Spring 2009
Vol. I
Eds. Maria DiFrancesco
and Marella Feltrin-Morris
The Language Philes
Ithaca College
Department of Modern Languages & Literatures
Newsletter
A Word from the Chair, by Michael Richardson
Let’s Learn How to
Say…
Cheers!
Arabic
Bi Alsehah!
Chinese
干杯, Gan Bei!
French
Santé!
German
Prosit!
Hebrew
L’Chayim!
Italian
Cin cin!
Latin
Vivat!
Spanish
¡Salud!
Welcome to what I hope will be the first of
many issues of The Language Philes, the
Newsletter for the Department of Modern
Languages and Literatures. In it you will find
updates on our faculty and our programs,
essays by current students, and pictures and
reports from DMLL alumni. The Language
Philes will be published annually to keep our
department connected with its many
accomplished graduates.
Every year there is a lot of coming and going,
and this year has been no exception. I should
probably start by introducing myself to those
of you who do not know me. My name is
Michael Richardson and though I have been
at IC for ten years, I have only recently taken
over as Department Chairperson, succeeding
Gladys Varona-Lacey. For those of you who
know Gladys, you know that she is a tough
act to follow! After more than thirty years of
service to the DMLL and to IC, Jane Kaplan
(French) retired last spring, though not quite,
as you will read in the following pages. Other
departures include Judith Benz (German),
Patricia Gravatt and Gérard Beck (French),
and Ragy Ibrahim and Muna Aghawani
(Arabic). As we say goodbye, we also
welcome new faculty members—Mark Hall
(French), Elizabeth Hall (French), James
Pfrehm (German), Hayder Assad (Arabic),
Faten Houissa (Arabic), and Min You
(Chinese).
You can learn more about these new additions
later in the newsletter.
It has been a busy year for the DMLL. Last
spring we celebrated our graduating students
with performances of poems, skits, and songs at
our annual event, Our Languages, Our Cultures: A
Celebration. Steve Winston (Spanish) was
presented with the department’s Outstanding
Student of the Year award. We are fortunate to
have Steve still with us—he is currently
enrolled in the MAT program in Spanish. In
October, students and faculty held the first
annual Spookiness without Borders, an evening of
scary songs and stories from throughout the
world. And, just weeks ago, we inducted new
members into the four foreign language honor
societies.
Our faculty have been quite active as well, with
several books and articles published, and papers
presented at various national and international
conferences.
As you peruse the pages of this newsletter, I
hope that you are inspired to drop us a line
with information about your own exploits since
graduation. Whether you want to share news
about some of your achievements, update us on
how you have been using the skills you have
learned, or simply reflect on your experiences
here at Ithaca, we look forward to hearing from
you.
Honor Societies Ceremony: Celebrating Our Outstanding Students,
by Julia Cozzarelli
On November 13, the DMLL celebrated the
achievements of our outstanding students at the
2008 Honor Society induction ceremony. The event
included an address by Dean Leslie Lewis to the
candidates followed by the initiation of the new
members in each language section. The candidates
skillfully demonstrated their enthusiasm for the
study of language, literature, and culture in both
prose and poetry before a rapt audience. Inducted
into Pi Delta Phi, the National French Honor
Society, were Kyle Barber, Shanique Edwards,
Lawrence Komrower, Tristan O'Neill, and Lisa
Russell. Inducted into Sigma Delta Pi, the National
Spanish Honor Society, were Heike Domine,
Elizabeth Fraser, Kim Heinle, Amanda Kehoe, Craig
Kropa, and Rachel Samilow. Inducted into Gamma
Kappa Alpha, the National Italian Honor Society,
were Elizabeth Getman, Ioana Motoarca, Rachel
Samilow, and Amy Suznovich. Inducted into Delta
Phi Alpha, the National German Honor Society,
were Zachary Gidding, Kaitlyn McQuaid, and
Donald Spacht. The DMLL is very proud of the
accomplishments of these talented students and we
look forward to their future contributions in an
increasingly multicultural world.
German honor students, Zach Gidding, Kaitlyn
McQuaid and Donald Spacht (Photo, Annette
Levine)
French honor students, were Lawrence
Komrower, Lisa Russel, Shanique Edwards,
Tristan O'Neill, Kyle Barber and (photo,
Annette Levine)
The Language Philes
Page 2 of 6
Language Houses Take Flight, by Annette Levine, Spanish
We are excited to announce the
launching of three new residential
learning communities devoted to
language and culture: Amici, Quartier
Français, and Stockwerk Deutsch.
Inspired by the success of the
Hispanic culture and Spanish
language community, Vecinos, faculty
members and students are working
together to create a lively
multicultural and multilingual
physical presence in the residence
halls. While fostering a comfortable
partial language immersion
environment for residents to
actively converse in the languages
they love, each community offers
creative programming involving film
nights, cooking programs, art and
music appreciation, reading groups,
and field trips. These communities
are ideal for students who enjoy
languages and experiencing diverse
cultures first-hand. The French,
Italian, German, and Spanish
language and culture communities
are currently recruiting residents
for the fall ’09 semester. For more
information please contact Annette
Levine, Assistant Professor,
Spanish, [email protected].
Language House posters, hanging on
the DMLL walls (photo, Marella Feltrin-Morris)
The DMLL TA Program: A Longstanding Success, by Sabatino Maglione
Sabatino Maglione’s avalanche force in evidence
(photo, Max Steinmetz/The Ithacan)
In 1991, the DMLL instituted its undergraduate
teaching assistantship (TA) program with the
support of the administration and a two-year
$157,000 grant from the National Endowment
for the Humanities. The grant included a
$30,000 matching-funds component, bringing
the total devoted to the program to $187,000.
The DMLL used funds to train TAs, adding
intensity, reinforcement, and culture to
elementary-level courses.
For the past eighteen years, I have personally
trained IC language majors and minors to
dramatize short dialogues, present video and
reading comprehension materials, and deliver
several types of substitution drills with
avalanche force and whip-cracking speed in a
choreographed delivery system.
Approximately 40 TAs are selected at the end
of their training sessions in the fall and spring
semester. TAs are chosen based on the
following criteria: a) appropriate level of
fluency; b) demonstrated effectiveness in
presenting drills, dialogues, and exercises
during training sessions; c) integrity and
character; d) strong commitment to the
responsibility of being a TA; e) the
recommendation of two DMLL faculty
members.
New TAs introduce themselves to the
faculty members with whom they will work
at the beginning of each semester. They
regularly meet with faculty to coordinate
materials to be presented to classes, and to
receive other exercises prepared by faculty.
TAs meet with a small number of students
once a week for fifty minutes to lead
recitation sessions designed to reinforce
grammatical, lexical, and cultural material
already introduced in class by the students’
main faculty instructor. TAs neither give
nor grade exams, quizzes or homework;
however, they provide a great service to
their peers by giving them the opportunity
to increase their proficiency in speaking and
reading the target language, as well as
understanding the cultures embraced by the
language they study.
Undergraduate students greatly benefit
from the TA program by developing
valuable leadership skills and acquiring
knowledge in all aspects of language and
culture. In turn, this reinforces and expands
their proficiency in the target language. For
their work students receive a small stipend
per hour up to three hours per week, one
is spent in the classroom, and two hours
are dedicated to class preparation.
The Language Philes
Page 3 of 6
Cultural Differences in Salamanca, Spain, by Sarah Fields, ‘10
This semester, I am studying in Spain. I
never could have imagined what living in
Salamanca would be like before I arrived.
Like other students who choose to study
abroad, I chose Spain for the language skills
I would acquire. On the plane across the
Atlantic, I knew I would be immersed in a
different language and a different culture,
but never having had a similar experience
before, I had no idea what to expect!
Spanish culture is similar to US culture in
many ways, but there are a few differences.
One of the biggest dissimilarities is the
timing and content of meals. Spaniards eat a
light breakfast, a large, main meal at around
2pm, and a light dinner as late as 10pm.
Another difference is that, in my Spanish
home, the television is always on! I would
never have thought that I would watch
Japanese anime at the dinner table with Ana
Belin, my host sister. Nor could I have
pictured sitting at the dinner table with my
señora and host sister, straining to
understand the words being tossed
between the two as they continued an
argument about Ana Belin´s recently
acquired lip piercing. As Ana Belin showed
off how she could push the piercing out
with her tongue, her parents shuddered,
“Ay, Ana Belin! ¡Qué asco!” (how gross!)
There are other differences. Spanish drivers
are even less pedestrian-friendly than in
America; people of all ages stay out late
enough at night to be awake when the
churrería (a shop that sells churros, a sweet
fried dough) opens in the morning; and
there is general bewilderment about US
students who feel the need to exercise by
jogging through the city.
Learning a language in a new culture is both
frustrating and rewarding. Sometimes, I
wish I could snap my fingers and
immediately sound like a native. However,
through all the challenges, studying abroad
to learn a language is an experience that
opens your eyes and is well worth it.
Chocolate and churros (photo, Sarah Fields)
After College, by Adam Weiss, ‘07
Returning from a five-month study abroad
program in Costa Rica to finish my last
semester at IC in Spring ‘07, I felt both
nostalgic and anxious. I had no plans for
after graduation. However, I had spoken
many times with my advisor, Maria
DiFrancesco, about my predicament.
Therefore, when she received information
from the Spanish Ministry of Science and
Education about a fellowship program for
college graduates to teach English in Spain
for one year, she forwarded me the
information. Excited by the opportunity, I
applied, got accepted and set off for Spain.
On arriving in Madrid, tired and jetlagged,
reality set in. Living and working abroad
would not be easy. My job orientation
session in the capital city lasted 8 hours and
taught me very little about what I would be
doing. I arrived in Seville by train a short
time later. On top of having no place to
stay, no friends and no connections, I had
eaten no dinner. Luckily, restaurants stay
open late in Spain.
I started teaching in a public high school in a
suburb of Seville the next day. My first
weeks were the worst. I felt ill-prepared
and suddenly realized that teaching was not
as easy as it had seemed. I had taken for
granted all of the wonderful teachers I had
had, having never realized that one actually
had to plan a lesson. I had naively assumed
such lessons came out of thin air. I was
wrong. Little by little, and with a lot of help
from the rest of the English Department, I
began learning how to teach.
As I got better at organizing my classes, I
discovered I enjoyed teaching. I also
realized that, while I enjoyed teaching
English in Spain, my true passion was
Spanish. I returned from Spain in 2008, and I
am currently a New York City Teaching
Fellow getting certified to teach Spanish at
the high school level.
When I graduated from Ithaca College, I
received a medal with my diploma.
Inscribed on the back was a Chinese
proverb: “A journey of a thousand miles
begins with a single step.” I have begun my
journey, and although I still have many miles
to go, I will continue to walk towards my
goals, confidently, one step at a time.
From left to right, Gladys Varona-Lacey,
Maria DiFrancesco, Breton Bienvenue
and Adam Weiss, getting together in
Salamanca, Spain in October, 2007.
The Language Philes
Page 4 of 6
Congratulations to Chinese Faculty Member, Min You
The DMLL is very proud to announce that Min You, a
faculty member in Chinese, was awarded a competitive
grant through the H&S Educational Grant Initiative. This
special funding, conferred through the H&S Dean’s Office,
supplemented language instruction in introductory
Chinese.
Jim Hardesty, Chinese calligraphy expert,
interacts with Min You’s students (photo, Min
You)
Students in Min You’s classes had the fantastic
opportunity to participate in a special presentation by a
local expert on Chinese calligraphy, Jim Hardesty. After
trying their hands at producing calligraphy, students also
learned about authentic Chinese cuisine. Elementary
Chinese students were very pleased with the event. Min
You hopes to plan more such activities in the future.
A Warm Welcome to New Faculty Members
The DMLL welcomes several new faculty
members this year. Raised in Athens,
Georgia, Mark Andrew Hall studied
French Literature at Wake Forest
University before spending the year after
his graduation in Dijon, France, teaching
English to middle school, high school, and
vocational students. Upon returning from
France, he enrolled at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, where he received
both his M.A. and Ph.D. in French. He
comes to Ithaca from the University of
West Georgia, where he taught for three
years.
Originally from the Pacific Northwest,
James Pfrehm completed his PhD in
German Linguistics at the University of
Wisconsin. His research interests include
perceptual dialectology, pluricentric languages,
and language variation. In addition to teaching,
he enjoys exploring new venues of
instructional technology. His favorite dog is
the dachshund.
Elizabeth Hall received her BA from Amherst
College, then spent a year at the Ecole
Normale Supérieure in Paris before going on
to study for her MA and PhD at the University
of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research focuses
on feminist and gender theories in
contemporary French and Francophone prose
writing, and in particular on the work of
Hélène Cixous.
Min You developed new techniques in Chinese
instruction in the developmental phase of China's new
education system. She went on to negotiate some of
the earliest contracts for joint ventures in China,
before moving to the US nearly ten years ago. Since
then she has developed her own business and taught
Chinese. Having grown up in Manchuria, north of the
Great Wall, one would think that Min You is used to
the cold, but she is still not fond of winter.
Other faculty members include Faten Houissa and
Haydar Hassad, both of them Instructors of Arabic.
Our warmest welcome goes out to our new faculty!
We are glad to have you here at IC!
Retirement - Not Quite!
Our beloved colleague Jane Kaplan
“retired” at the end of last semester after
37 years at IC. In her formative years,
Kaplan went south (born in Virginia),
souther (B.A. from UNC, Chapel Hill), and
southest (Ph.D. in French from LSU, Baton
Rouge). Having heard that a southern
accent made speaking French [r]s easier,
she was pleased to give it a try, and has
enjoyed it ever since. When she ended up
in the north (since 1964), and was lucky
enough to have taught a while at Southern
Connecticut, Quinnipiac, Yale and Cornell
(ahem!) before coming to the love of her
life at Ithaca College, she made it her
business to convince the northerners that
they, too, could learn French [r]s, as well as
subjunctive, pronouns and partitives.
Spending many years in France made her
feel truly comfortable with the language, the
culture, and obviously the food and wine.
She finds research fun and enlightening
(especially the 18th century); her favorite
texts are la Bibliothèque bleue brochures,
which were published in the 17th and
18th centuries for French people who
didn’t know how to read. In them,
people learned how to do everything
from choosing a fiancé(e) to scaring
the “hell” (yes, that’s a quotation) out
of children so they would be good.
But even more fun for Kaplan is being
in the classroom.
Kaplan adores her helpful,
encouraging, supportive colleagues,
from whom she loves to steal ideas to
use in her own classes. And luckily for
us, the news of her retirement has
been grossly exaggerated. She is still
“playing” (her word!) for an hour each
week in the optional intermediatelevel conversation course and
covering a linguistics course for an
unexpected faculty departure. So,
retirement? What’s that? If you see
Jane Kaplan, wish her a happy one, but
don’t expect her to leave any time
soon!
Jane Kaplan: Not really retired
(photo, Maria DiFrancesco)
The Language Philes
Two Great Opportunities Abroad,
Josh Scott, ‘09
Students of Italian and French should learn about
two great opportunities abroad. The Associazione
Culturale Linguistica Educational (ACLE) offers
great possibilities for anyone entering the field
of education or anyone who just loves working
with children. Participants receive a stipend to
teach English while immersing themselves in
Italian language, culture and cuisine. During the
first week, individuals go through an orientation
program in Sanremo, Italy, where they learn
how to teach English to children. After
orientation, participants travel to city or
summer camps located in various regions of
Italy.
speak French daily outside of class since few
English speakers live in the area. While this
program is not cheap, Avignon has a rather
vibrant nightlife that is well worth exploring. For
more information, visit their website at
www.iaufrance.org/avignon
Faculty News & Notes
Silvia Abbiati ([email protected]) and her
husband Davide Fortusini enthusiastically
announce that they are now the very happy
parents of a baby boy named Giovanni, who was
born November 29th, 2008.
City Camps are similar to English summer
schools for Italian children. Such camps provide
Italian children fun learning opportunities
outside of the traditional classroom setting.
American participants who teach at City Camps
have the opportunity to live with a host family,
enjoy Italian food and improve their language
skills. At the end of the week, students from
both city and summer camps put on a final show
directed by their respective camp tutors.
A proud abuelo, last summer Beni Barrero
([email protected]) enjoyed some quality
time in Puerto Rico with his granddaughter,
Flavia.
As a participant, I enjoyed this program because
it gave me the chance to travel through Italy,
meet new people, and improve my Italian. I
found teaching English to Italian children really
rewarding because I was able to witness the
learning process first-hand. Each time a child
understood a concept, I could see the
enjoyment in his/her face.
Julia Cozzarelli ([email protected]) was
granted tenure and promoted to Associate
Professor. In her spare time, she has been
painting the walls of her house and taking voice
lessons in the School of Music. She will be
heading to Siena, Italy, this summer with the
Ithaca College Summer Abroad program.
Expenses for the program include roundtrip
airfare to Italy, the cost of orientation and any
excursions one may take on weekends. For
more information, visit their website at
www.acle.org
Maria DiFrancesco’s
([email protected]) book, Feminine
Agency and Transgression in Post-Franco Spain, was
recently published by Juan de la Cuesta Hispanic
Monographs. DiFrancesco spends her free time
gardening and is thinking about raising chickens
or sheep at her home in Newfield, NY.
The Institute for American Universities houses
its program in Avignon, a beautiful medieval city
in southeast France, rich in history, diverse
museums and art. Students who participate in
this program live with a host family within
walking distance of the university. The university
is housed in a former church and all classes at
the institution are conducted in French. There
are typically thirty students in the program at a
time, so students receive considerable
individualized attention. Also, students have the
option of taking classes at the actual university in
Avignon.
The small size of the city provides the ideal
opportunity for students to speak French
outside of class. It is very easy to get to other
cities around the area because Avignon has two
train stations. The program tuition also includes
a number of excursions outside the city.
This program is perfect for students who enjoy
small cities. In Avignon, I got to know the people
in my program well, and I had the chance to
Tina Bennett ([email protected]) recently
attended a technology workshop on Blackboard,
and plans to use her expertise to help language
instructors apply this program to enhance their
courses.
Marella Feltrin-Morris
([email protected]) received the first
Ph.D. in Translation Studies in the US (Summer
2008). A portion of her dissertation, Into
Forbidden Territory: The Audacity to Translate into a
Second Language, has been accepted for
publication by SUNY Press. Between classes, she
keeps busy with translation projects and
crossword puzzles.
Hayder Hassad ([email protected]), Rima
Grunes ([email protected]) ; and Faten
Houissa ([email protected]) organized a
Muslim-Jewish Post-Holiday Celebration, after
the Feast of Eid and the Jewish New Year.
Guests shared a meal, learned greetings in
Arabic and Hebrew and had a chance to note
similarities and differences between the two
languages. Peace starts in small ways such as
these!
Jane Kaplan ([email protected]) likes to
pretend that she has retired.
Page 5 of 6
For Halloween, Annette Levine
([email protected]) decided to dress-up her
daughter, Sofía, as Dumbo instead of a zootsuiter. There’s always next year, Sofía! In other
news, Annette’s book, Cry For Me, Argentina: The
Performance of Trauma in the Short Narratives of
Aida Bortnik, Griselda Gambaro, and Tununa
Mercado, was just published with Fairleigh
Dickinson University Press.
Julio López-Árias ([email protected]) recently
helped start the first Evangelical Hispanic Church
in Ithaca. Ask him for more details if you’re
interested in joining!
Sabatino Maglione ([email protected]) is
spending Tuesday noon hours training all
language TAs. He spends his free time
promoting the FBI: Full Blooded Italians!
Sergio Pedro ([email protected]) continues
working with Intercambios’ students and
developing IC connections with the Spanishspeaking community.
Michael Richardson
([email protected]) and his wife, Mary,
are the proud parents of a baby boy, Maxwell
Belvino Richardson.
When not teaching, Bernardo Torres
([email protected]) enjoys spending time with
his family and practicing karate.
After ten years as DMLL Chair, Gladys
Varona- Lacey ([email protected]) has gone
back to full-time teaching, her first love. She
continues to co-direct the Latin American
Studies minor with Michael Malpass
(Anthropology), and is excited to see the
program grow. In November, she presented a
paper in Valencia, Spain.
The Language Philes
Julia Cozzarelli and Silvia Abbiati
Michael Richardson
Page 6 of 6
Jim Hogg, Julio López-Árias,
Annette Levine and Min You
Silvia Abbiati and Maria
DiFrancesco
Faten Houissa
Mark Hall
Min You
Sabatino Maglione and Jane Kaplan
Mark Hall
Louise Donohue and Marella
Feltrin-Morris
Elizabeth Berglund Hall
James Pfrehm
Gladys Varona-Lacey, Louise
Donohue and Rima Grunes
Submit Alumni News!
We enjoy keeping in contact with our
students and alumni, and we hope that
you will share your language-related
personal and professional updates
with us! Submit alumni news to:
The Language Philes by e-mailing
[email protected] or
[email protected]
Remember to visit us on the web:
http://www.ithaca.edu/hs/depts/mll/
The DMLL encourages your
continued support and donations!
Hayder Assad
Bernardo Torres, Beni Barrero, Julio López-Árias and
Sergio Pedro.