Weatherford, OK – Dr. Tugba Sevin delivered a Presidential Lecture at John Cabot University in Rome in June 2026 following a personal invitation from then-President Franco Pavoncello. Sevin is a professor of Spanish and Italian and World Languages coordinator at Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU). She shared her research on Mediterranean literature and culture with an international academic audience as a member of SWOSU’s Department of Language and Literature.

Her lecture, “Crossings of the Sea: Cultural and Literary Connections Across the Mediterranean,” examined the literary and cultural connections among Mediterranean communities. She drew on her expertise in Spanish and Italian studies to trace how languages, stories, and traditions moved across borders and coastlines. She discussed the shared cultural heritage that emerged from those exchanges and its relevance today.

Founded in 1972, John Cabot University is an American liberal arts university in Rome. Its Presidential Lectures bring visiting scholars and other experts to campus to share their work with students, faculty, and the wider academic community. Sevin’s invitation provided an opportunity to bring her work at SWOSU into those conversations.

“It was a tremendous honor to be invited to speak at John Cabot University,” Sevin said. “The Presidential Lecture series carries such prestige, and to represent this research on an international stage, in a city as steeped in history as Rome, was a truly humbling experience.”

Students in SWOSU’s Department of Language and Literature study how language, literature, and communication shape people’s understanding of one another. The department offers minors in Spanish and World Languages and a World Languages certificate alongside its programs in literature, writing, and English education.

For more information about SWOSU’s Department of Language and Literature, visit https://www.swosu.edu/undergraduate/language-literature/index.php.

About Southwestern Oklahoma State University

Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU) was founded in 1901 and offers more than 100 undergraduate and graduate programs across three locations in Weatherford, Sayre, and Yukon. The university serves more than 5,000 students and prides itself on affordability, small class sizes, and over 200 faculty and staff committed to helping students achieve their academic and personal goals.

For more information about Southwestern Oklahoma State University, visit www.swosu.edu.

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