French Linguist to Deliver Phi Beta Kappa Lifto Amundson Lecture
Kuiper is an associate professor of French, academic director for International Student Success and coordinator of the Food Studies Certificate Program at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. His research focuses on using linguistic corpora to consider how language about food is used and perceived in English and French. Following Kuiper’s talk, Alpha Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa will initiate new members to the nation’s oldest academic honor society.
The Lifto Amundson Lecture was established in 1988 by Marjorie Lifto Amundson and her son, Loren H. Amundson, M.D., of Sioux Falls. Marjorie Lifto was among the first members of USD’s Alpha Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, which was formed in 1926. Loren Amundson (USD School of Medicine, 1954; Distinguished Alumni Award, 2004) was also elected to membership in the chapter. Loren died late last month at the age of 87. He was the founding chair of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of South Dakota School of Medicine (now Sanford School of Medicine), served as the initial director of the South Dakota Office of Rural Health, and was a member of advisory boards for a number of national medical and health-related groups and organizations.
The Lifto Amundson Lectureship allows Phi Beta Kappa to bring distinguished speakers from the liberal arts and sciences disciplines to visit USD each year and share their research and perspectives with the community. Kuiper is co-hosted by the French & Francophone Studies Program and the Department of Modern Languages & Linguistics at USD. He will meet with language students and guest lecture in classes such as Linguistic Diversity in the Francophone World during his visit. The lecture takes place in association with the ceremony during which USD’s Alpha Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest academic honor society, initiates new student members who have excelled in the traditional liberal arts and sciences. USD is the only institution of higher learning in the state granted a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa.
For more information about the talk or Phi Beta Kappa, please contact the USD College of Arts & Sciences, 605-677-5221.