Spanish Conversation Club
2026-02-18 12:30 - 13:30 (America/Chicago) | Curtin Hall 739
Open to all students and staff at UWM as well as to community members who wish to practice speaking Spanish.
Every week in Curtin Hall 739
Wednesdays 12:30-1:30 PM

Study Abroad & International Internships Info Session
2026-02-19 12:00 - 13:00
Thinking about studying abroad or doing an international internship but not sure where to start? Join us for an upcoming Study Abroad & International Internships Info Session!

Feb 19 | Noon | In person in Garland 104 (no need to RSVP!)

Japanese & English Conversation Table
2026-02-19 12:30 - 13:30 | Curtin Hall 187, WI, United States
The Japanese & English Conversation Table provides a platform for UWM students and Japanese exchange students to get to know each other and talk about Japanese language and culture. Most participants are students who are currently enrolled in or have previously taken our Japanese courses, but all are welcome. Occasionally, there are guest speakers and information sessions about Japan or Japanese language-related opportunities.
This is a recurring event every Thursday from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm, about 50 minutes in Curtin Hall #187.

29th Festival of Films in French – February 20-22 2026
2026-02-20 - 2026-02-22
Join us for the 29th Annual Festival of Films in French which showcases stories of resistance, artistic expression, justice, and freedom.
This year’s festival will take us from Paris to the Jura, Strasbourg, Ukraine, Quebec, Cambodia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In “Terrorists” in Retirement, surviving members of the French Resistance recount and reenact their operations undertaken during the Nazi occupation of Paris, challenging persistent myths and the erasure of their legacy. In Kyiv Theater, an Island of Hope, Ariane Mouchkine uses theater as a bold act of cultural defiance, bringing together hundreds of Ukrainian actors. Of Mud and Blood follows miners and local communities in rural DRC as they fight for environmental and social justice, while Ghost Trail traces the path of a Syrian refugee navigating the fine line between justice and revenge. For Jean-Luc Godard (Godard Cinema), resistance takes the form of pushing artistic and political boundaries through film. And in Meeting with Pol Pot, journalists pursue truth in the face of the Khmer Rouge’s propaganda and intimidation. Other films highlight the evolution of French artistic innovation, from Impressionism and the avant-garde in the 19th century (Colors of Time), to the intertwining of the arts in the 1920s silent film era (Princess Mandane), to the Nouvelle Vague (Godard Cinema), and French theater (Kyiv Theater). Together, these works illuminate the cultural figures and movements that have shaped France’s artistic landscape. This year’s selection also features stories of young characters discovering the importance of tradition, culture, and family. Dounia reconnects with her Syrian heritage while embracing her friends’ French-Canadian and Indigenous cultures in Dounia, The Great White North, and Totone seeks to preserve his family’s way of life by learning the craft of cheesemaking in Holy Cow.
Come in from the cold for six days of thought-provoking films, and travel across space and time to witness stories of resilience, freedom, creativity and friendship.
https://uwm.edu/french-film-festival/

Circolo Italiano
2026-02-25 16:30 - 17:30 | Curtin 766
Circolo Italiano brings together learners and lovers of Italian language and culture for regular social and conversational gatherings. It meets every second and fourth Wednesday of the month.
February 11, February 25, March 11, April 8, April 22, May 6
Curtin Hall, Room 766
4:30–5:30pm

Japanese Speech Contest
2026-02-27 17:00 - 18:00 | Curtin 175, WI
Join us for the Japanese Program’s annual speech contest!
Support contestants from elementary to university students as they compete for prizes and scholarships!

Peace Corps Information Session
2026-03-05 15:00 - 17:00 | Vogel Hall 170
Join us during Peace Corps Week to meet our regional Peace Corps Recruiter, learn about the Peace Corps Prep Certificate program at UWM, take the Peace Corps quiz and take home some merch!
For more information, contact Christine Wolf at cawolf@uwm.edu.
March 5, 2026
3:00–5:00 pm
Vogel Hall 170

Educator Workshop: Teaching Heritage Language Learners, Practical Strategies for Language Instructors
2026-03-07 09:00 - 12:30 | UWM Welcome Center, Room 107, 2100 E. Kenwood Blvd, Milwaukee, 35211, United States
Learn more about the Educator Workshop: Teaching Heritage Language Learners, Practical Strategies for Language Instructors.
Saturday, March 7
9:00 am – 12:30 pm CT
UW-Milwaukee Welcome Center, Room 107
2100 E. Kenwood Blvd., Milwaukee WI 53211
Register for the workshop here. Registration is capped at 30 educators.
Deadlines:
February 6: UWM priority deadline (Free – faculty, students, staff)
February 20: All educators registration deadline ($10 for non-UWM)
In this interactive workshop, teachers of Spanish who have Heritage Language Learners (HLLs) in their classes will explore practical, research-informed strategies for navigating the language classroom and supporting their students across a variety of classroom contexts. Participants will learn how to get to know their students more deeply by identifying students’ previous language experience and proficiency levels. We will also discuss multiculturalism, and how teachers can learn about, validate, and appropriately inquire about students’ traditions and experiences. Additionally, we will reflect on how teacher biases and personal experiences can shape classroom expectations and interactions. Finally, attendees will apply these ideas to hands-on examples and case studies from real classroom scenarios.
Instructors of Spanish from all levels are welcome, and we look forward to hearing about your thoughts and experiences and working collectively to improve the classroom for our students.

World Languages and Cultures Speaker Series
2026-03-13 12:00 - 13:00 | Curtin Hall 118
Diana Aldrete: From Poetry to Protest: The Circulation of a Poetics of Justice in Mexican Women’s Writing and Activism
March 18
Noon-1:00 pm
CRT 118
This talk examines how a language of justice circulates from poetic writing into activist movements and public discourse in Mexico, through an analysis of Susana Chávez Castillo’s Primera Tormenta and Arminé Arjona’s Juárez, tan lleno de sol y desolado. Drawing on Chávez Castillo’s work, initially circulated online prior to her feminicidal murder in 2011, it traces how her poetic discourse of justice—including the phrases “Ni una más” and “Ni una menos,” now central to anti-feminicidal movements—entered public and political spaces. The talk then turns to Arjona’s poetry, dedicated to the dead women of Juárez, whose dissemination through the Movimiento Acción Poética brought her work into the city streets. Together, these cases illuminate how a poetics of justice transcends traditional literary boundaries to become part of the public discourse, positioning Mexico as a generative space in which women’s writing actively shapes the language of resistance.
Diana Aldrete is an Assistant Professor of Language and Culture Studies and Human Rights, as well as a visual artist based in Hartford, CT. She is a recipient of the 2025-26 American Postdoctoral Research Fellowship from the American Association of University Women (AAUW) which supports the completion of her manuscript, Between Land and Death: Women Writing for Justice in Mexico. The project examines how literary production by contemporary Mexican women writers enters the political dialogue on anti-feminicidal violence, questioning justice and linking literature to political discourse and activism. Her scholarly and creative work explore themes of violence, erasure, and ecological interconnection across literary and visual media. She has published poetry and short fiction, and her visual art has been exhibited in several venues throughout Connecticut. Her first solo exhibition, Invisible Suffering (2022), supported by the Free Center’s “Independent Artist Fund,” interrogates the historical resonance of unseen suffering in the year 2020. Her current art project, Ech.o Locations, examines the ecologies of the Great Lakes and the relationships between water, land, and their human and non-human inhabitants. Integrating field research, visual anthropology, sound studies, and visual art (photography and painting), the project underscores the urgent need to protect freshwater ecosystems.

Russian Speaking Table & Discussion
2026-03-24 15:30 - 17:30 | UWM Gasthaus in the Union
Spring semester 2026
Russian Speaking Table and Discussion
Fridays 3:30-5:00pm at the UWM Gasthaus in the Union

Latin American Film Series: As Primeiras
2026-03-31 19:00 - 21:00 | UWM Union Cinema, 2200 East Kenwood Blvd, 2200 East Kenwood Blvd, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 53211, United States
World Languages and Cultures is pleased to co-sponsor the 47th annual Latin American Film Series. Join us for the screening of The First Women (As Primeiras), directed by Adriana Yañez (Brazil, 2024).
Tuesday, March 31, 7-9pm
UWM Union Cinema
Free and open to the public

Latin American Film Series: El perro que no calla
2026-04-01 19:00 - 21:00 | UWM Union Cinema, 2200 East Kenwood Blvd, 2200 East Kenwood Blvd, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 53211, United States
World Languages and Cultures is pleased to co-sponsor the 47th annual Latin American Film Series. Join us for the screening of El perro que no calla (The Dog Who Wouldn’t Be Quiet), directed by Ana Katz (Argentina, 2020).
Wednesday, April 1, 7-9pm
UWM Union Cinema
Free and open to the public

Latin American Film Series: No nos moverán
2026-04-02 19:00 - 21:15 | UWM Union Cinema, 2200 East Kenwood Blvd, 2200 East Kenwood Blvd, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 53211, United States
World Languages and Cultures is pleased to co-sponsor the 47th annual Latin American Film Series. Join us for the screening of No nos moverán (We Shall Not Be Moved), directed by Pierre Saint-Martin Castellanos (2024, Mexico). Followed by a virtual Q&A with the director, moderated by WLC Prof. Kristin Pitt.
Thursday, April 2, 7-9:15pm
UWM Union Cinema
Free and open to the public

Latin American Film Series: Perfume de gardenias
2026-04-03 19:00 - 21:15 | UWM Union Cinema, 2200 East Kenwood Blvd, 2200 East Kenwood Blvd, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 53211, United States
World Languages and Cultures is pleased to co-sponsor the 47th annual Latin American Film Series. Join us for the screening of Perfume de gardenias (Gardenia Perfume), directed by Gisela Rosario Ramos (Macha Colón), (2021, Puerto Rico and Colombia).
Friday, April 3, 7-9:15pm
UWM Union Cinema
Free and open to the public

Latin American Film Series: El vistante
2026-04-04 16:00 - 18:00 | UWM Union Cinema, 2200 East Kenwood Blvd, 2200 East Kenwood Blvd, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 53211, United States
World Languages and Cultures is pleased to co-sponsor the 47th annual Latin American Film Series. Join us for the screening of El visitante (The Visitor), directed by Martín Boulocq (Bolivia, 2020).
Saturday, April 4, 4-6pm
UWM Union Cinema
Free and open to the public

Latin American Film Series: Tiguere
2026-04-04 18:00 - 20:00 | UWM Union Cinema, 2200 East Kenwood Blvd, 2200 East Kenwood Blvd, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 53211, United States
World Languages and Cultures is pleased to co-sponsor the 47th annual Latin American Film Series. Join us for the screening of Tiguere (Tiger), directed by José María Cabral (2024, Dominican Republic).
Saturday, April 4, 6-8pm
UWM Union Cinema
Free and open to the public

Healing and Cultural Restoration Through Language
2026-04-08 17:00 - 19:00 | Sandburg Hall, Flicks Room
The panel brings together individuals whose journeys with language reflects resilience, identity, and belonging and healing through reclaiming language, learning language, and sustaining language. Panelists will share how reconnecting with language has shaped their cultural restoration, personal healing, and sense of community. Following the discussion, attendees will participate in guided table conversations to reflect on their own linguistic identities and experiences.
April 8, 2026 from 5-7pm
Sandburg Flicks Room
Click here to register for the event.

Italian Film Festival: Come Fratelli
2026-04-10 18:00 - 20:00 | UWM Union Cinema, 2200 East Kenwood Blvd, 2200 East Kenwood Blvd, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 53211, United States
World Languages and Cultures is pleased to co-sponsor the 2026 Italian Film Festival USA in Milwaukee. Join us for the screening of Come Fratelli (Like Brothers), directed by Antonio Padovan (2025). US premiere.
Friday, April 10, 6-8pm
UWM Union Cinema
Free and open to the public

Italian Film Festival: Gioia Mia
2026-04-10 20:00 - 22:00 | UWM Union Cinema, 2200 East Kenwood Blvd, 2200 East Kenwood Blvd, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 53211, United States
World Languages and Cultures is pleased to co-sponsor the 2026 Italian Film Festival USA in Milwaukee. Join us for the screening of Gioia Mia (Sweetheart), directed by Margherita Spampinato (2025).
Friday, April 10, 8-10pm
UWM Union Cinema
Free and open to the public

Italian Film Festival: Per te
2026-04-11 14:30 - 16:45 | UWM Union Cinema, 2200 East Kenwood Blvd, 2200 East Kenwood Blvd, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 53211, United States
World Languages and Cultures is pleased to co-sponsor the 2026 Italian Film Festival USA in Milwaukee. Join us for the screening of Per te (For You), directed by Alessandro Aronadio (2025).
Saturday, April 11, 2:30-4:45 pm
UWM Union Cinema
Free and open to the public

Italian Film Festival: Napoli-New York
2026-04-11 17:00 - 19:15 | UWM Union Cinema, 2200 East Kenwood Blvd, 2200 East Kenwood Blvd, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 53211, United States
World Languages and Cultures is pleased to co-sponsor the 2026 Italian Film Festival USA in Milwaukee. Join us for the screening of Napoli-New York, directed by Gabriele Salvatores (2024).
Saturday, April 11, 5-7:15 pm
UWM Union Cinema
Free and open to the public

Italian Film Festival: La vita va così
2026-04-11 19:30 - 21:30 | UWM Union Cinema, 2200 East Kenwood Blvd, 2200 East Kenwood Blvd, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 53211, United States
World Languages and Cultures is pleased to co-sponsor the 2026 Italian Film Festival USA in Milwaukee. Join us for the screening of La vita va così (Life is Life), directed by Riccardo Milani (2025).
Saturday, April 11, 7:30-9:30pm
UWM Union Cinema
Free and open to the public

Italian Film Festival: Cinque Secondi
2026-04-11 19:30 - 21:30 | UWM Union Cinema, 2200 East Kenwood Blvd, 2200 East Kenwood Blvd, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 53211, United States
World Languages and Cultures is pleased to co-sponsor the 2026 Italian Film Festival USA in Milwaukee. Join us for the screening of Cinque Secondi (Five Seconds), directed by Paolo Virzi (2025).
Sunday, April 12, 1:30-3:30pm
UWM Union Cinema
Free and open to the public

Italian Film Festival: Tre Ciotole
2026-04-12 15:30 - 17:30 | UWM Union Cinema, 2200 East Kenwood Blvd, 2200 East Kenwood Blvd, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 53211, United States
World Languages and Cultures is pleased to co-sponsor the 2026 Italian Film Festival USA in Milwaukee. Join us for the screening of Tre Ciotole (Three Goodbyes), directed by Isabel Coixet (2025).
Sunday, April 12, 3:30-5:30pm
UWM Union Cinema
Free and open to the public

Italian Film Festival: Le Assaggiatrici
2026-04-12 18:00 - 20:30 | UWM Union Cinema, 2200 East Kenwood Blvd, 2200 East Kenwood Blvd, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 53211, United States
World Languages and Cultures is pleased to co-sponsor the 2026 Italian Film Festival USA in Milwaukee. Join us for the screening of Le Assaggiatrici (The Tasters), directed by Silvio Soldini (2025).
Sunday, April 12, 6-8:30pm
UWM Union Cinema
Free and open to the public

WLC Speaker Series: Davorin J. Odrcic
2026-04-17 12:00 - 13:00 | Curtin Hall 175
“The Law Behind Mass ICE Arrests and Detention”
Davorin J. Odrcic
April 17, 12-1 pm
WLC Speaker Series, CRT 175
Since January of 2025 the manner and intensity of ICE arrests and detention have changed dramatically compared to prior administrations. Attorney Odrcic will explain the legal underpinnings to these significant events in immigration law and policy.

Centering Indigenous Knowledges in Contemporary Brazil
2026-04-21 16:00 - 17:30
Tuesday, April 21
4-5:30pm CDT
Zoom webinar
The UWM Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and the UWM Electa Quinney Institute present this webinar, featuring WLC’s Prof. Susana Antunes as one of the speakers. Learn more and register for the event.

Luso-Brasilidades: Práticas e Trânsitos (Live Streem)
2026-04-23 13:00
Luso-Brasilidades: Práticas e Trânsitos
“Olhares de Viajantes”
Thursday, April 23
1:00pm
A round table, in Portuguese, with Susana Antunes (UWM), Ana Comandulli (UNIRIO/RGPL), and Paulo de Assunção (USJT), hosted by the Real Gabinete Português de Leitura, Rio de Janeiro. Watch the livestream here.

South Korea’s Rise at the Intersection of Globalization & Deglobalization
2026-04-24 09:45 - 17:00 | KIRC 1150
Korean Studies Conference
South Korea’s Rise at the Intersection of Globalization & Deglobalization
Friday, April 24
9:45 am-5:00 pm
KIRC 1150
Free and open to the public
Opening remarks, 9:45am
Panel One, 10:00-11:45 am
Korea’s Future at The Intersection of Globalization & Deglobalization
Chair: Terence Roehrig (UW-Madison)
Presenters:

Wonjae Hwang (University of Tennessee): How Domestic and International Dynamics Shape Korea’s Strategic Responses to the Changing Globalization Landscape
Sanghwan Lee (Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Korea): Stalled Globalization and U.S.-China Hegemonic Rivalry: Korean Implications and South Korea’s Strategy in the New Cold War
Shale Horowitz (UW-Milwaukee): The Future of U.S. Korean Relations
Dohee Kim (Korean National Assembly Research Service, Korea): South Korea’s Strategic Choices Amid the Paradigm Shift in the Global Order

Panel Two, 1:15-3:00 pm
The Korean Wave
Chair: Hong Min Park (UW-Milwaukee)
Presenters:

Dalyong Jin (Simon Fraser University, Canada): Diasporic Cultural Production in the Digital Platform Era: A Shifting Paradigm in Hallyu Politics
Seunghee Lee (Southern Illinois University): K-Wave: The Evolution of K-Fashion and Its Global Impact
Sooho Song (UW-Milwaukee): Internationalization of the Korean Wave
Uk Heo (UW-Milwaukee): Is the Korean Wave Korea’s Soft Power?

Panel Three, 3:15 pm-5:00 pm
Domestic Politics, Political Economy, and Foreign Relations
Chair: Shale Horowitz (UW-Milwaukee)
Presenters:

Yong-Chool Ha (University of Washington): Identity and National Security: A Neglected Dimension in South Korea’s Strategic Thinking
Kwangho Jung (Seoul National University, Korea): A Holistic Design and Governance of National Economic Development in South Korea
Seongyi Yun (Kyung Hee University, Korea): The Dual Crisis of Democracy: Deinstitutionalized Representation and Rapid Digital Transformation in South Korea
Terence Roehrig (UW – Madison): South Korea – China Maritime Disputes: Troubled Waters in the Yellow Sea

World Languages and Cultures Speaker Series
2026-04-24 12:00 - 13:00 | Curtin Hall 118
Talk by Leah Leone Anderson
A Translation of His Own? Borges and Virginia Woolf
On commission, Jorge Luis Borges translated A Room of One’s Own into Spanish in 1936 and Orlando in 1937. Both translations had tremendous impacts among Spanish language readers who came to celebrate the feminist rhetoric of the former and the narrative innovations of the latter. Comparative analyses of original and translation reveal that important aspects of these acclaimed features were in fact attenuated by an author/translator whose own narrative style was diametrically opposed to that of Virginia Woolf.
Dr. Leah Leone Anderson is a translator from Spanish and Portuguese and a scholar of Borges, translation, feminism and care ethics. Her book Borges’s Creative Infidelities: Translating Joyce, Woolf and Faulkner was published by Bloomsbury in 2024 and was recently released in paperback. She is a graduate of UWM’s MA in Language, Literature and Translation program.
