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A Bi-Annual Newsletter Published by Foreign Languages at Salem State UNIVERSITY salemstate.edu/languages Volume 11 • Issue 1 • Spring 2014

Study Abroad and SSU as Preparation for the Fulbright Experience INSIDE THIS ISSUE Anna Andrews, alumna 2012 Study Abroad/ Fulbright Experience page 1 When I was a second year student Departmental News page 3 at SSU I joined The Italian Club page 3 the Sociology Department on their Faculty Highlights page 4 trip to Ireland. I had Don’t Lose Your Skills never been away This Summer page 4 from my family alone because I grew NEMLA 2014 page 5 up with a chronic, Seal of Biliteracy page 5 incurable illness that I still have today. But El agotamiento/Exhaustion page 6 Prof. Arthur Gould Scholarships page 6 told my mom that I’d be fine and to let me Costa Rica page 6 see the world. That Translation page 8 trip changed my life, I came home and knew HOPE Award page 8 I had to study abroad. El valor de la comunicación page 9 The question was: where? Microagressions page 9 I read a book called The 3% Problem page 10 The Unbearable Lightness of Being Awards and Graduates page 10 by the Czech author Service Awards page 11 Milan Kundera, and the book talked to me before class or after when I went on field Study Abroad page 12 about what it was like to live in Prague trips with my study abroad friends. during the Russian occupation. I read Our travels included London where Editors: about the strength of the Czech people I got to see the Olympic stadiums and Michele Dávila and I knew that they would accept who walk alongside the changing of the guard. Kenneth Reeds I was. So I found a program and hit the Then, on the weekends I went with the road in the summer of 2011 to go learn group to Berlin, Germany; Vienna, Austria; Web Publication: the Czech language at one of the oldest and Krakow, Poland. I desperately wanted ssclinguafranca.wordpress.com universities in , Charles University. to see Auschwitz as a Holocaust historian, I lived in Prague and it changed my entire and the trip was worth the cost and the JOIN SALEM STATE’S life. I found out just how capable I was wait. I was really sick the day we traveled LANGUAGE CLUBS’ MAILING of getting around when lost even when there and I was outside in 90 degree LISTS & FACEBOOK GROUPS I didn’t know the language yet, I was weather, not having been able to eat for Visit This Page: able to communicate across the lines of days, and I was walking around barely http://tinyurl.com/ssulanguageclubs verbal and written communication with able to stand up and appreciating how Czech citizens and form bonds. Every day hard it is for a free person to take in what Foreign Languages brought a new challenge and I went to Auschwitz really is, never mind a prisoner. Tel: 978.542.6258 bed smiling and dreaming of what new I left feeling more incensed then ever and [email protected] place I would discover in the morning more driven to dedicate myself to the continued on page 2 1 intensive weeks in Bulgarian language, customs, ¿Qué pasa? Quoi de neuf? Novità? Department News Abounds history, teaching, and TOEFL preparation. After I completed that and really got to know my fellow Department Chair Election: General Education: We have proposed numerous language and culture courses for the Fulbrighters I again hit the road, packing a small Congratulations to Dr. Michele C. Dávila, new World Cultures (WC) requirement, literature courses for the Creative Expression LL Bean backpack and flying to Istanbul where I who was elected as the next chair of and Appreciation (CEA) gen education category, and level 2 and level 3 writing courses stayed up all night waiting to head to Croatia. It was the department! A big thank you to Dr. in French, Italian and Spanish. In addition, the department will offer two First-Year amazing to see the sun rise over Istanbul and set Elizabeth Blood for her hard work and Seminars next fall. over Zagreb in the same day! I backpacked from leadership as chair over the past six Croatia down into Bosnia and Herzegovina, down years. Dr. Blood is looking forward to Chinese Studies: This year, we submitted proposals for a new culture course on , to Montenegro, over to Albania, up into Kosovo, reengaging in her teaching of French and as well as an interdisciplinary minor in Chinese Studies combining Mandarin Chinese down into Macedonia, and back into Bulgaria in a in her research on Québec and Franco- language (12 credits) with interdisciplinary electives (6 credits) chosen from courses on little under two weeks. Those two weeks taught me America. Dr. Dávila will officially take the Chinese culture, history, politics, philosophy or art. If approved, this new minor will be more about myself than years of self-reflection ever reins on July 1st 2014. available beginning fall 2015. could. I climbed mountains in the national park in Croatia, I walked the “Tunnel of Hope” in Bosnia with Certificate in Translation: We have been developing a certificate program inT ranslation new friends that I made along the way. I climbed an that we are very excited to submit to the University for review this spring. This program extreme and ancient (and dangerous) fort with an combines grammar, writing and translation courses in English and in a target language 80-year-old Australian and a 60-year-old Spaniard (French, Italian or Spanish) with an elective course chosen from one of the professional cheering each other on to the top in Montenegro. I translator’s key fields of expertise (Criminal Justice, Communications, Political Science, got lost in Albania and found myself in a beautiful Business, Social Work, IDS/Pre-Law, Biology/Pre-Med or Literature). The certificate market watching performers dance while skyping program will give students the skills and knowledge they will need to become freelance with my friend’s niece so she could see her father’s translators or to pursue credentials to become a professional translator. All courses in home country, I embraced the “New World” that the program will be able to be double-dipped with a student’s major or minor or general Kosovo is building, and I made friends with a high education curriculum. If approved, this program will also be available beginning in fall school student in Macedonia on their Independence 2015. Stay tuned! day, while exploring the spice market and learning about the shared culture between Macedonia and Bulgaria. My life is a constant adventure over here. Some days I can’t remember how to ask for “bananas” THE ITALIAN CLUB goes to… Tuscany! at the local market, while others I have full On March 26 the Italian Club hosted a cultural event entitled “Under the Tuscan Sun!” conversations with my neighbors. I teach 450 high Among other Tuscan delicacies, the newly elected President Caitlin O’Toole and the school students while running after-school programs Treasurer Marta Marucci introduced members to “La Panzanella,” and “I Cantuccini.” and a research project. These students really need Thank You Amanda Minervini While the oblong-shaped almond biscuits are very popular in the US, la panzanella is a help to learn English because they desperately Our department has been fortunate to Tuscan salad made of chunks of soaked bread, tomatoes, onions, basil, cucumbers and want to escape their economy. It’s a truly rewarding count Dr. Amanda Minervini as part of olives, dressed with olive oil and vinegar. Buon appetito! experience as they welcome me into their lives and our faculty for the last two years. Dr. share intimate details as if I was family. And when Minervini’s hard work and endearing human rights movement. I got a virus at the beginning of October students character made her a popular professor After I traveled with my mother and sister who came over would ask doctors they knew what I should eat (as I was in both Italian and German. As of this to “move me home” and we did the “Sound of Music” tour in allergic to the medications that eased the symptoms) and then summer she will be teaching at Colorado Salzburg (my name is Julianna Andrews, people always joke I they would prepare me the food and bring it to me. College in Colorado Springs, CO. Their was named for Julie Andrews!), took in the “Museum of Terror” Living over here has opened my eyes to just how competent fortunate gain is most certainly our loss. in Budapest to really see the horrors of the Russian occupation, I am. It wasn’t just a “fluke” during study abroad. I truly can be Best of luck, Amanda! and enjoyed a train ride through Slovakia back into Prague successful by just being open-minded. Everything is different where I was sad to leave my new home. But I wasn’t content over here and instead of calling it “weird” I think “How New Faculty: A warm welcome just to stay in America anymore and fighting for human rights cool! Let’s try.” You can’t be ethnocentric while abroad, and I to Prof. Karim Mouhib, who is our newest abroad had become a calling. have my undergraduate trips and study abroad to thank for Arabic instructor. A native of Casablanca, I joined Prof. Avi Chomsky’s trip to Cuba and learned to making me so open-minded and able to adapt quickly in every Morocco, Prof. Mouhib holds a master’s appreciate what it is to make something out of nothing as the environment over here. degree in linguistics and foreign Cubans do, and I began to research countries that I could move Over the course of the rest of my stay I will go to Romania language teaching methodology from to safely for my health, but also be able to make an impact. for Halloween at Dracula’s castle, spend Christmas travelling UMass Boston where he also teaches During my first year in my graduate program at UMASS through Zurich, Belgium, France and Germany staying with Arabic courses part-time. He has already Boston, I decided to apply for a Fulbright in Bulgaria. I had a friends I made who did their undergraduate degrees at SSU as organized a Moroccan cultural event on professor at SSU in undergrad, Dr. Severin Kitanov, who was international students! I will attend the Russian Olympics, see campus and is planning a spring break from Bulgaria and would talk to my classes about their issues Italy at carnival time, backpack the Baltics (Estonia-Ukraine) for study-travel trip to Morocco next year! with freedom. In time I researched issues with education and my 24th birthday, see the canonization of two saints in Rome, abuse and decided I had to go there. I applied to Fulbright to interview in Scotland for Doctoral programs, visit Greece and Curriculum Development: The teach at an high school while conducting take a hot air balloon ride in Turkey, and finish off my travels department was very busy this year research and after months of interviews, applications, and backpacking from Finland to Amsterdam with a Fulbright friend. revising courses for the new general waiting I was picked! The world is a huge place and I want to hit all 195 recognized education curriculum and creating So here I am. I moved to Bulgaria in August 2013 to take two and unrecognized nations, after this there will be 153 to go!! exciting new courses and programs! 2 3 Faculty Highlights How Not to Lose Your Language Skills NEMLA 2014 • Dr. Elizabeth Blood has recently this Summer! Dr. Michele C. Dávila completed a new French-language Dr. Elizabeth Blood textbook project focusing on the Salem State University was well culture and history of Québec. Language students know as well as educators that time off from studying a represented at the 2014 Northeast The book, entitled Je me souviens: language makes reengaging in language acquisition that much harder when you Modern Language Association (NEMLA), histoire, culture et littérature du return to it. As the saying goes, if you don’t use it, you lose it. That’s why it is held in Harrisburg, the capital city of Québec francophone, will be important to continue your language studies in the summer, whether you choose to Pennsylvania, with the participation of Dr. published by Georgetown University do so formally—in a course or study abroad program—or on your own. Kristine Doll, Dr. Anna Rocca, Dr. Fátima Press in 2015. If you prefer the structure of the classroom, the department is offering intensive Serra and Dr. Michele C. Dávila. As the elementary and intermediate language courses on campus this summer in all seven new French & Francophone Literatures • Dr. Amanda Minervini’s article on of our language options (Arabic, Chinese, French, German, , Italian, or Spanish), Director, Dr. Rocca organized a special recent political documentaries about as well as advanced and graduate level options in Spanish. For a real immersion event in French in which Franco-American Italy, “Uccidete la democrazia! experience, we also offer short-term study abroad programs in French (Quebec), writers Rhea Côté Robbins and Jeri e Girlfriend in a Coma: il nuovo Italian (Florence) and Spanish (Costa Rica or Spain) that offer six to nine credits at any Theriault read excerpts of their last documentario politico sull’Italia,” level, beginner through advanced. publications. In the picture, from left to is forthcoming in William Hope, If you can’t afford to travel or prefer the informal route, there are many ways to right: Jeri Theriault, Anna Rocca and Rhea Luciana D’Arcangeli, and Silvana engage with authentic language output and keep your brain in language-learning Côté Robbins. Serra’s Un Nuovo Cinema Politico mode: Italiano? (2014). • Foreign films orT V shows: Commit to watching at least one film per week! Make • Dr. Anna Rocca and Dr. Kenneth it a weekly event with a friend or family member. Turn off the subtitles if you are Reeds published the edited an advanced-level language student. You will be amazed at how much you can Why Would We Want a Seal of Biliteracy in Massachusetts? volume Women Taking Risks in understand and will be challenged to learn new words and expressions. There are Dr. Nicole Sherf Contemporary Autobiographical also Spanish-language and French-language TV shows available on basic cable Narratives (UK: Cambridge Scholars in Salem (channel 96 is a French-language TV channel from Quebec), and you can Publishing, 2013). purchase channels in other languages through your cable company, or order TV and Secondary Education (DESE) and an official seal which series on Netflix.T V shows are typically shorter than films, if you are crunched for would be distributed to districts in the Commonwealth who • Dr. Kristine Doll published her first time, and offer a storyline you can follow from one week to the next. oversee the process. The school district would be charged book of poetry, Speak to Me Again with determining the measure for which the level of functional (New York: Feral Press, 2014), and • Online news: Watch video news broadcasts or listen to online news in a foreign language proficiency is documented. T he documentation of was recently notified that her poem language. Watching videos of news broadcasts will help give context to what proficiency could take place through systems that are already “My Friends,” included in the book you are hearing, through images and story titles. Some online news sources, in place in most schools such as Advanced Placement (AP) has been nominated for the Pushcart like Radio France Internationale’s “Les infos en français facile” (rfi.fr), offer news scores, International Baccalaureate scores, SAT II test scores, Prize in Poetry. broadcasts simplified for foreign language learners. or proficiency tests such as we have used in our Department. These proficiency tests, called STAMP and AAPPL, determine • Blog or Online Group: Find a blog in your target language that you read on a • Dr. Michele C. Dávila published a candidate’s level of proficiency based on a nationally-agreed- regular basis or start writing a blog yourself. Alternatively, join a Facebook group the fourth chapter: “Subversions upon scale. like the ones our department sponsors (Spanish Club @ SSU, French Club @ of Motherhood: The Sleuth in With a tradition of strong educational programming in the SSU, Italian Club @ SSU, etc.) where you can read, write, and explore short texts Claudia Piñeiro’s Crime Fiction” state of Massachusetts, the discipline of foreign languages has or links posted by others. in Twenty-First Century Latin been short changed in many ways through lack of funding. American Narrative and Postmodern • Join a Conversation Group (or Create Your Own!): Salem hosts numerous For example, there is no one at the DESE that is charged with Feminism, by editor Gina Ponce conversation groups that are open to anyone in the community. The Richelieu coordinating foreign language education in the state. And did de León (UK: Cambridge Scholars Club of Salem hosts monthly French dinners at the Hawthorne Hotel, an Italian you know that there is no state foreign language graduation Publishing, 2014). conversation group meets regularly at Caffè Graziani on Washington Street, and There is a national movement afoot to strengthen state K-12 requirement? In addition, and most importantly, there is no a Spanish conversation group meets twice a month at the Salem Athenaeum. You foreign language education in which legislation is created to state sponsored assessment system to demonstrate that our • Dr. Anna Rocca chaired two sessions can also search for other language practice groups in your area at MeetUp.com. provide for a Seal on a high school graduate’s diploma that students are able to do what our state Framework outlines for entitled “Franco-American Women Afraid to speak with strangers? Get a group of your classmates together to form attests to their proficiency in English and another language. The graduates. H533 is a cost-effective and easy approach to this and Their ‘Hidden’ Contributions” your own group over the summer! Seal of Biliteracy is so interesting because it documents foreign problem. and “Feminisms in Action in language proficiency by more than just seat time. As we all I spent my March break at the State House working to Literature and the Visual Arts” at • Download Free Language Games or Apps on Your Phone: Search free language know, how many years of a language you happened to take does get this legislative process started. I truly believe that the the 2014 NEMLA in Harisburg, PA, learning apps on Google and you will find numerous options! not necessarily translate to functional ability in the language. Bill would have important implications for our state in the presenting the paper “Activism California, Illinois, Texas, New Mexico, New York, New Jersey and promotion of global trade and economic development. The and Social Art: Women Taking the • Read a book: Check out a novel or collection of short stories from your local Washington have passed legislation creating a Seal of Biliteracy, Seal provides colleges and employers information that would Streets.” library. Read a little bit each day, and read out loud if you can. You will see great and Utah expects to do the same in 2014. be understood statewide regarding the multilingual ability of improvements in your vocabulary and comprehension levels. There is a Bill for a Seal of Biliteracy being considered by the their candidates. The Seal would go a long way to resolving our • Dr. Fátima Serra is the co-editor of Joint Committee on Education in the Massachusetts State House. DESE deficiencies by providing a system to document foreign Remember, learning a language is a lifelong endeavor. Flexing the language the volume Agentes de cambio: It is called H533 “An Act to Promote Global Trade and Economic language proficiency attained statewide as well as a way for muscles in your brain on a regular basis will not only help you to not lose your panoramas cinematográficas de Development through Dual Language and Biliteracy” (you can students to demonstrate their college and career readiness language skills, but will help to improve them over time. Use these strategies to keep España y Latinoamérica en el siglo find it here: https://malegislature.gov/Bills/188/House/H533) in the area of dual or multi language proficiency. Find more learning new words and expressions and to acquire cultural knowledge this summer XXI published by Editorial Pliegos, . The Bill calls for the creation of an Office of Dual Language information about the national Seal of Biliteracy movement and in the future. Madrid, forthcoming. Education Programs within the Department of Elementary here: sealofbiliteracy.org. 4 5 El Agotamiento Scholarships for Study Abroad de Rachel Schmied, student The World Languages and Cultures Department offers Spanish Summer Las horas expiran mientras Study Abroad Scholarships to help our students to study abroad in one of La noche come el día our programs: Costa Rica, Spain, Quebec or Florence. To be considered, Por ventanas bien cerradas students write an essay to explain why they want to study abroad and Insectos tocan su sinfonía learn -or improve- a language. We had two prizes this semester for $250 for the Spanish scholarship to Costa Rica: Kenneth W. Powers III and Jamie Trueno retumba con venganza Desmond. Here in Lingua Franca we have the privilege of publishing one La lluvia cae sin testigo of those winning essays. Enjoy! Flores abren dentro del aguacero Para probar su aptitud de fijo

La luna crecerá y brillará Para la medianoche será revelada Why I want to learn Spanish Las estrellas que escondían su desnudez and go to Costa Rica Se quitarán su ropa nublada Kenneth W. Powers III, student

El viento acaricia las ramas I am not a man who has had an easy time with school. That is not to Y el césped rociado con su resplandecer say I am unintelligent, I just never had my priorities in the right order Sombras se esconden cuando llega crepúsculo; until relatively recently. My story, or rather this chapter of it, began seven Ellas también temen el amanecer. years ago in Vermont, at Champlain College. I had been a business student there for about an hour when I realized it just wasn’t the right path for me. I switched to Liberal Arts and proceeded to flounder for the next Exhaustion several years. I dropped out after my sophomore year and took some time to evaluate my options. I worked in restaurants and temp jobs, just The hours pass away trying to make enough for rent and to feed myself, quickly realizing that as nighttime chokes the light this kind of life was not for me. I enrolled in classes at the Community The insects play their symphony College of Vermont, where I met with more success than during my days at through windows pressed down tight Champlain, but still not enough. You see, while I had realized that I didn’t want to be a businessman, and that I wanted a college education, I still had Thunder rolls with vengeance, no idea what I actually wanted to do with my life. So I dropped out again rain falls without witness after a full academic year and decided to take a job in Yellowstone National Flowers bloom within the downpour Park for the summer. Going to Yellowstone changed my life, and if not for just to prove their fitness that trip, I would not be sitting here typing this right now. speak fluently then immersion is the next logical step.T o spend in Spanish intensive classes, living with a host family, learning Yellowstone made me realize how much I loved to travel, and rekindled a month in Costa Rica, and speak Spanish as much as humanly more about Latin culture in general, and Costa Rica itself is a The moon will wax and shine, my adoration for the written word. As far as I’m concerned, the two best possible would provide unquantifiable benefit to my Spanish unique opportunity I cannot let myself miss. I can get time off by midnight convalesce ways to learn about oneself are to travel and to read. Obviously knowledge speaking ability. Living with a host family would allow me to work without losing my job, settle my bills, get an “apartment The stars who hid their nakedness is gained by reading and traveling, but I’m not talking about general gain cultural enrichment and language improvement that just sitter” and go take an amazing opportunity to push myself far will shed their clouded dress knowledge. The common thread throughout my travels has always been can’t be found in a classroom. I have always been a hands-on closer to fluency than would be possible here, while learning the attempt to understand myself better, and understanding others is the person. The best way for me to learn is to just get in there and about a culture and region of which I know very little. While I Wind caresses branches first step to understanding yourself.T o read a book is to put yourself into start trying. I certainly would not be in a position to do this if have had a unique chance to learn about many of the diverse and grass made bright with dew the mind of the author, and to imagine the landscape and characters is not for the years of classroom Spanish education, but I am at cultures of Central and South America, I know relatively little Shadows hide as twilight arrives; nothing if not traveling within the confines of your own mind.T raveling a point in my learning that requires a bit more if I can hope to about Costa Rica. they dread the sunrise too. makes you reevaluate yourself, because when you just up and leave get to the next step. Confidence in my speech and the ability to The world gets smaller and smaller every day. I stay up your comfort zone, by yourself, you discover how you actually cope with quickly call Spanish to mind is something that requires practice to date on the comings and goings of nearly all of my South difficult situations and different personalities.Y our safety net, whether more than anything else, and there’s no substitute for listening American friends with Facebook, and I can text them using a family or friends, disappears, and you either build up a new one or hope to and speaking with a native speaker. Spanish classes tend to $.99 app on my phone. The USA isn’t the center of the world you don’t fall. teach a more formal Spanish than is generally spoken and your any more than the earth is the center of the solar system, and My experience in Yellowstone led me to take another job in Park City, vocabulary tends to identify you as a non-native speaker as pretending otherwise benefits no one. I want to see a world Utah, at Deer Valley ski resort. One of my favorite things about being quickly as your accent. Learning more colloquial Spanish would where we’re all just people. Our differences can bring us there was the number of international employees they had. I met so enable me to speak more naturally. together rather than driving us apart, but only if we accept and many amazing people! I dated a pretty young woman from Argentina, Realistically, this is the only kind of study abroad program cherish them. We no longer live in a world where one language partied with Peruvians, cooked with Colombians, skied with Chileans and I can do right now. My professor told me about it at the is enough. There was a time when reaching the other side of Venezuelans, and all the while was envious of the fact that they were all beginning of the semester, and I haven’t been able to get the the globe was a life threatening endeavor. Now you can sleep bilingual. All I could think was: “Why aren’t I?” The answer was: no . idea out of my head since. I have often lamented the fact that the whole way there, and nearly every corner of the planet and There is not one good reason for me to speak only English. As stated I missed my opportunity to study abroad. I have an apartment every person on it are interconnected through the internet. How above, I adore the written word. I want to be able to explore Spanish- for which the rent is considerable, and bills on top of that, so many of them speak English? How much knowledge do I lose language literature as it was originally written. I feel unique among many I can’t really just up and leave for an entire semester. When out on by not speaking their language? It is impossible to say, of my fellow Spanish students, in that my goal is to achieve fluency. I’m I heard about the Costa Rica program, I realized what an but I can say this for sure: learning Spanish, for me at least, is not just in class to fulfill credits. amazing opportunity it would be for me to do something that the first step on the way to changing that, and opening myself Practice makes perfect, though, and I need practice. If I’m going to I had thought impossible. To be able to spend a month there, up to literally an entire world of knowledge and experience. 6 7 Career Spotlight: El valor de la comunicación diferentes idiomas, porque esto sería una barrera que afectaría Translation Víctor F. Espinal, student al progreso del mundo en diferentes áreas, por ejemplo, cómo se podría combatir la contaminación ambiental si no es de forma Dr. Elizabeth Blood ¿Qué sería del mundo si no fuéramos capaces de global con la contribución y participación de muchos países. comunicarnos? ¿Qué tanto hubiesen avanzado los países de ¿Cómo se apoyaría a países pobres que pasan por momentos With our world becoming increasingly todo el mundo, o acaso pudiese existir la posibilidad de que ya difíciles? Como cuando gran parte de Haití fue destrozado por un connected and our nation becoming no existiese el planeta tierra y ninguno de sus habitantes? La terremoto, el país recibió gran apoyo por la buena comunicación increasingly multilingual, the need comunicación es esencial en todos los aspectos del diario vivir. entre muchos países que se unieron para expresar su dolor for qualified translators is growing. La comunicación es el arte del ser humano de transmitir ideas por la tragedia. Aprender otro idioma es interesarse en otras According to a recent CNN Money y sentimientos a través de palabras u otros casos a través de culturas, desear compartir y entender a otros. Poder disfrutar report, “Translators and interpreters señales con las manos y hasta con la mirada. ¿Qué sería de sus diferentes comidas, poder reír al entender sus chistes, poder are expected to be one of the 15 fastest cada especie del planeta tierra si no tuvieran la oportunidad llorar al sentir sus dolores, poder respetar sus creencias aunque growing occupations in the nation... de comunicarse? ¿Cómo se cuidarían de los depredadores; estas no sean las tuyas, poder leer sus libros y entender sus Roughly 25,000 jobs are expected to cómo se pondrían de acuerdo en casos de problemas? Para los historias y compartir con ellos sus grandes victorias. Debemos open up for interpreters (who focus on humanos es difícil pensar vivir sin comunicación porque la vida tratar de aprender otras lenguas y culturas para tener sensibilidad spoken language) and translators (who no tendría sentido, ¿a quién recurriríamos en los momentos cultural y aunque no entendamos algunas cosas, respetarlas. Fue focus on written language), between 2010 difíciles para desahogarnos o como compartir sin palabras los temeroso para mí llegar a un país donde se hablara otro idioma, and 2020...That represents a 42% growth mejores momentos de nuestras vidas? Nelson Mandela en su recuerdo que tenía miedo de coger el autobús, porque temía que for the field” (CNN Money, October 30, cita expresa la importancia de aprender diferentes idiomas. me preguntaran algo en inglés. Fue difícil recibir preguntas pero 2013). The article notes that the highest Nuestro planeta es muy variado cuando hablamos de idiomas, no poder contestarlas. Fue difícil no entender lo que los demás salaries in this field go to those in the proficiency in at least one other language. “Occupational Outlook Handbook” entry existen más de 5000 diferentes idiomas hablados alrededor de hablaban. Fue difícil adaptarme a un ambiente tan diferente, intelligence community and government, The American Translator’s Association on translation and interpretation (bls. todo mundo. Si las diferentes poblaciones no fueran capaces de fue difícil aprender una lengua extraterrestre. Pero, qué bien me but that interpreters and translators are recommends a score of “advanced-low” gov/ooh/Media-and-Communication/ comunicarse, ¿cómo pudiera existir paz o amistad entre estas? sentí al sentir el apoyo de aquellos que sabían lo difícil que era also in high demand in the legal, medical, on the ACTFL writing proficiency test in Interpreters-and-translators.htm) or the No pudiera ser posible compartir o aprender sus culturas o inmigrar a un país tan diferente. Y estoy agradecido de aquellos technical, scientific, business, education, your chosen language. Translators and American Translator’s Association website ideas. Todas las culturas serían ignorantes sobre otras culturas. que me sirvieron de inspiraron y me dijeron que todo es posible law enforcement and social services fields. interpreters can work without having any (atanet.org/careers). No me imagino el mundo sin relaciones entre países que hablan cuando se hace con amor. Translators and interpreters often official credentials, but passing the TA A This year, the department of World work as freelancers, making this the ideal translator’s exam offers a professional Languages and Cultures launched a job for someone who is self-motivated credential and listing of your name new course WLC 300: Introduction to and prefers to work independently in a national database of accredited Translation and our Spanish Translation be, and they demonstrate our ignorance of the multiple ethnic/ and have a flexible schedule. However, translators. A bachelor’s degree and/or Practicum (SPN 450) is offered every Microaggressions in Daily Life: gender/cultural intersections every person has. Increasing salaried jobs as in-house translators translation training certificate are also other year. This is an area in which our The Hidden Trap globalization has rendered “typical” assumptions of ethnic for a specific company or working for recommended. department is expanding. Look for new Dr. Michele C. Dávila groups obsolete. The new generations have rendered “typical” a translation agency are also possible. To learn more about becoming courses on translation and a certificate families and sexual orientation also obsolete. But we still deal Those interested in this field must have a professional translator, check out program in 2015! What are microaggressions? The term coined by Chester with problems of sexual objectification, sexism in all its forms, excellent English skills and advanced the Bureau of Labor Statistics online M. Pierce in 1970 originally referred to racial comments that seemed inconsequential, that either intentional or unintentionally second-class citizenship, cultural insensitivity, and worst of all, were derogatory toward minority ethnic groups. The term has invisibility. Sometimes, even those that defend themselves with expanded now to include all kinds of slights due to gender, “I’m not racist/homophobic” (denial of bias), or “I don’t think of religion, sexual and cultural differences. But why “micro”? you as Black” (colorblindness), are demonstrating some forms of Winner of the HOPE Because they are non-physical-aggression remarks and, in many microaggression. We, as a community, have to be aware of the problems Award cases, tend to be commonplace verbal assumptions of our stereotypes about the appearance or behavior of different groups. our student/faculty and staff of color confront with even well- Dr. Kristine Doll, Dr. Michele C. Dávila The interesting aspect is that any racial, gender, social or intentioned people. If you want to learn more about this go to the Diversity and Multicultural Office at the Ellison Campus Center The Department holds an annual essay cultural group can fall into this trap. That is why it is so important room 202, or call 978-542-2681 and speak with Rebecca Comage, contest on cultural themes highlighting for all of us to be aware of these acts that offend people, the Director, and Jamie Bergeron, the Assistant Director, about the importance of language learning even if it wasn’t our intention to do so. Some examples of your concerns. Also check these internet sites where you can read and communication. The central idea of microaggressions are: first-hand accounts of what people hear that offends them (some each year’s competition is spotlighted • “What are you?” of the examples are the ones I quoted above): in the quote chosen to celebrate • “No, where are you really from?” The Microaggressions Project at microaggressions.com; cross-cultural communication and • “You don’t speak Spanish/Chinese/Japanese/etc.?!” 21 Racial Microaggressions You Hear On A Daily Basis at understanding. Essays are accepted in • “Wow! Your English is really good!” buzzfeed.com/hnigatu/racial-microagressions-you-hear-on-a- any of the languages represented by the • “Are you sure you have the right room number? daily-basis; WLC department: Arabic, Chinese, English, appreciate their poetry, or savor their a new language is powerfully expressed This is the *honors* section” Unmasking ‘racial micro aggressions’ at French, German, Italian, Latin and Spanish. songs.” and offers wisdom and insight into the • “You don’t look Puerto Rican/Mexican, etc.” apa.org/monitor/2009/02/microaggression.aspx; Past competitions have addressed the Two entries were selected from this challenges inherent in forging new paths • “You aren’t really black though, you act like a white girl” Microaggressions at fordham.edu/academics/office_of_ ideals of Margaret Meade and Mahatma year’s competition, and unlike other of understanding. Second prize is awarded • “I don’t date bisexuals. They’re never faithful.” research/research_centers__in/center_for_teaching_/ Ghandi. This year’s contest considered years, both were written in Spanish. to Rachel Schmied. Her essay, “Lengua y • “Stop crying and acting like a little girl!” the_art_of_teaching/microaggressions_89343.asp; Nelson Mandela’s quote: “Without First prize is awarded to Victor Espinal, comunidad” speaks to the possibility of • “How much money would you put on the Boston and the video “Microaggressions: Comments That Sting” at language, one cannot talk to people and whose essay appears here, “El valor one language that might conquer bombers being Muslim?” nytimes.com/video/us/100000002769668/microaggressions- understand them; one cannot share their de la comunicación.” Victor’s personal the myriad misunderstandings that can All these remarks are based on family/nation/religion/social comments-that-sting.html?smid=tw-share hopes and aspirations, grasp their history, experience navigating a new culture and separate us. continued on page 9 class stereotypes on what each ethnic group identity should

8 9 Department of World Languages & Cultures

2013-2014 Psi Sigma Iota Inductees, Departmental Awards, and Graduates The following are this year’s inductees to the Psi Sigma Iota Honors Society:

MAT in Spanish Leanne Cirigliano Olga Pearson Jessica Sapp The Three Percent Problem Dr. Kenneth Reeds French Cristen Sullivan Although it most certainly began earlier, 2008 was when Kimberleen Toussaint it hit the press (and the fan). Horace Engdhal, gave an interview where he accused the U.S. literary world of lacking something important. While he didn’t mention anyone by Italian name, he argued that writers like Updike, Oates, DeLillo, and Philemon Awah Roth were overly-sensitive to national trends and therefore Caitlin McDonough only obliquely participated in the larger, worldwide, literary Irena Snow dialogue. In comments he must have known would provoke controversy, he declared that the U.S. was too “isolated” Spanish and “insular”. He had to have been aware of the effect he Jane Mauriello would incite because he was the permanent secretary of Rachel Schmied the Nobel-awarding Swedish Academy. After these ideas Jessica Tower were expressed it felt obvious that the aforementioned Jessica Traut-Savino authors need not wait for an early-morning phone call from Madeline Wilkinson Stockholm. A further reaction has been the back and forth of essayists, journalists, and authors who have responded to Engdhal’s words with either support or derision. Our World Languages and Cultures country’s problem with belly-button complex is, of course, Victoria Gaddy Departmental Service Awards larger than literature and perhaps it is appropriate that a For outstanding service to the department, our mission, novel like White Noise should reflect our lives while its Honorary Inductees our programs and/or our students. university context and themes of consumerism and media Richard Elia would feel disconnected from an average mid-1980s Indian, Donald Harlow-Powell Joshua Brown Chinese, or Russian (although it might feel more appropriate Mikeneil Paul to many citizens of those countries in 2014; was it therefore Marta Marucci -internationally speaking- before its time?). Faculty and Administrators Arguably one of the more important aspects of this issue is Beverly Gerson Graduating Majors Graduating Minors MAT in Spanish Graduates one of translation. It is a simple fact that the U.S. book market Eidy Mercedes Cruz - SPN Kara J. Berg - Italian Amy St. Arnaud remains the largest in the world and only 3% is made up of Nilsa Masiel Huynh – SPN Shea Taylor Bogart - Spanish Carlos-Luis Brown texts that have been translated into English. Of those, only Gissette Polanco - SPN Joshua Jacob Brown - Italian Matthew Benner about 0.7% are fiction and poetry. T he publishing world refers Academic Achievement Awards For outstanding dedication to the study of language William A. Sherman III – SPN Beatriz Freitas Cesar - Spanish Vilma Bibeau to this as the “3% problem” and it seems perhaps overly and culture. Francis M. Troche - SPN Felicite Roseline Lebela-Babela - WLC Rochelle McFarland easy to connect these numbers with Engdhal’s criticism. Irena A. Snow - WLC Mary Helen Madera - French Paul Bondaza Nobel prizes aside, this is indeed an issue that needs to be Arabic Italian Tania Lee Báez - WLC Kay Mazara - Spanish Patricia Sánchez addressed. It can only be assumed that publishers shun Yasmina Dacosta Caitlin O’Toole Hilda Gómez - WLC Caitly Rose McDonough - Italian Jean Houghton books from other languages because they do not sell well. Angela Nicole Harling - WLC Stephanie Moore - WLC Laura Fox This means we need to look in the mirror and ask ourselves Olivia Marie Torretta – WLC Liliana Peña - Spanish Michael Nickerson why we avoid reading books in translation. Could this have Chinese Latin Amanda Tower - WLC Jobita Rodríguez-Ríos - Spanish something to do with many people’s trepidation of learning Emory Stephen Paine Tirzah Frank Courtney Alana Saba - Italian a new language? What about subtitled films from other Irena A. Snow - Italian languages? French Spanish Ciara N. Tavares - French The other is a mirror that can cast an uncomfortable gaze Jeffrey Robinson Ryan Vigilione Heroina Taveras - Italian back. A good place to start to reduce the otherness is the New Ai Toyoda - WLC York Review of Books list of classics. While not all of them are Glenda L. Vélez-González – Spanish translations, at the very least it demonstrates to Mr. Engdhal German that a portion of the 0.7% was chosen with good taste. Amy Kellett 10 11 Study Abroad Every Summer with the Special events this summer! World Languages and Cultures Department • Second time around for our summer Costa Rica Program June 2014. 15 of your classmates will spend a month in Heredia, Costa Rica, discover The new SSU Core being volcanoes, beaches, wildlife and nature adventures while earning six- implemented in 2015 has a World nine credits of and Culture. Cultures Requirement and a great way soleducation.com/salemstate to fulfill it is through total immersion in a new culture abroad. • First time around for our Berlin summer Program. Earn language and The World Languages and Cultures culture credits in German and participate in activities and excursions Department has great, affordable to the area. Starting mid-June. programs that will help you achieve centerforstudyabroad.com/humboldt-university-berlin this goal. A program abroad will also enhance your resume and make it Early registration is suggested for all our programs. Financial Aid available!! stand out among others when applying To enroll in these programs or in other semester or winter break programs for a job or graduate school. stop by the study abroad office at the Center for International Education in Go ahead and plan your study South Campus, 8 Harrison Rd, the little green house. abroad with the World Languages and Cultures Department. You can choose Visit: salemstate.edu/academics/4428.php summer programs in Costa Rica, Spain, Contact: [email protected] Canada, Italy or Germany. Or contact Dr. Fátima Serra: [email protected]

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