Lingua Franca

¿Qué pasa? Quoi de neuf? Novità? Department News Abounds (13.1)

Department News

In Translation: Did you know that translation is one of the fastest growing job sectors in the U.S., with an estimated 42% increase in jobs by 2022? This fall, we launched our new undergraduate Certificate in Translation. The certificate is 18-21 credits combining advanced courses in English, advanced courses in either French, Italian or Spanish, and courses on Translation. All courses can “double dip” with courses in a student’s major, minor or general education curriculum. Students completing the certificate will develop a portfolio of work that can be used to obtain a job as a translator with a translation company or begin work as a freelance translator. Interested? Try our intro course WLC 300–Introduction to Translation this spring! More information at: www.salemstate.edu/academics/schools/28596.php

Do you “Like” us? The department has launched a new Facebook page www.facebook.com/SSUworldlanguages and continues to tweet from @SalemLanguages. Like our page and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date with department news and trends in foreign language learning. Recommend our page to your friends!

Help us spread the word to raise money for YOU to study abroad! The department of World Languages and Cultures will be participating in #GivingTuesday by launching a month-long fundraiser to create a fund for student study abroad. The crowdfunding site goes live on Tuesday, December 1st.

http://crowdfunding.salemstate.edu/studyabroadCurrently, approximately 1% of Salem State students study abroad. Compare this to students at private institutions in Massachusetts: 30% of Clark University students go abroad, 46% of students at Bentley University, and 53% at Boston College. We feel the need to help our students afford study abroad—a life-changing experience that allows students to gain the skills and perspectives needed to compete for jobs in our increasingly globalized society. We currently give $1,000 in study abroad awards each year to students who participate in one of our department-sponsored summer study abroad programs. We would like to raise an additional $5,000 that would be used to fund study abroad awards for our WLC majors and minors who participate in summer, semester or year-long programs next year. Keep your eye out for our fundraiser message and share it widely. Encourage your employers, former and current teachers, friends and relatives to give!

Faculty Updates: Welcome to our new faculty members Dr. Louissa Taha Abdelghany (Arabic/French) and Prof. Claire Dix (Spanish). We hope you had a wonderful fall semester and look forward to working with you again next spring! Many thanks to Dr. Elizabeth Blood for filling in as Acting Chair this fall. We look forward to Dr. Michele Dávila’s return from sabbatical in January, rested, relaxed and ready to take on the “world”!

West African “WC” Course to be taught in Spring 2016: The topic for WLC 120-Perspectives on World Cultures this spring will be West African Cultures, taught by Dr. Mary-Kay Miller who specializes in the literature and culture of Senegal. This is a World Cultures general education course, taught in English. Look for WLC 120 courses on Exploring Italy and French Culture through Film next fall!

Student and Alumni Stories Needed! The university is currently in the process of creating a new website that will be more user-friendly and more effectively showcase the awesome students and flexible programs we offer. We are looking for current students and alumni who are willing to share photos, short videos, and/or a written quote describing their experiences as a student in the World Languages and Cultures department. What language(s) have you studied at SSU? What do you like about our programs (faculty, courses, study abroad, clubs, etc.)? Submit your materials, along with a statement giving us permission to use them on the website, to Prof. Blood (eblood@salemstate.edu).

Faculty News

CONGRATULATIONS to Ken Reeds, Michele Dávila and Anna Rocca, who all received nominations for this year’s Distinguished Teaching Award at Salem State. This is a great honor for them, and we are so proud that our department is so well-represented among the nominees!

In addition to chairing a session on translation at the Anglo-Catalan Annual Conference (Glasgow Scotland, November), Dr. Kristine Doll has published Six Catalan Poets (Wales UK:  The Seventh Quarry Press, 2015).  She is the editor of this collection of contemporary Catalan poetry and has translated two of the edition’s six poets from Catalan to English.

Dr. Fátima Serra participated in the 65th Mountain Interstate Foreign Language Conference, Charleston, SC. October 2015 with the paper: “El corazón helado (2007) de Almudena Grandes: ¿el antes y el después de una tradición?”

At the 2015 Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA) Conference, in Toronto, CA, Dr. Anna Rocca proposed, organized and chaired the roundtable: “21st Century Tunisian Women Writers’ Literary Production.” She also presented a paper entitled: “Tunisia: Representations of Women’s Solidarity, Yesterday and Today”.

Also congratulations to our Chinese instructor Ti-Cheng who will be away on maternity leave during the spring semester. We’re excited to welcome Yica Lin who will be teaching Chinese during her leave of absence.