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Marianna Brown Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Carnegie Mellon University

March 2020
Dietrich College News
On Humanity: Language Learning in Real Life
Rémi Adam van Compernolle explores sociopragmatics — the roles that language use and language learning play in everyday social practices. In this episode, he describes how he studies second language development in classroom settings and through technology. A faculty member in Second Language Acquisition and French and Francophone Studies, van Compernolle once thought he’d study music performance or communication design, but a human behavior course helped him to discover where his true passion lie.

Largest Genetic Study Points to Autism Culprits
A recent study co-authored by Kathryn Roeder, UPMC Professor of Statistics and Life Sciences, brought together the largest genetic dataset to identify an additional 53 genes directly linked with symptoms of autism. The work opens new pathways to explore during the diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorder.

Student Spotlight: Shannon Werntz and the Girls of Steel
Shannon Werntz, a sophomore Decisions Science major, mentors a local all-girls robotics team that is part of the FIRST robotics competition (FRC). “Being on an FRC team completely shaped me throughout high school, so it almost felt required for me to pay that forward and help provide that experience to these girls who are in the same position that I was in four years ago,” Werntz said. 

Alumni Spotlight: Tru-ly Inspiring
Terry Babcock-Lumish  (DC 1997), a former Truman Scholar, is the newest executive secretary for The Truman Foundation. Babcock-Lumish explains how the scholarship opened new opportunities that expanded what was possible for her both personally and professionally.

Celebrating the Revelatory
Upcoming Alumni Events
April 17 to 18, 2020
Please click “Advanced Search,” select “Dietrich 50” and click “submit” to view and register for the Dietrich College’s 50 th  Anniversary Events. 


April 30 to May 3, 2020
Carnegie Mellon University
Fee: $6,500, Alumni receive a 10% discount
Dietrich College in the News
Class Notes
Find out what's new with Dietrich College students and alumni, including  Emily Kennedy  (DC 2012),  David Koehn  (DC 1990),  William E. Dunstan  (DC 1975) and  Taruna Emani (DC 2020)   in  Class Notes .


Network with other alumni in the Dietrich College Alumni LinkedIn Group .
Personal Mentions
Read about news and accomplishments from the college's faculty and staff, including  Alex John London ,  Mame-Fatou Niang ,  Kevin Zollman ,  Joel Greenhouse, Mishaela DiNino Charles Wu , and  Jasmine Kwasa  in this issue's  Personal Mentions

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