Congratulations to our Recently Promoted Faculty

The SLLC congratulates our faculty on their recent promotions

The SLLC is proud to announce that five members of our faculty have earned well-deserved promotions. These advancements recognize their exceptional contributions to teaching, research, and our academic community.

These promotions are a testament to the dedication and excellence these individuals bring every day to their respective research fields, their classrooms, and SLLC.  We would like to extend our sincere thanks to all those who served on the promotion subcommittees or otherwise supported our most recent promotees throughout this long process.

Join us in congratulating the following faculty members on their new appointments effective August 23, 2026.:

Associate Professor with Tenure

Anny Gaul, Arabic

Anny Gaul is a cultural historian whose research and teaching interests lie at the intersections of food, gender, and culture in the Arabic-speaking world. She is the author of Nile Nightshade: An Egyptian Culinary History of the Tomato and co-editor of Making Levantine Cuisine: Modern Foodways of the Eastern Mediterranean (University of Texas Press, 2021). She is also one of three finalists for the James Beard Media Award in the Reference, History, and Scholarship category for Nile Nightshade. The awards will be announced this coming Saturday.

Matt Thomas Miller, Persian and Roshan Institute for Persian Studies 

Matthew Miller work explores Sufism, the history of the body and affect, modern Iranian revolutionary writings, and digital humanities. His first book, Feeling Like Lovers: Affect in Medieval Sufism (University of California, 2026), explores the central role of affect, emotion, and feeling in premodern Sufi epistemology and subject formation. Matt directs the Roshan Initiative in Persian Digital Humanities and the Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Persian Digital Library, and co-leads the Open Islamicate Texts and Persian Manuscript Initiatives. His research has been supported by grants from the Mellon Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. 

Promotion to Full Professor 

Ana Patricia Rodríguez, Spanish

Ana Patricia Rodríguez specializes in Latin American, Central American, and U.S. Latina/o literatures and cultures. Her research spans diaspora studies, gender, violence, and community-based education. Her latest book, Avocado Dreams Remaking Salvadoran Life and Art in the Washington, D.C. Metro Area, was recently released by The University of Arizona Press.

Andy Schonebaum, Chinese 

Andrew Schonebaum's research interests are in vernacular entertainment, encyclopedia, natural science, and daily life in China.  His book, Observing the Unseen: Curiosity and Common Knowledge in Late Imperial China was recently published by the University of Washington Press.  

Promotion to Principal Lecturer

Jungjung Lee-Heitz, Chinese

Jungjung Lee-Heitz is an ACTFL-certified Chinese Oral Proficiency Tester. Her professional focus includes standards-aligned curricular development and student support. 
 

Congratulations!