¿Qué pasa? Quoi de neuf? Novità? Department News Abounds (13.2)
Department News
Translation
On Saturday, March 5, 2016, WLC students and faculty participated in an interpreter-training workshop with nearly 50 candidates for MA State Certification as court interpreters. Dr. Leonor Figueroa-Feher, the Manager of the Office of Court Interpreter Services for the Massachusetts Trial Court, led an all-day series of activities designed to prepare candidates for the MA State written and oral examinations. Dr. Figueroa-Feher offered detailed advice and strategies for preparing for the exams. Developed by the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) “Language Access Services Section” (LASS), these exams are currently administered in close to 39 states nationwide as part of the interpreter certification process. By implementing these exams, the MA Office of Court Interpreter Services is able to offer interpreters a credentialing process that matches national trends in state court certification guidelines. The office anticipates the eventual collaboration of Massachusetts with Maine, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Vermont on projects related to exam administration, training opportunities and reciprocal credentialing.
If you are interested in a career as a translator, sign up for any of the translation courses offered as part of WLC’s Certificate in Translation. Fall 2016 offers FRE 352, ITL 354 and SPN450.
Talk on Poetry Translation
On April 28, 2016 Peter Thabit Jones will be on campus to present Poetry in Other Voices: Some Shadows
Mr. Thabit Jones, who is from Wales, is the author of thirteen books. His work has been translated into over twenty-two languages. He is the Founder and Editor of The Seventh Quarry Swansea Poetry Magazine and the accompanying The Seventh Quarry Publishing Press. He is the co-author, with Aeronwy Thomas, of the Dylan Thomas Walking Tour of Greenwich Village, NY. He is the recipient of the 2016 Ted Slade Award for Service to Poetry (The Poetry Kit, UK.), the Eric Gregory Award for Poetry (The Society of Authors, London), The Society of Authors Award, The Royal Literary Fund Award (London) and an Arts Council of Wales Award.
While on campus he will address certain problems that may arise when a poet’s work is translated into other languages. These issues can be particularly demanding when the poetry is very sound-textured, ‘musical’, such as the work of Dylan Thomas, who used Welsh-language sound devices in much of his English-language poetry. There will be a translation workshop, which will allow participants to respond to aspects of chosen poems.
Study or Work Abroad
The countdown toward our Spanish Summer Immersion program has started. On May 21st, Dr. Serra and a group of 15 SSU will embark on a four week program at the Universidad Latina in Heredia, Costa Rica. They will earn six credits in Spanish, participate in nature excursions, cultural activities and community service. Some of the students will advance in their World languages Major, others will complete their Minors or initiate it, and some of them will culminate their Foreign Languages Requirement during their stay in Costa Rica.
Three SSU students have applied to the Teach English in Spain grants awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Education. Upon graduation, they will live in Spain for a year paid by the Spanish Government. If interested, check the following website: http://www.mecd.gob.es/eeuu/convocatorias-programas/convocatorias-eeuu/auxiliares-conversacion-eeuu.html
And keep your eyes open for the WLC Immersion Summer program in Spain in 2017 in our next edition of Lingua Franca!
Promoting Language Study
Prof. Mouhib speaks to students in Gloucester
During Spring Break faculty from the Department of World Languages & Cultures participated in “World Language Week” celebrations in both Gloucester High School and Peabody High School during the week of March 11-18th
Prof. Rayanne Menery (Italian), Abdelkrim Mouhib (Arabic), and Elizabeth Blood (French and Italian) visited Gloucester while Kenneth Reeds (Spanish) spoke in Peabody.
HAWK Walk
The Department of World Languages & Cultures participated and had a strong presence in the 24th Annual HAWC (Healing Abuse Working for Change) Walk on April 24, 2016. After the walk, some members of the department, family and friends got together to refuel.
Faculty News
Michele C. Dávila Gonçalves
Michele C. Dávila Gonçalves was the Invited Guest Speaker of the Spanish Section of the New England Modern Language Association Annual Convention presenting “De aquí y de allá: vertientes de la poesía puertorriqueña trasatlántica” (From Here and Over There: Transatlantic Puerto Rican Poetry), on April 17, 2016.
Kristine Doll
In addition to chairing a session on translation and reading her own poetry and translations at the Massachusetts Poetry Festival (April/May 2016), Kristine Doll served as the guest editor of Six Catalan Poets, a special edition on translation for The Seventh Quarry Poetry Magazine (Swansea, Wales UK, 2015). http://www.nuvol.com/noticies/six-catalan-poets
Dr. Doll also published “My Father’s Birds,” Bird Poems. East and West. (Eds. John Digby and Hong Ai Bai. New York: The Feral Press, 2015, 52) as well as numerous translations into English of contemporary Catalan poetry through the University of Barcelona (http://goo.gl/5MIYrc). Doll’s poetry has also been recently translated into Korean (Korean Expatriate Literature. Seoul: Yoon Ho Cho, 2015). Dr. Doll will read locally at the Grolier Poetry Bookstore in Harvard Square on April 26, 2016.
Anna Rocca
At the 2016 Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA) Conference, in Hartford, PA, as the NeMLA French and Francophone Language and Literature Director, Dr. Anna Rocca organized and chaired the French Special Event: novelist and filmmaker Fabienne Kanor’s performative reading entitled “Le là d’où je viens.”
Dr. Rocca also proposed, organized and chaired two panels: “Maghreb and Modernity” and “Africa: From Migration to Homecoming.” She also presented a paper entitled: “Azza Filali: Vulnerability and Disorientation in Pre- and Post-Revolutionary Tunisia.
Fátima Serra
Dr. Serra published a chapter in the book “The Maghreb intersectionality in Retorno a Hansala.” Transnational Orientalisms in Contemporary Spanish and Latin American Cinema. Michele Davila González, ed. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 2016
She also presented at the NEMLA Conference the paper entitled “De clichés e identidades: la moda en Ocho apellidos vascos.” 47th Annual NeMla Convention. Hartford, March 18-20, 2016.
Students News
Phi Sigma Iota Scholarship
Thea Miller
Inducted into the International Foreign languages Honor Society Phi Sigma Iota on April 22, 2015, Thea M. Miller is the first candidate applying to the PSI scholarship. Scholarships are awarded to undergraduate students who excel in the areas of academic performance and achievement and/or extraordinary educational activities related to the field of foreign language study that uphold the ideals of Phi Sigma Iota. With a Major in Biology and a Minor in Chemistry, Physics, and Italian, Thea will be attending during summer 2016 the Florence University of the Arts in Florence, Italy. Her main goal for this trip, she says, “is to take a step back from my intense science curriculum and embrace the language and culture I love. However, taking this step back from science remains beneficial for my future career goals as the advantages of studying different cultures and languages are endless; especially, within the medical field where one encounters people from all lifestyles daily.” In bocca al lupo Thea!
Future Teachers of Italian in the US
Pursuing a BA in World Languages and Cultures with a concentration in Italian, senior students Lindsay Asaro and Caitlin O’Toole, together with Megan-Michael Powell, minoring in Italian and graduating in May 2016, just submitted their application to the Teaching Assistantships Program in Lombardy, Italy. Students will work part-time as English teaching assistants and get a monthly study scholarship (600/700 Euros) to assist secondary school teachers of English. All of them are supposed to leave to Italy in September 2016. While Lindsay will come back in December 2016, Caitlin and Megan-Michael are planning to stay in Lombardy until the end of June 2017.
We remind SSU students that the Lombardy program called also SITE (Study Intercultural Training Experience) is sponsored by the Italian Government. SITE is an internship opportunity for English-speaking students or recent graduates who wish to get a better understanding of the Italian language and culture, while assisting local teachers and getting professional training on teaching methods. SSU has at least two guaranteed positions per academic year and the program gives possibility for students to take courses at Italian universities and provides exam session to certify knowledge of the Italian language. Students can also reapply for a second year TA experience.
Teaching Assistantships Program in Lombardy, Italy
Lindsey Asaro, BA in World Languages and Cultures-Italian concentration, Caitlin O’Toole, BA in World Languages and Cultures Cultures-Italian concentration, and Megan-Michael Powell, Major in Economy and Minor in Italian, have been awarded an 8-month scholarship (700 Euros monthly) to assist secondary school teachers of English in Lombardy. They will all leave in September 2016. Lindsey Asaro has been assigned to the Zenale-Butinone Tourism Institute in the province of Bergamo; Caitlin O’Toole will teach at the Scientific Lyceum Olivelli-Putelli in the province of Brescia, close to the Alps, and Megan-Michael Powell has been assigned to the Institute of Economy Enrico Tosi in the city of Varese. The Lombardy program called also SITE (Study Intercultural Training Experience) is sponsored by the Italian Government. CONGRATULATIONS Lindsey, Caitlin and Micah!!!
From left: Megan-Michael Powell, Caitlin O’Toole, Lindsey Asaro
Spanish Club
Great fun with the Spanish Club this semester. We had tertulias, movie nights and danced! We have had WLC Majors and Minors, Honors Program participants, Members of LASO and International students! Hope you can join us next semester.
Lingua Franca 
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