No Images? Click here Spring 2018 | Issue 3 What’s New? Letter from the Chair The Fall is always a busy time for both students and faculty. Students are getting used to their courses and professors are settling back into teaching, attempting to pursue their research and dealing with all sorts of administrative duties. This past Fall, the Department participated in Open House recruitment drives and other events in addition to once again holding its Student Awards Ceremony (Profs and Prizes). At the beginning of this event that recognizes our best students, we revisited the history of Modern Languages at U of L by means of a presentation on past professors, events, and students. The Department intends to organize the collected information relating to its past in the coming months, so that it can be easily accessed in the future. In this, our 3rd newsletter, we recap the events and achievements of the past few months and revisit dates regarding our Modern Language Speaker and Film series, as well as those for the DELF-French competency tests. We highlight a Teaching Development grant, the publication of a major translation, the departure of a professor for Japan with the Hokkai Gakuen Exchange, a Japanese Video Contest, Rakugo Japanese storytelling, and a complimentary location – La Rioja, Spain – for the Spanish Summer Immersion courses. With this newsletter, we hope to keep current students and others outside our Department informed with respect to who we are and what we are doing. In the future, we intend to reach out to alumni and better understand what our past students are currently up to. Once again, thanks to Dr. Spagnolo for her dedication to this newsletter. We encourage you to submit future items to our administrative assistant, Jessica Goodrider Loewen. As we look back on the previous months, let’s also look forward to warmer weather and maintaining the Spring in our step. All the best for the end of the semester! - Steve Congratulations! Dr. Inge Genee recently received a grant from the Teaching Development Fund for a project entitled, “An integrated Master-Apprentice Program for Indigenous language learning”. This project will take place in the fall of 2018 with 4-5 Indigenous students. The students are to be enrolled in an experimental course which will explore a new way to create an immersion-like experience for students learning or improving their spoken Blackfoot. The course will bring together student apprentices with fluent master-speakers from their own community in one-on-one teams who will learn techniques to combine traditional visiting with language-learning activities. Those of you who are interested in the Dutch and Flemish immigration experience can now take a look at the first of two special issues of Canadian Journal of Netherlandic Studies. This journal is edited by Modern Languages faculty member Dr. Inge Genee, and the special issue is guest edited by Native American Studies faculty member Dr. Hendrika Beaulieu. Managing editor is Modern Languages graduate student Steven Gillis. The Joys of Translation: Bringing art to life beyond Having already translated three literary French works into English, Dr. Urquhart worked for over a year in consultation with J.-P Warren on this 235 page translation, originally entitled, Art Vivant. Autour de Paul-Émile Borduas. Published in French in 2011, Warren’s study examines the winding career path of this famous Québécois painter and his revolutionary influence on art in la belle province. Borduas encouraged Quebec’s art community via his provocative 1948 manifesto Refus Global and his teachings to abandon not only figurative art, but also the stuffiness of the past in favour of postmodern freedoms. Sessional Instruction We would like to welcome back two sessional instructors this semester: Sylvie Lebon who is teaching French 1500 and Francine Young (Coordinator of the French Language Centre) who is teaching both French 1000 and French 2000. Faculty Exchange
Recent Faculty Publications/Presentations Dr. Mélanie Collado. "Les chick flicks du cinéma français contemporain," presented July 17, 2017 at the AATF convention. Dr. Brent Devos. Calderón de la Barca, Pedro. El Tuzaní de la Alpujarra o Amar después de la muerte: Edición crítica con introducción y notas. Ed. Brent W. Devos. Biblioteca Indiana. Madrid: Iberoamericana; Vervuert, (2018) [Forthcoming]. Dr. Beth Gerwin. “Adapting Balzac: Realism and Memory On Screen". Romance Studies, February 2018. Dr. Abby McMeekin. “L1-L2 speaker interaction in a study abroad setting: Communication strategies, word searches, and intersubjectivity.” Study Abroad Research in Second Language Acquisition and International Education. Volume 2(2). 263-294 (2017). Dr. Luz Janeth Ospina. “Despliegue de la competencia pragmática a partir de un modelo pedagógico mediado por las nuevas tecnologías,” III International Conference on Applied Linguistics to Language Teaching: Towards Multilingualism. ISSN 2386-2181. June 23-25, 2016, Madrid, Spain. Dr. Omar Rodríguez. “Cine hecho por adolescentes: la experiencia del cine directo en Venezuela [Films Made by Adolescents: The Experience of Direct Cinema in Venezuela],” presented April/May 2017 at the XXXV Congress of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA) in Lima, Perú. Dr. Tabitha Spagnolo. “De l’éducation des dames and the Disquieting Quarrel on Early-Modern Equality,” presented Oct. 12, 2017 at RMMLA conference. Dr. Alain Flaubert Takam. “Revitalisation des langues minoritaires par les médias : étude de quelques stratégies de promotion des langues autochtones au Canada.” Linguistica Atlantica, Vol 36, No 2, 111-139. (December 2017) Dr. Raquel Trillia. “A Case Study in Eloquence: Teresa of Avila’s Libro de la vida.” Lemir 20 (2016): 153-165. Dr. Steven Urquhart. “Avant Propos.” Les Pédagogues (1961) de Gérard Bessette. Montréal: Pierre Tisseyre, 2017. 5-23. What we're reading, watching, playing... Dr. Beth Gerwin Dr. Tabitha Spagnolo Dr. Steven Urquhart Dr. Yukiko Yoshizumi Modern Languages Film Series - Crime Nueve reinas [Nine Queens] ( Argentina, Fabián Bilinsky, 2000) Two small-time criminals hook up to pull off a once-in-a-lifetime con: selling a forged set of extremely valuable rare stamps, the Nine Queens. But nothing is as it seems, and one layer of appearance gives way to another in this tightly scripted and acted thriller. Rated R. (In Spanish with English subtitles). Der amerikanische Freund [American Friend] (Germany, Wim Wenders, 1977) A man who believes he is terminally ill teams up with a ruthless American gangster (Dennis Hopper) in the hope of leaving a legacy for his family. Since he is dying anyway, he feels he has nothing left to lose. An adaptation of the “doppelganger” thriller Ripley’s Game by Patricia Highsmith. (In German with English subtitles). Yoidore Tenshi [Drunken Angel] ( Japan, Akira Kurosawa, 1948) In this powerful early noir from the great Akira Kurosawa, Toshiro Mifune bursts onto the screen as a volatile, tubercular criminal who strikes up an unlikely relationship with a jaded physician in the muddy swamps of postwar Tokyo. (In Japanese with English subtitles). Le Samouraï [The Samurai] (France, Jean-Pierre Melville, 1967) After he is seen by witnesses, a lone contract killer has to find a series of alibis, a task that is made harder by the fact that he is next on his own boss’s hit list. A stylised masterpiece of cool that combines 1940s gangster cinema with 1960s pop culture, held together with a samurai’s instinct. (In French with English subtitles). Los olvidados [The Young and the Damned] (Mexico, Luis Buñuel, 1950) Director Luis Buñuel takes an uncompromising look at the lives of slum children on the streets of Mexico City, by following the story of a young gang leader seeking revenge on the man who sent him to prison. The moral failings of society come to the fore, through the young criminals who are victims of circumstances far beyond their control. (In Spanish with English subtitles). Le crime de M Lange [The Crime of Mr. Lange]
(France, Jean Renoir, 1936) An early Renoir allegory of fighting injustice by any means, at the dawn of WWII. Mr. Lange is a day-dreaming writer of pulp Western fiction; when his unscrupulous boss absconds with their earnings he rallies his colleagues to continue their popular publishing venture. But the boss returns, and Mr. Lange is faced with a dire choice. Screenplay by poet Jacques Prévert. (In French with English subtitles). Modern Languages Speaker Series Dr. Esther de Bruijn Dr. Gabrielle Houle 25th Stabilizing Indigenous The 25th Stabilizing Indigenous Languages Symposium (SILS2018) will take place in Lethbridge on June 7-9, 2018, co-hosted by the Peigan Board of Education and the University of Lethbridge. Modern Languages Faculty member, Dr. Inge Genee, together with partners from the Peigan Board of Education and the Department of Indigenous Studies, was successful in securing a $47,000 SSHRC grant in support of this symposium. SILS is the oldest and largest gathering of Indigenous Language stakeholders in North America, and we are particularly honoured to be able to host this 25th anniversary edition on our Nato’ohkotok (Medicine Rock) campus in traditional Blackfoot territory. The symposium program will be built around three themes: Research, Instructional Skills, and Community. Proposals for presentations are due on March 20. For details see our website at www.sils208.ca or email info-sils2018.ca. Japanese Activity Workshops Every Thursday from 10:00-11:30 during the Spring semester, come to the Student Room (B-586) to participate in Japanese reading, calligraphy, etc. workshops. There will be something exciting happening every week! March 22 - Calligraphy Workshop Canada Japanese Video and Speech Contest Students in JPNS1500 (Fall 2017) submitted their Japanese video to the Canada Japanese Video Contest. A large number of videos were submitted from all over Canada and after a rigorous screening process, Sylvia Baiton received second prize in the "Things of Japan I love" category for her video entitled "Transitional Periods in Japanese Literature". Hana Rogstad received the Special Prize for "How to Make Choco Banana from Festivals". Congratulations to all including Darren M. and Jaden Seize who made it to the Final List and to Dr. Yukiko Yoshizumi for encouraging them along the way! Kudos also go to Anne Dalziel who participated in the 27th Alberta district Japanese Speech Contest in the advanced category. She was one of over thirty participants from Alberta and Saskatchewan - well done! Rakugo Storytelling Jaiden Seize, Christian Sprinkhusen, and Benjamin Wong performed the Rakugo Japanese storytelling at the New Year Party held by the Nikkei Cultural Society of Lethbridge on February 3, 2018. They provided the traditional Japanese storytelling comedy entertainment to the guests! Spanish Immersion Summer Funding Thanks to the efforts of Dr. Luz Janeth Ospina, up to fifteen students from our department will receive scholarships of $500 each from the Campus Alberta Grant for International Learning (CAGFIL) to support their participation in the 2018 Spanish Summer Immersion Program in Rioja. La Rioja is another and new location for the Program. The region is well known for its wines. Off-campus study (France & Québec) The following students did/are doing a semester away: Free French Tutoring The French Language Centre is once again providing Free French tutoring at all levels on Mondays & Tuesdays from 3-4 in the Modern Languages Student Room (B-586). Free and open to all students currently enrolled in French classes. U of L Travel Fund deadline: June 1, 2018 for travel July 1 - Sept. 30, 2018 Explore program application deadline (for Summer 2018): February 15, 2018 Faculty Study Leave application deadline: May 30, 2018 DELF Spring Exam Dates: DELF Tous Publics/Post-Secondary Students
DELF A1 - Monday, March 5, 2018 - 10 am - TH 241 DELF Junior/Scolaire (Students from age 11)
DELF A1 - Thursday, April 26, 2018 - 10 am - TH 241 The Department of Modern Languages Newsletter
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