NAU Modern Languages

Department of Modern Languages | nau.edu/languages | Box 6004, Flagstaff, Arizona 86011 | 928-523-2361

Fall 2010

Inside This Edition

• International Studies Day

• Using the Virtual World in the Classroom

• Spanish Theatre for All Ages

• New Course About Teenage Holocaust Poet

• A Piece of History

• Science Fair Judges

• Honoring Student Achievement

• Studying Abroad

• Faculty Notes

• Scholarship

International Studies Day

One hundred and seventy-! ve high school language students from

Coconino High School, Flagsta" Arts and Leadership Academy (FALA), Flagsta" High School, and Sinagua High School gathered at the DuBois Center, on Friday, April 8th, for a high-energy day of language and culture activities and workshops.

Dr. Michael Vincent, Dean of Arts and Letters, spoke about how “Languages Open the World.” # e students participated in various workshops, conducted by NAU sta" , students, and faculty. Workshops included Arabic for Everyone, Making Chinese Tones, Film-Making in French, German Bilderbingo, Benvenuti All’Italia, Japanese Tea Ceremony, Around the Navajo Nation, and Spanish Teatro. Teachers participated in a workshop on technology, and there were also a variety of showcases: Japanese Name Writing, Flagsta" Sister Cities International, and a costume/photo booth where students could try on national costumes and have their pictures taken with their cell phones or a digital camera.

NAU students Laura Rambikur, Monica Casey, Merissa Orwig, and Doris Benally discussed how their own lives have been enriched by language and culture studies: from community service work in Honduras, to study abroad in France and Japan, and Navajo heritage studies.

# e day’s events concluded with a performance by Sambatuque, a Brazilian-style drumming band led by musician and NAU engineering instructor, Bryan Cooperrider, that got students up and dancing.

“ I think your fair has sparked an interest to pursue a major or minor in languages.” — Abel Garlant, Coconino HS

“ It was really fun. I don’t have a favorite activity. It was all great! ”— Aurora Babcock-Cooke, French student Flagsta! Arts and Leadership Academy

Department of Modern Languages | nau.edu/languages | Box 6004, Flagstaff, Arizona 86011 | 928-523-2361

Using the Virtual World in the Foreign Language Classroom

The Technology Committee with the Modern Languages Department

organized a talk on Second Life in the language classroom. Dr. James Abraham and Dr. Nanci Burk from Glendale Community College took us on a tour to “Mi casa es su casa”—a Mexican village built using the 3D virtual world software, Second Life. Both presenters discussed their educational experiences using the program, including learning tasks, bene! ts, and challenges of using a virtual environment to teach foreign languages.

Spanish Theatre for All Ages

Dr. Bob Neustadt, Professor of Spanish, directed his Hispanic drama students in a series of one-act plays in Spanish at # eatrikos Playhouse in downtown Flagsta" . Spanish

majors and minors presented El delantal blanco by Chilean Sergio Vodanovic, Todas las ticas son lindas, pero sólo las lindas by Costan Rican playwright Ailyn Morera, and Nadie puede saberlo by another Chilean playwright, Enrique Bunster.

Dr. Nesutadt’s students also performed a special matinee performance of the Mexican children’s play Soy el hombre by Óscar Liera to one hundred bilingual second and third graders from Puente de Hozho Elementary School. Soy el hombre is an adventurous story of dreams, puppets, and villains, and features live music specially written for this performance.

New Course Focuses on Teenage Holocaust Poet

Dr. Marilya Veteto Reese, Professor of German, has received funding from

NAU’s Martin Springer Institute to devel-op a spring 2011 course in both English and German that explores the life and work of a recently-discovered Holocaust victim and teenage poet, Hilda Stern Cohen. Accord-ing to the Washington D.C. based Goethe-Institut, “Her perspectives on the war expe-rience show a woman who was in the ghetto and the concentration camp, but somehow not of it. She designated herself the poet, but also the reporter, the chronicler, the his-torian.”

A Piece of History

Science Fair Judges

The Embassy of the Federal Republic Germany is including the Northern

Arizona University section of the Berlin Wall—located in the lobby across from the Modern Languages o$ ce—as part of the Bundesstiftung Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur’s documentation of places of re-membrance for the Victims of Communist Dictatorships in 20th Century Europe.

Every year Puente de Hozho, Flagsta" ’s trilingual elementary school holds a

science fair competition for its 3rd through 6th graders. # is year there was just one problem -- all of the entries were in Span-ish! Seven Spanish majors and minors, many of whom have a science background, served as judges this year. # e adjudicators were Margeaux Anderson, Claudia Behnke, Jorge Forgeng, Stefan Janell-Eckel, Chris Oulton, Samantha Petree, Alissa Reynolds, and Janelle Rohweller.

— Shea Bodine and Puente de Hozho student performing in Óscar Liera’s Soy el hombre.

Department of Modern Languages | nau.edu/languages | Box 6004, Flagstaff, Arizona 86011 | 928-523-2361

Honoring Student AchievementOutstanding Senior A Bright Future

Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant

Kathryn Bryant was selected the D e p a r t m e n t ’s O u t s t a n d i n g Senior for spring 2010. She is a double major in Spanish and math. Kathryn has studied abroad in Guatemala and

plans to continue her graduate studies in theoretical mathematics. She has also taken several Spanish graduate courses.

Student Wins Post-Secondary Student of the YearErica Outram was awarded the Arizona Language Associations Post-Secondary Student of the Year for 2009-10. An honors student, Erica is a graduating senior pursuing a degree in anthropology with a minor in Spanish. She plans to do her masters in Spanish.

According to the 4.00 student, “It is critical that students of foreign languages understand that learning another language is more than simply mastering its syntax; it is a window to another culture. Within an increasingly globalized world, it is important to work towards preserving and building linguistic diversity.”

Congratulations to Emily Manone, a student in the Master’s of Teaching Spanish program who is one of three recipients of NAU’s Graduate College’s 2009-2010 awards for Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistants. Emily has been teaching lower-division Spanish classes in the department since August 2008 and graduated this May, 2010.

Modern Languages major (Spanish and German) and religious studies major, Jennifer Hunter, has accepted an invitation to join the Master of Theological Studies program at Harvard Divinity School, with a fi nancial aid package to cover half her tuition. She commented: “I think it is really important to point out that my German studies were a huge part in my acceptance to the all these programs since they all expect incoming students to be competent in either German or French. My German is not an ‘afterthought’ to my religious studies, but rather, I consider it an integral part to my academic goals and aspirations.”

Department of Modern Languages | nau.edu/languages | Box 6004, Flagstaff, Arizona 86011 | 928-523-2361

Studying AbroadMy Time AbroadBy Devan Michael - Graduating Senior in French, May 2010

To me, Strasbourg was the ideal city for a study abroad student. It provided

a vast urban setting that was manageable to maneuver around, with their clean and dependable public transportation system. # ere was a plethora of activities to do day and night—everything from the avant-garde French theater to the astounding symphony of Strasbourg, to a food festival featuring mouth-watering pastry delights and spices galore, to a jazz festival that took place the whole month of November and had one entertaining performance each night of the week. # e city o" ered up everything I could have dreamed of: the arts, night time dancing, excellent food and beverage, and an international vibe, which is by far the thing I cherished the most. Strasbourg, being a city largely comprised of students, provided

a setting where I could meet people from all over the world! I made friends from Poland, Germany, Venezuela, Belgium, Nicaragua, China, England, Morocco, Africa and the list really does go on!

I grew tremendously as a person and found a part of me that I never want to lose. I attribute the person I am today to the experience I had overseas. Studying abroad, although a big leap into the unknown, was the best thing I could have ever done for myself. And now that the doors are open, I don’t ever want to stop travelling and exploring the world.

“ Studying abroad, although a big leap into the unknown, was the best thing I could have ever done for myself. ”

— Devan Michael in Strasbourg, France.

Department of Modern Languages | nau.edu/languages | Box 6004, Flagstaff, Arizona 86011 | 928-523-2361

A World of Opportunities• Nicole Bauge conducted her study abroad program in Annecy, France. Students study French the entire month of June at the Institut Francais des Alpes. # ey learn the geography, history, customs, art, society, and values of France through classes and excursions.• Anne Slobodchiko" led a two-week study abroad program in Paris this summer. Students study French language and culture, and focus on the historical importance of Paris. • # e ! rst Study Abroad Program in Valparaiso, Chile took place from May 18 to June 18, with Gina Santi, Instructor of Spanish. Students lived with local families and studied in one of Chile’s oldest and

more reputable institutions, the Ponti! cia Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso.• Roberto Serpas took the students from the long-running Spanish Immersion Program – that provides students four semesters worth of Spanish in one spring term – to

Faculty Notes

Die Zauber! öte Your Average Spanish Teacher?

Adieu...Die Zauberfl öte, (The Magic Flute), Mozart’s possibly most popular opera, was performed by NAU students with two sets of cast members, all of whom learned and sang the entire dialogue in German. Marilya Reese, Professor of German, and NAU Opera Director Nando Schellen, along with the voice faculty, coached the singers for several hours daily between January and April.

Anne Slobodchikoff is retiring after 25 years of service to NAU and the community. She has been both a French and Russia instructor, and has directed a study abroad program to Siberia for a number of years. Anne will dedicate her time to her photography and, of course, to travel. We will miss you, Anne!

various places in central Mexico. Students visited many educational, cultural, and historical sites and became more pro! cient in Spanish.

Chris Wargo, Lecturer of Spanish, and his band Fight the Quiet put out their fi rst CD, Let Me In. The band emerged in 2006 with Lessons in Vanity and is featured on MTV’s The Real World, Road Rules, and RWRR Challenge, as well as for SBK ‘07 for Xbox 360. — myspace.com/fi ghtthequiet

Photo by Alexis Goettl

Department of Modern Languages | nau.edu/languages | Box 6004, Flagstaff, Arizona 86011 | 928-523-2361

Scholarship

•Karina Collentine, Assistant Professor of Spanish, published “Measuring Complex-ity in Task-Based Synchronous Computer-Mediated Communication” in Task-Based Language Learning and Teaching with Technology. She studied how learners pro-duce complexity grammatical constructions in software for learning Spanish. She also presented her work at the American Asso-ciation of Applied Linguistics’ annual con-ference in Atlanta, GA.

•Joe Collentine, Professor of Spanish, had his 1998 article, “Cognitive Principles and CALL Grammar Instruction: A Mind-Centered, Input Approach,” selected for inclusion in Computer Assisted Language Learning: Critical Concepts in Linguis-tics. # is collection of republished articles provides a comprehensive overview of key articles and book excerpts published from 1988-2007.

•Bernd Conrad, Associate Professor of Ger-man, participated in the national confer-ence on computer assisted language learn-ing CALICO in the summer of 2009. He presented on the video-based instructional materials he has developed, Berlin Berlin’.

•Patricia Frederick, Associate Professor of French, published three literary translations during the past year. One particularly no-table work was “Hazaran” by the 2008 No-bel laureate Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio. Additionally, she co-organized the Rocky Mountain European Scholars’ Consortium.

•Juanita Heredia, Associate Professor of Spanish, received a Faculty Summer Grant 2010 for research at the Dominican Stud-ies Institute at the City University of New York. She also published a book chapter, “# e Dominican Diaspora Strikes Back: Cultural Archive and Race in Junot Díaz’s # e Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,” in the collection Hispanic Caribbean Litera-

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ture of Migration: Narratives of Displace-ment (New Directions in Latino American Culture Series).

•Ed Hood, Professor of Spanish, has pre-sented papers on Gabriel García Márquez’s ! ction and ! lms and on 20th Century Mex-ican literature and ! lm at recent meetings of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese and the Paci! c Coast Council on Latin American Stud-ies. His paper, “Vida y ! cción en Vivir para contarla de Gabriel García Márquez”, ap-peared in the journal Alba de América.

•Astrid Klocke, Associate Professor of Ger-man, published “Subverting Satire: Edgar Hilsenrath’s Novel Der Nazi und der Fri-seur and Charlie Chaplin’s Film # e Great Dictator” in the winter 2008 issue of Holo-caust and Genocide Studies. Klocke com-pares the satirical elements between these

two famous works, showing that Hilsen-rath’s work draws into question absolute categories in the representation of evil.

•Robert Neustadt, Professor of Spanish, and the Latin American studies commit-tee organized a panel discussion on Haiti on March 11. Along with presentations by campus experts on Haitian history and culture, attendees saw Haiti: Inside a Failed State, a ! lm that chronicles the dire eco-nomic conditions in Haiti before the earth-quake and explains their origins in the con-text of globalization.

•Nicole Price, Assistant Professor of Span-ish, presented a paper at the College Lan-guage Association Conference in Brooklyn, New York in April. Her paper entitled “Place and Identity in Equatorial Guinean Narrative” focused on how the urban spaces of the capital city of Malabo, Equatorial

Guinea shaped the identities of the char-acters in Adjá Adjá y otros relatos, a collec-tion of short stories by Maximiliano Nko-go and Nadie tiene buena fama en este país, a novel by Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel. She also submitted biographies of two Equa-torial Guinean authors, Donato Ndongo Bidyogo and Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel to be included in the Oxford University Press’ Dictionary of African Biography.

•Marilya Veteto-Reese, a professor of Ger-man, was awarded a Research Visit Grant to Germany by the German Academic Exchange Service. Veteto-Reese will visit Berlin and Karlsruhe to conduct research for a book. She will also participate in a bilingual book-release reading tour with Anant Kumar, an Indian-German writer whose literary works Veteto-Reese has translated.