillo, during the ceremony

Chi Zeta Officers (Kerri, Kelly, Nyatasha and Michelle) with Profe Moon

Of the 30 new members, 8 are graduating seniors (Class of 2019), 11 are juniors (2020), and 11 are sophomores (2021). Congratulations!!

CLASS OF 2019

Riley Alkins
Caitlyn Bashara
Anthony DeLuca
Alison Guilmette
Josephine Heng
Kelly Jacobsen
Norah Sandland
Lauren Abbott (December)

CLASS OF 2020

Sabina Aouad
Eva Ballester
Catherine Conroy
Jacob Clark
Kyra Danish
Amara Gatto
Richard Junquera
Angelina Leandres
Joshua Nunes
Madison Rojas
Alexa Koch (December)

CLASS OF 2021

Safeen Ahmad
Jonathan Caley
Jenna Gurley
Lily Iacurci
Mercedes Lahaie
Kristen Page
Cassandra Prazeres
Gabriela Reymont
Stephanie Sousa
Valerie Trabucco
Aislinn Vitale

Three Chi Zeta members have their work published in national magazine

2019-05-07T09:51:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to three members of our chapter for having their original target language work published in the national magazine of the Phi Sigma Iota honor society, The Forum.

Kerri O´Connell, a senior with a concentration in Spanish, published a small part of her Honors Thesis ¡Viva Latino! The Rising Popularity of Latin Music in the US. Read more about Kerri's thesis here.

Kelly Emerson, a junior with a concentration in Spanish, published an essay she wrote in one of her Spanish classes entitled Una carta a mi misma más joven.

Kayla Fournier, a senior with a concentration in French, published a fable entitled Le Chat et Le Chien, which was written in one of her French classes.

The magazine can be accessed here.

Congratulations to Emily Katz

2019-05-07T09:42:00.001-07:00

Outstanding Service Award presented to Emily Katz at our Induction Ceremony on May 1, 2019.

Emily Katz

For only the third time in Chi Zeta's 7 year history, the Outstanding Service Award was presented on May 1, 2019.

The Phi Sigma Iota foreign language honor society has a number of core beliefs and I’d like to highlight one that is especially relevant to our award winner.

it is incumbent upon members to attempt to inspire in others a desire to study the language, literature, and other cultural manifestations of foreign peoples.

Emily Katz, an International Business and Spanish double-major who studied abroad in Viña del Mar, Chile this past fall, has given back to our program in a number of ways: in her role as a MyPath mentor, she has promoted not only Spanish, but all of our languages at events for freshman, helping them make decisions about pursuing degrees in our language and truly being a mentor for them. Emily has also served as a Spanish tutor in ACE for the past two years, and in that capacity has helped many students become successful language students. Emily has visited classes, and has worked one-on-one with many of our program students, who have nothing but praise for her work. If fact, during the semester that Emily spent in Chile, many students told me how much they missed her and how much they were looking forward to having her return to ACE once she was back on campus.

Thank you to Emily Katz for her outstanding service, to both the honor society and our language program.

New Member Induction Ceremony

2018-04-30T10:30:00.000-07:00

The New Member Induction Ceremony was held on April 25, 2018 in Bello. Twenty five new undergraduate members where inducted into Bryant's chapter of the Phi Sigma Iota international foreign language honor society. New members represent all four languages studied at Bryant: Chinese, French, Italian, and Spanish.

The Ceremony was presented by the three elected officers for the 2018-19 academic year:

President: Kevin Ludemann (Spanish)

Vice President: Taylor Carleton (Chinese)

Secretary/Treasurer: Victoria Cipolla (Spanish

Victoria, Kevin, and Taylor

The officers were joined by Manuela Duque (Italian) and Kathleen Gonzalez (French).

Kathleen

Manuela

New Members & Elective Officers
All Photos by James Imrie '18

Congratulations to Amelia Eppard

2017-04-24T06:59:00.000-07:00

Amelia Eppard (center) with Profe Moon and Profe Gomez (photo by James Imrie, class of 2018)

Chapter Chi Zeta 262 is proud to announce that member Amelia Eppard, Class of 2017, has been awarded the Phi Sigma Iota national scholarship, one of 10 scholarships awarded nationally each year. The award, in the amount of $1750, will be used toward Amelia's participation in the Teach Abroad program through CIEE; Amelia will be teaching English in Madrid, Spain during the upcoming academic year. Congratulations, Amelia!

Read Amelia's post Gracias, Luis which was published in December on the Spanish program blog, where you can read about her recent Intellectual Entrepreneur Award as well.

More information about the national scholarships can be found here.

New Member Induction Ceremony 2017

2017-04-21T11:29:00.001-07:00

Megan Kimball, Chapter Vice President, Midori Knowles, Chapter President, and Kayla Nikosey, Chapter Secretary (all photos by James Imrie, Class of 2018)

We held our 5th annual Induction Ceremony for Chi Zeta 262 on Wednesday, April 19th.

We began our Induction Ceremony with awards, acknowledgements and congratulations:

Each year the officers of Chi Zeta put in extensive hours to make sure that all of our events run smoothly. We sponsor the An Afternoon Abroad Event in late fall, which brings together the 4 language clubs as well as numerous other student organizations on campus for an afternoon of international food, music, and culture. We also host a Hot Chocolate Social in February for students wishing to learn more about the honor society and, of course, our annual Induction Ceremony. None of these events would have been successful without the time and efforts of each of our 3 officers. Please join me in thanking Midori, Megan and Kayla for their outstanding service to our chapter.

For only the second time in our 5 year history, I would like to present one member of Chi Zeta with a special award for outstanding service. Our society has a number of core beliefs, and I’d like to highlight one that is especially relevant to our award winner.

it is incumbent upon members to attempt to inspire in others a desire to study the language, literature, and other cultural manifestations of foreign peoples.

Today I would like to honor one of our officers, not only for her commitment to Chi Zeta, but to the overall success of our Spanish program, inspiring her fellow students in their study of language, literature and, culture.

Midori, a Spanish concentrator who studied abroad in Sevilla, Spain, has also served as a Spanish tutor in ACE for the past two years, and in that capacity has helped many students become successful language students. Midori visited classes, and has worked one-on-one with many of our program students, who have nothing but praise for her work. One student shared the following: “I would like to share how kind she was and how helpful she was whether it was with homework or helping me prepare for a upcoming test. She was always able to help me as well as offer tips to help me succeed in class. She would also go above and beyond.” Please join me in thanking Midori Knowles for her outstanding service, to both the honor society and our language program.

I would also like to congratulate three members of our chapter for having their original target language work published in the national magazine, The Forum.

Amelia Eppard’s essay Gracias, Luis is a moving account of her experiences as a volunteer in the the Central Falls after school program.

Many of our new members (see full list below)

Danielle Wood and Taylor Scholefield each wrote original poems in the style of A mi retrato by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz.

The magazine may be accessed online at PhiSigmaIota.org.

We then proceeded to the official Induction Ceremony, which included candle lighting by representatives of each language.

Cody Freeman (Chinese)

Rebecca Goulet-Martel (French)

Kayla Nikosey (Spanish)

Professor Elisabetta Misuraca (Italian)

Finally, welcome to our newest members of the international foreign language honor society, Phi Sigma Iota.

CLASS OF 2017

Madeline Fasold
Rachel Miller
Brett Paley
Jack St. Andre

CLASS OF 2018

Giselle Alvarez
Gabrielle Barrett
Taylor Carlton
Victoria Cipolla
Kathleen Gonzalez
Alyssa Goodwin
Nicolette Haug
Holly Kaufman
Paige Lemieux
Courtney Mitchell
Alexandra Ortiz
Logan Paul
Keighan Richardson
Benjamin Schulte
Mijeong Shin
Alexa Walsh

CLASS OF 2019

Megan Barry
Mia Broderick
Elise Chen
Michelle Chen
Johanna Craig
Claudia Dionne
Gregory Goodinson
Kafui Gozey
Katie Malo
Margaret Mellitt
Kayla Navaro
Amy Sullivan
Kyle Svenson

President Midori Knowles' Study Abroad Experience

2016-11-14T10:41:00.000-08:00

Within my four years at Bryant University, the Modern Language department has provided me with many resources and opportunities that I am grateful to have fortunately experienced. By offering language studies in French, Italian, Chinese and Spanish, Bryant has given me options that will best suit my interests. Personally, I started out as a student with a Spanish minor. After two years of Spanish classes, I decided to take my language studies one step further and turn my minor into a concentration. With this decision, I also took a leap and decided to study abroad in Sevilla, Spain. To fulfill my Spanish concentration, I took enrolled into two classes that were taught in Spanish during my time abroad. This was one of the best decisions I could have made in regards to furthering my Spanish speaking skills.

While living in Spain, not only did I get to practice my Spanish every day in my classes, but I also often spoke with my host family and locals that I befriended over the four months that I was there. I quickly became comfortable practicing my Spanish with my host dad and his family. Everyone was very welcoming and eager to help me. The importance of knowing another language was intensely highlighted throughout my time abroad. Being able to navigate myself through the city, airports, restaurants, shops and the public transportation system was extremely reassuring that my Spanish skills were being enhanced more and more each day. At first, I was nervous to speak to locals, but the more I practiced the better I became and the more confident I was the next time around. Living with a family that was from Sevilla was a huge advantage. They were able to teach me slang terms and were very accommodating to make me feel like a true Spaniard.

Not only was I able to further my Spanish skills while I was abroad, but I become a much more well-rounded individual, as well. From traveling to ten different countries and experiencing multiple foreign holidays and festivals, I learned so much about myself within the foreign culture. I learned that I love to try new things and am always up for a new adventure, whether it be trying new foods or traveling to a city that I have never heard of before. I learned that it is so important to step outside of my comfort zone. Thinking back to when I was preparing for my trip, I was so nervous and didn’t want to leave my family or friends at Bryant. Now I think back and laugh at myself. I was stuck in this bubble and was afraid to step out. I’m so glad I did because I got to take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity that gave me the best four months of my college career.

Studying a language at Bryant has provided me with so many wonderful opportunities that I am very appreciative for. This Spanish concentration has allowed me to enjoy some of the best classes I’ve taken, work alongside great faculty, become a peer tutor for Spanish at Bryant’s Academic Center for Excellence, and become a member and President of Bryant’s chapter of Phi Sigma Iota, the International Foreign Language Honor Society. Being invested in a language has open many doors for me and I strongly recommend to anyone to take advantage of these opportunities that the Modern Language department provides to all students!

Midori Knowles

Bryant University

Class of 2017

President of Phi Sigma Iota, Chapter Chi Zeta #262

2016-04-24T12:21:00.000-07:00

Bryant´s chapter Chi Zeta 262 held their annual induction ceremony for new members on April 20, 2016.

The ceremony was lead by President Isabela Velasquez (Spanish), Vice President Megan Kimball (Spanish) and Secretary/Treasurer Daniela Mangano (Italian), with help from Matt Licari (French) and Erika Kirk (Chinese).

Daniela, Megan, and Isabela

28 new members were inducted: 5 seniors, 17 juniors and 6 sophomores.

New Members 2016

CLASS OF 2016

Randie Almonte

Kanverly Cruz

Iemanja Dos Santos

Harlyn Juarez

Kristin Sinclair

CLASS OF 2017

Zeynep Kazmaz

Kaitlyn Anderson

Olivia Davis

Amelia Eppard

Cody Freeman

Rebecca Goulet-Martel

Jenna Humphrey

Nicole Kelly

Arianna Kithes

Nicole Lus

Sierra Moore

Stephen Patierno

Roselyne Ulloa

Tiffany Venmanhavong

Cameron Wang

Stephen Warde

Danielle Wood

CLASS OF 2018

Anastasia Bevillard

Conor Brosnan

Claire Gracia

Cristian Junquera

Kevin Ludemann

Taylor Scholefield

Chapter Chi Zeta #262 is Accepting New Members!

2016-02-03T09:53:00.002-08:00

Bryant Chapter Chi Zeta #262 is currently inviting students to apply for membership in the Phi Sigma Iota international honor society.

The chapter will host a Hot Chocolate Social on February 10th at from 4:30 – 5:30 pm. New candidates are invited to meet current members and officers of the honor society, and to learn more about the organization. This is an optional, informal event.

Criteria for membership is rigorous:

a declared major, concentration or minor in Chinese, Italian, French or Spanish
the completion of 45 semester hours or its equivalent (second-semester sophomore)
a GPA of 3.0 or higher overall
a GPA of 3.5 in language courses
the completion at least one course at the advanced level (305 or higher)
rank in the upper 35% of graduating class

Once membership criteria has been verified, new members will be welcomed into the chapter at an Induction Ceremony on April 20, 2016, to be held in conjunction with the Modern Language Award Ceremony.

President Isabela Velasquez

2015-10-19T06:42:00.002-07:00

Read this post from Isabela Velasquez, President of the Bryant chapter of Phi Sigma Iota, about her experiences as a Spanish Concentrator, her time abroad in Sevilla, and more!