Lingua Franca

¿Qué pasa? Quoi de neuf? Novità? Department News Abounds (15.1)

Department News

International Business/World Languages Collaboration: The University has approved a double major track that will allow students to complete both the BS in International Business and the BA in World Languages (French, Italian, or Spanish interdisciplinary concentrations) in four years. Students will be allowed to “double dip” up to 18 credits, allowing several advanced language courses to count towards the International Business major elective courses and a number of the international business major courses to count as interdisciplinary electives in the World Languages major. Both the Management and World Languages and Cultures department hope that this will attract more students to the two programs and will better prepare International Business students for global careers. The new double major track will launch in Fall 2018.

Italian Film Festival: On behalf of the Consulate General of Italy in Boston, Dr. Rocca organized and presented for the first time the 2017 New England Contemporary Italian Film Festival at SSU. Sponsored by the World Languages and Cultures and the Italian Club, the three-night film festival is free and open to public. SSU is one of the four New England Universities, together with UMASS Boston, Brandeis University, and Northeastern University, that has been selected to host the 2017 Italian Film Festival (see the Consulate General of Italy website: http://www.usicboston.it/).

 Sabbaticals: Dr. Blood and Dr. Sherf will be on sabbatical in Spring 2018. Prof. Blood will be working on a French to English translation of a book by a Franco-American author, while Dr. Sherf will be working on publications related to the teaching of foreign languages and the Seal of Biliteracy.

Faculty News

Dr. Nicole Sherf was honored with the Massachusetts Foreign Language Association’s Distinguished Service Award. Congratulations Nicole!

Dr. Sherf receives her Distinguished Service award

Dr. Kristine Doll read her poetry and translations (English/Catalan/Spanish) at The Yale Club in New York City on November 17. Her most recently published translations can be found in the Loch Raven Review (Baltimore, MD).

Dr. Blood has had two articles accepted for publication this year. Her interview with Franco-American author Rhea Côté-Robbins “On Being a French Heritage Woman in America Today: An Interview with Author Rhea Côté Robbins” will be published in the May 2018 issue of the AATF’s French Review journal. She also co-authored an article with Dr. Elizabeth Duclos-Orsello (Interdisciplinary Studies Department) about French-Canadian influence in Salem’s Point neighborhood entitled “The Point: A Franco-American Heritage Site in Salem, Massachusetts / La Pointe: site de patrimoine franco-américain à Salem, Massachusetts” which will be published in the online bilingual Encyclopedia of French Cultural Heritage in North America / Encylopédie du patrimoine culturel de l’Amérique française.

In Spring 2018, Dr. Rocca will chair two panels and present new research at both the Women in French (WIF) Conference, Tallahassee, FL, and the Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA) Conference, Pittsburgh, PA. Also, during summer 2017, she presented at a conference on African women and photography at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London, UK.

Dr. Serra contributed a chapter titled “El corazón helado de Almudena Grandes: algo más que una novela sentimental” to the book Almudena Grandes. Memoria, compromiso y resistencia. Helena Talaya y Sara Fernández (ed.) Editorial Valparaíso, 2017. (211-232). Dr. Serra also participated in the Annual Conference of the International Association of Hispanic Feminist Literature and Culture in Santo Domingo, DR, with the paper: “Inconformismo y resistencia: El olivo de Iciar Bollaín (2016).”