Linguae
N E WS L E T T E R O F T H E DE PA R T M E N T O F G LO BA L L A N G UAG ES A N D C U LT U RES
Shippensburg University
A Message from the Chair
Issue No. 19 • 2022
Inside This Issue Our Faculty and Staff.................................2
Greetings from Shippensburg! I am glad to report that 2021 was a year that saw us return to campus for in-class instruction after the COVID-19 pandemic had compelled us to pivot to distance learning. We are all glad to be back in the classrooms with our students!
Congratulations Graduates........................2 Faculty News.............................................3 2021 Events..............................................3
Despite the pandemic and ongoing budget challenges our university faces, the Global Languages and Cultures Department was able to maintain the high standards for which it continues to be recognized. In addition to its recent reaccreditation by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, which runs through 2028, the Global Languages Education Program was again nationally recognized by the ACTFL-CAEP through 2029. We were gratified to be chosen by the Pennsylvania State Modern Language Association as their University Spotlight in the spring 2022 issue of the Pennsylvania Language Forum (https://www.psmla.net/sites/default/files/PLFSpring2022.pdf )! We have also been busy updating how we spotlight ourselves. As I mentioned in last year’s letter, the department began the process of reorganizing our website to provide a more user-friendly experience with more useful information. While this process has not yet been finished, I do invite you to take a look at the changes and let us know your thoughts (https://www.ship.edu/academics/colleges/cas/programs/global-languages). We continue to craft the website as a place for prospective and current student as well as alumni to keep up on the department’s activities.
We are very proud of our many outstanding students who have persevered through the very challenging learning environment brought about by the pandemic. We congratulate Daniel Fiscus, Alex Purcell, Bryant Snyder, and Meryem Tayoune upon their induction into our French Honor Society chapter, Mu Psi. We also congratulate Maria Black, who received the 2021 Pauline M. Klaus award for her outstanding accomplishments in both French and Spanish, and the 2021 APSCUF College Student award winner McKenzy Harris (French)! Currently, Suphawat Nambuppa ’20 is completing his year as a Fulbright Teaching Assistant in Germany after his award was postponed a year. In further good news, our graduating senior Sara Brunner has accepted a paid internship to Dachau, Germany for 2022-2023 to work in the church of reconciliation of the memorial site of the former concentration camp there. It is gratifying to see so many of our students take the skills they have developed here and apply them in professional settings upon graduation. Our student spotlight this issue is on Kaylie O’Donnell, another senior who is already putting her language and cultural skills to professional use. Whether it is the quality of their teaching, advising student clubs, organizing and chairing student conference panels, or mentoring students outside the classroom, our faculty has been very busy promoting student success. This past year, the department also organized and participated in numerous events which brough topics of global importance to campus. In the spring of 2021, I organized a zoom talk given by Dr. Jeff Rutherford of Xavier 1
French Honor Society.................................4 French Club...............................................4 French Tutors.............................................4 Student Profile...........................................4
Contact Us
1871 Old Main Drive Shippensburg, PA 17257-2299 Phone: (717) 477-1635 Fax: (717) 477-4058 aebagu@ship.edu ship.edu/global_languages STAY IN TOUCH! If you have any items of interest that you would like to see included in Linguae please forward them to the above address.
University on German society at war, and was invited to participate in a fall 2021 panel discussing post-Merkel Germany. Dr. Morana organized a fall 2021 zoom talk by Dr. Sebastián Díaz-Duhalde of Dartmouth University on wars in Latin America. In addition to this, our faculty continued to expand its pedagogy and create remarkable scholarship shared nationally and internationally, which you can read about in faculty news.
out our page (and like us!). I close with the hope that you will stay healthy and connected. Best wishes,
Dr. David W. Wildermuth Associate Professor of German Chair, Department of Global Languages and Cultures dwwildermuth@ship.edu
In closing, we are very glad for your interest in the department’s activities and hope you enjoy this newsletter. We will continue to use Facebook to announce departmental events, so please check
Our Faculty and Staff Robert Lesman | Spanish
Marcela Pineda-Volk | Spanish
I was born and raised in Fairfax, Virginia. I received my PhD in comparative literature from the University of Texas at Austin in 2005. I specialize in translation and interpreting and have published articles on Cuban literature and culture.
I was born in Colombia and raised in New Jersey. I received an MA in Spanish from Middlebury College and a PhD in Latin American literature from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. My area of specialization is contemporary Latin American literature.
I grew up near Dijon, France in the Burgundy region and did the first part of my studies at the Université de Bourgogne where I obtained a Maîtrise (MA) in English literature. I subsequently spent some time in Oxford, OH, where I obtained an MA in French from Miami University, and then completed my PhD at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. My research interests are 20th and 21st century French literature, translation, with a focus on issues of bilingualism and identity, as well as memory and representation in Haitian literature.
Education
Blandine Mitaut | French
José Ricardo-Osorio | Spanish and Foreign Language
I earned my BA from Universidad del Atlántico in Barranquilla (Colombia) and my MA from the University of Arkansas. My doctorate is from the University of Arkansas too. My research interests include learning outcomes assessment, cognitive psychology in educational reform, teacher professional development and Foreign Language methods.
David Wildermuth | German
Ana Moraña | Spanish and Ethnic Studies
I was born and raised on Long Island, NY. I received an MA in German and another in political science from Bowling Green State University in Ohio and a Doctor of Modern Languages in German and Russian from Middlebury College. My research interests include the German Army and the Holocaust as well as the contemporary German film scene. I have close ties to Germany and Austria through family and friends and love to share what is vibrant and compelling about the German-speaking world with my students.
I am professor of Spanish, Latin American literatures and cultures (Department of Global Languages and Cultures) and I am director of the Ethnic Studies program. My book La fiesta de la modernidad en la Argentina. La revista Caras y Caretas (1898-1910) was published in 2016. I also published several articles on Latin American literature, film and Latino studies. I was the recipient of a National Endowment for the Humanities grant for a summer seminar in Buenos Aires in 2014.
Congratulations, Graduates! We are happy to announce the graduation of the following majors and minors: • Meryem Tayoune (French with Secondary Certification BA) • John Lyons (French/Psychology BA)
• Madison Albright (International Studies BA with French minor)
• Bryant Snyder (International Studies BA; in addition to his previous French BA)
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Faculty News Blandine Mitaut
David Wildermuth
Presented the paper ‘U.S. Go Home!’: Tongues at War in Pascal Quignard’s L’Occupation américaine”, at the Kentucky Foreign Languages Conference over Zoom, April 22-24, 2021
Organized and co-led campus-wide talk with Dr. Mark Sachleben, “Post-Merkel Germany: Thoughts on German Politics, History, and Culture during the German Election,” September 2021.
Co-edited the 6th issue of the Shippensburg Journal of Modern Languages (2021)
Invited and organized campus-wide talk given by Dr. Jeff Rutherford, Xavier University, entitled: “German Society at War: Total War, 1939-1945,” March 2021.
Robert Lesman
Mentored Student Suphawat Nambuppha for his successful Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship to Germany, 2020-2021
Book: Translating Cuba: Literature, Music, Film, Politics. Routledge, 2021.
Organizer and panelist, campus-wide talk “Post-Merkel Germany: Thoughts on German Politics, History, and Culture during the German Election,” September 2021.
Peer-reviewed article: “Real and Unreal Lives: José Rodríguez Feo’s Translation of Stevens’ ‘Attempt to Discover Life.’” Wallace Stevens Journal, vol. 45, no. 2, fall 2021, pp. 163-78.
Invited symposium presentation: “Oscar Rodríguez Feliú’s Translation of Joyce’s “Proteus” Episode for Espuela de Plata.” The Translation of Letters and Ideas in Cuba´s Republic. 5 March 2021. University of Connecticut.
2021 Events
Invited talks: Topic: Cuban Writers in New York. Course: ILA 387: “Caribbean Networks At Orígenes,” University of Texas at Austin, 1 December 2021.
In fall 2021, Dr. Sebastián Díaz-Duhalde (associate professor of Spanish, Darmouth College) presented on wars in Latin America in the 19th-century and he used in his work pictures and images from different countries and media.
Ana Moraña
Dr. Ana Moraña published her article “La pintura de Martín Ramírez: la existencia en los intersticios. Enfermedad, confinamiento, ciudadanía y la vida entre fronteras”. MARLAS (Middle Atlantic Review of Latin American Studies) Vol 5, No 2 (2021) https://www. marlasjournal.com/articles/abstract/370/
WAR PICS ARMED CONFLICTS
She also presented in Virtual Congress of Latin American Studies Association (LASA) May 26-29, 2021 a paper on the same topic as the article quoted above.
AND PHOTOGRAPHY IN 19TH CENTURY LATIN AMERICA
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 10
During spring 2021 she completed Quality Matters Workshops for Online Teaching, in order to enhance online teaching skills.
6:30–8:00pm ● SHIP.ZOOM.US/J/92245356262
In 2021 Dr. Moraña acted as chair for the Davis Prize Award committee from MACLAS for best article. She continues as Director of Ethnic Studies.
In 1864, cameras present in the war against Paraguay registered for the first time an international conflict within Latin America. Since then, war pictures have, without exception, shocked the public opinion by showcasing piles of dead bodies, amputees, ruins of buildings, and cities burned down. Contrary to evoking national and patriotic sentiments in the public opinion, photographic images have deeply questioned the NationState’s violence in the region. Beginning with the war against Paraguay [1864-1870], through attacks to indigenous communities such as the so-called Conquest of the Dessert in the Patagonia [1878-1885], to the War of the Pacific [1864-1866] and the Chaco War [1932-35], my project aims to explore and recount a history of war photography in Latin America during the long 19th century. In this talk, he offers a series of reflections on the circulation of pictures in war time and their circulation today as part of the war archive in contemporary book collections.
Dr. Moraña organized and chaired a student panel on Latin American Literature at the virtual MACLAS conference with Shippensburg students of Spanish major Emily Slothower and Madison Gardenhour on March 20, 2021. In addition to this, Dr Moraña sponsored Madison Gardenhour for the publication of her article in Write the Ship (2020-2021 issue).
Sebastian Díaz-Duhalde, PhD is an associate professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Dartmouth College. He is a member of the Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean Studies Program. He works on 19th-century Latin American visual culture, literature, and media studies. He published several articles about visual representations of war and state violence in Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil. His book La última guerra. Cultura visual de la Guerra contra Paraguay (2015) appeared as part of the collection on Latin American visual studies by the Area of Visual Anthropology of the Universidad de Buenos Aires and the Universitat de Barcelona. The book won the 2016 award for best book in the humanities in the Southern Cone section of the Latin American Studies Association. He is currently working on the history of war photography in the Latin-American 19th century.
José Ricardo-Osorio
Dr. José Ricardo-Osorio served as Interim Associate Dean in the College of Education and Human Services from January 2020 until January 2022. In this role, he facilitated approval of course schedules, grade change, and academic appeals. He also oversaw the accreditation of the Teacher Education programs.
Sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences and organized by the Department of Global Languages.
Dr. Ricardo-Osorio facilitated a six-week virtual discussion on the High-Leverage Teaching Practices (HLTPs) sponsored by the Red Académica. The Red Académica is a group comprised of English teachers from various universities in Colombia.
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. For more information, contact Dr. Ana Moraña, anmora@ship.edu.
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Pi Delta Phi, the French Honor Society On October 29, 2021 our French Honor Society chapter Mu Psi inducted Daniel Fiscus, Alexx Purcell, Bryant Snyder, and Meryem Tayoune who were all recognized for their academic achievement in French. We were especially thrilled to welcome Bryant back to Ship for his second degree (International Studies) and finally see him inducted in Pi Delta Phi. This was our first induction ceremony since 2019. Unfortunately, we had to restrict attendance to currently enrolled students due to the pandemic. We look forward to a bigger celebration that can include alumni next year.
French Club
French tutors at the Learning Center
After a long hiatus (pandémie oblige), our French Club was exceptionally active this year. French Club officers Meryem Tayoune (president), Dan Fiscus (vice-president), Leslie Taylor (treasurer), and Jack Leidemann (secretary) led many on campus efforts in the spring, including a newsletter and film screenings. Our fall crew, Dan Fiscus (President), Alexandre Purcell (Vice-President), Leslie Taylor (Treasurer), McKenzy Harris (Secretary)—hungry for new adventures—helped organize a record number of activities. We saw “Portrait d’une dame en feu” at the Festival du film francophone in Gettysburg (October 31, 2021), traveled to Washington, DC, to visit “The New Woman Behind the Camera” exhibit at the National Gallery of Art, and “Heroes: Principles of African Greatness” at the Museum of African Art in Washington, DC (Nov. 6, 2021), and in November we attended a special presentation on chocolate making and tasting at Exquisite Chocolate in Carlisle before visiting the “Horace Pippin: Racism and War” exhibit at the Trout Gallery (Dickinson College). We also resumed our fundraising efforts for Project Gros Mangles, which is now operating the medical facility in Haiti that was built by SU faculty and students and opened in June 2020: our September car wash was the most successful ever and raised $620! A very special thank you to alumni Maria Black and Ivan Soto-Velasquez who came back to help! Mèsi anpil!!! Finally, the French Club hosted a French jeopardy and the presentation “Is Covid a Masculine or Feminine Noun in French?” at Immersion Afternoon (October 26). Un semestre bien chargé!
Students of French who attended study sessions at the Learning Center were lucky to work with wonderful tutors throughout 2021 (in person and remotely). Our extended thanks go to Maria Black, Barira Gbaguidi, and John Lyons for their dedication to helping fellow students get the most out of their beginner-level French classes and progress in their French proficiency. We are also grateful to McKenzy Harris for being such a valued Supplemental Instructor (SI) for FRN 204 “Cultures and Ideas” in the spring.
Student Spotlight My name is Kaylie O’Donnell and I am a senior majoring in Spanish at Shippensburg University. As I am completing my final semester at SU, I was fortunate enough to land an internship with Franklin County Legal Services in Chambersburg, PA. FCLS is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing access to legal representation, advice, and education to low-income individuals. This is a great opportunity for me to not only pursue my interest in law but to also utilize the skills I have acquired as a Spanish major. Being that a considerable portion of FCLS’s clients only speak Spanish, I am able to easily communicate with them and assist them in their legal case. In general, legal terminology is difficult to understand and confusing, so I am glad I am able to make the process a little easier for the clients by speaking to them in their native language. I am certain that receiving my BA in Spanish from SU will prove to be useful as I pursue an education in law.
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