Spotlight
Spanish Florida Expert
| USF St. Petersburg
One of the country's leading experts on the history of the Spanish colonial experience in Florida is joining the Florida Studies Program at USFSP.
The appointment of J. Michael Francis comes as Florida prepares next year to mark the 500th anniversary of Ponce de Leon's arrival in Florida.
Francis will hold the newly-created Hough Family Endowed Chair in Florida Studies at USFSP. Among other things, he plans to offer a course on Spanish paleography, one of his specialties, designed to teach students how to read original Spanish handwritten documents from the 16th Century. He hopes to take several students to Spain next summer for archival research at the Archivo General de Indias, in Seville.
He also plans to lead two trips to Spain for the Florida Humanities Council that will be open to the public and highlight Spain's ties to Florida.
Frank Biafora, dean of the USFSP College of Arts and Sciences, says, "I am grateful for the generosity of the Hough Family for an endowment that will benefit generations of students."