News
Visit
our
Facebook Page and
see pictures of LVC language students visiting Peru or Germany, trips to
theaters in New York City and Hershey, as well as other events organized by our
language programs.
Foto: LVC students Colleen Delaney (left) and Jesus
Sandoval (right) with Assistant Professor of Spanish Gabriela McEvoy (center) at the 15th century Inca
site Machu Picchu, Peru (7,970ft elevation) - they traveled there in May
2011, as a service learning component of the Indigenista Literature
course.
Language Placement
Test
For information regarding the language placement test
click here.
Ready to take the
language placement test? - Click here.
Language Requirement
For students and advisors: an overview of the Language
Requirement at LVC
German Professors Hear Nobel Laureate Read
German
professors Rick Chamberlin, Jörg Meindl, and emeritus Jim Scott attended the
reading by Nobel Prize Laureate Herta Müller at Dickinson College (on May 18).
Herta Müller, born in the German-speaking minority in Romania and then fleeing
the Romanian dictatorship in the 1980s, read from her book
"Atemschaukel" ("Hunger Angel"). Herta Müller was awarded
the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2009 (Information can be found at Nobelprize.org).
Foto: Assistant Professor of German
Jörg Meindl (left) gets his book signed by Nobel Laureate Herta Müller.
Students Present Research on
Pennsylvania German Heritage
Students in Associate Professor Rick Chamberlin's course German in Pennsylvania (GMN 410) assisted the Lebanon County Historical Society with deciphering, translating, and interpreting documents of the society's archival collection. They presented their findings in the Museum of the Lebanon County Historical
Society on April 29 (Read the coverage in the Lebanon Daily News here or the LVC News section and find the program here). The scholarship of the course was featured in WGAL television news on April 26 (See the video here).
Foto: Professor Rick Chamberlin (right) and the students of the course German in Pennsylvania in the auditorium of the Lebanon County Historical Society. Back row, from left: Laura Blankenhorn, Patty Keefer, James Hartman, Tyrone Fosnacht, Susan Menges, Iain Ferguson. Front row from left: Brittany Flood, Abigail Skelton, Lauren Dubransky.
Inquiry
2012: A Symposium of Student Research and Original Work (April 18-19)
Events
related to the Department of Languages:
Wednesday,
April 18
Phi
Sigma Iota honor society induction
Phi
Sigma Iota is an International Foreign Language Honor Society.
5
p.m., Kreiderheim
Thursday,
April 19
Symposium
of Student Research & Original Work
Buffet
dinner and displays of student work
- Nicole
Daub, Iain Ferguson, Martin Groff, James Hartman, Susan Menges, Nicole Wilhelm
(German), poster: "Education Reform in Germany."
- Kira
Echeandia (Spanish), paper: "The Effect of the 'Pact of Forgetting"
on Present Day Spain."
- Nicole
Joppy (Spanish), paper: "More than a Homemaker: Breaking Free of Societal Bonds."
- Caitlin
Murphy and Gabe Lincoln-Decusatis (International Studies), Digital Stories.
6
p.m., Arnold Sports Center Gymnasium
For
the full program, click here.
Cine Latino - Movie: The
Motorcycle Diaries (April 4)
Director: Walter Salles (126 minutes).
The Motorcycle Diaries is an adaptation of a journal written by Ernesto
"Che" Guevara de la Serna when he was 23 years old. He and his
friend, Alberto Granado are typical college students who, seeking fun and
adventure before graduation, decide to travel across Argentina, Chile, Peru,
Colombia, and Venezuela in order to do their medical residency at a leper
colony. This film portrays a journey of self-discovery and traces Che Guevara’s
youthful origins.
Wednesday, April 4 -- 5 p.m. -- Chapel 101 (admission free)
Students present paper at
Mid Atlantic Latin American Studies Conference (March 22-24, 2012).
Spanish students Colleen Delaney, Luisa Perez, and Jesus Sandoval presented a paper at the Mid Atlantic Latin American Studies (MACLAS) Conference at American University March 22-24. As part of the Arnold Grant Experiential Grant, faculty and students presented two papers:
- “Is freedom in the eye of the beholder? Differing perceptions of a ‘free’ press in the Americas”
- “Of tweets and blogs: Is the explosion of social media helping or hurting the quality of democracy in the Americas?”
Dr. Ivette Guzman-Zavala, Dr. Gabriela McEvoy (Department of Languages) and Dr. Diane Johnson (Political Science) participated in this research.Conference attendance was supported by an Arnold Experiential Grant for Student/Faculty Research Projects.
Movie “The Counterfeiters”(March 27)
“The Counterfeiters” (“Die Fälscher,” 2007) is the true story of the largest counterfeiting operation in history, set up by the Nazis in 1936. The film won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year (the screening is part of the Colloquium Series on Money).
Allen Theater, March 27 , 5:30 p.m.
International Culture Day (March 23)
The
30th Annual International Culture Day for high school students will take place
in Arnold Sports Center on Friday, March 23. More than 600 local students
studying Spanish, French, and German will swarm the campus to participate in a
variety of events and contests to test their international knowledge.
International Culture Day is sponsored by the Languages Department and Office
of Admission and exposes local students to the College’s dynamic environment
and promotion of multicultural activities.
Friday, March 23, Arnold Sports Center
Guest Speaker Dr. Carmen T. Sotomayor (March 22):
"The Spanish Poster
Production of the Civil War Period and Beyond"
The presentation is free and open to the public.
Thursday, March 22, 2 p.m., Neidig-Garber 312
Carmen Sotomayor is
Professor of Spanish at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Her areas of research interest include the visual
and written representations of the Spanish
Civil War (1936-1939) and the analysis of current literary and cultural
issues,
such as the artistic impact of the recuperation of historic memory in
Spain,
and questions of space, place and identity in contemporary Spanish
narrative. Read more at Valley News
Current Faculty Scholarship
Ivette
Guzman-Zavala, Assistant
Professor of Spanish, presented the paper "Colaboración y resistencia entre leche y sangre en
Cuba y Puerto Rico: las nodrizas en Cecilia Valdés y Vecindarios excéntricos"
at the International Colloquium "Mujeres, Circuitos de colaboracion y
asociacionismo en la cultura y la historia de America Latina y el Caribe".
This colloquium was held at Casa de Las Americas in Havana (Cuba),
February 20-24, 2012.
Gabriela McEvoy, Assistant Professor of Spanish, presented the
paper "The Role of Women's Social Movement during Peruvian Civil War"
at the International Colloquium "Mujeres, Circuitos de colaboracion y
asociacionismo en la cultura y la historia de America Latina y el Caribe".
This colloquium was held at Casa de Las Americas in Havana (Cuba), February
20-24, 2012.
Pictures of the colloquium in Cuba can be found in Facebook.
Rick Chamberlin, Associate Professor of French and German, presented the paper “Subversion of Gender Norms and Queer Spirituality in German-speaking Colonial Pennsylvania” at the Convention of the Northeast Modern 
Language Association in Rochester, NY, March 15-18, 2012.
Jörg Meindl, Assistant Professor of German, organized a panel on "Teaching with Dialects, Sociolects, and other Non-Standard Language Varieties" at the Convention of the Northeast Modern Language Association in Rochester, NY, March 15-18, 2012.
Language Skills and Careers
Read how
graduate Erica Trapasso '10, German Minor and Art History Major, found a job thanks to her language skills: A career based on German and Art History
Foto: Erica Trapasso '10
Two LVC Alumni found a home and job in Spain - study
abroad and language skills opened new opportunities. Read more here: Read the story on two LVC alumni working in Spain
Peer Tutoring
For students that wish tutoring by other students, LVC offers Peer Tutoring. The service is free of charge for students.
Noche Caríbeña: Food - Dance - Salsa
Learn to Salsa!
Where: Thursday, October 20, 7pm
When: Underground (in Mund College Center)
Sponsored by Office of Multicultural Affairs
& the Spanish section of the Languages Department
Presentation: From the
Mountains to an Online Presence. The Place of Jíbaro Music in Contemporary
Puerto Rico.
Noraliz Ruiz, Kent State University.
Thursday, October
20th at 11am in Zimmerman Recital Hall
The term "jíbaro" can be translated to peasant or rural farmer.
“Música jíbara” is the genre forged emulating the music and instruments brought
to the islands by the Spanish colonizers since the XVth Century. Although the
origins of this type of music are historically connected to the mountain
region, at the present time the genre is widely practiced also by Puerto Ricans
in the diaspora. Thus, along with the music, the figure of the jíbaro has gone
through a process of transformation, evolving from the low class rural
farmer to an identity that surpasses social classes and geographical borders.
This presentation will explore the contribution of the jíbaro to the Puerto
Rican cultural heritage, as well as the stylistic evolution of the music genre,
emphasizing its place in contemporary culture.
This event is scheduled as a part of LVC’s Colloquium in collaboration with
Hispanic Heritage Celebration.
Read more at Valley News and see pictures in Facebook
Movie Series - "Series de Cine" to Celebrate Hispanic Heritage
FREE ADMISSION and open to everyone.
All movies with subtitles or in
English.
Cayo (2005)
(Spanish with English subtitles, 112
minutes); Director: Vicente Juarbe (Puerto Rico)
Tuesday, September 13 – 5 pm; location: Chapel 101
Morristown: In the Air and the Sun
(2007)
(60 minute-documentary)
Director: Anne Lewis (U.S.)
Wednesday, September 28 - 7pm; location: Chapel 117
Princesas (2005)
(Spanish with English subtitles, 114
minutes)
Director: Fernando León de Araona
(Spain)
Wednesday, October 12 – 5pm; location: Chapel 101
The maid (La nana) (2009)
(Spanish with English subtitles, 94
minutes)
Director: Sebastián Silva (Chile)
Wednesday, October 19 – 5:00 pm; location: Chapel 101
Fall Semester 2011: Mandarin Chinese Course Combines Dinner and Class Room Instruction
Lebanon Valley College will offer a Mandarin Chinese beginning in the
fall semester with Mandarin I and Mandarin II in the spring semester.
The course will be taught by Mr. Xiaodong Fan and combines Chinese
dining culture with classroom instruction: in the first part of the
class, students meet with native speakers of Mandarin in a local Chinese
restaurant for dinner and conversation. The second part will be taught
in a class room.
The fall classes are scheduled for Monday and Thursday from 6 - 8:30
p.m.The course is scheduled in the evening hours to make it more
accessible for MBA students and members of the local business community.
The instructor Mr. Xiaodong Fan earned a bachelor's degree from
Sichuan Normal University in China and two master's degrees from
Millersville University. He curretly teaches at Hempfield High School,
Messiah College and Elizabethtown College.
Faculty Research
Conference Presentation in Ireland and Portugal
Gabriela McEvoy, Assistant Professor of Spanish, presented the paper Yawar
Fiesta, an allegory to Peruvian’s socio-cultural transformation” at
José María Arguedas’ International Conference in Lima, Peru, April 2011. Her work is published
in Arguedas, Centenario. Lima: Editorial Universidad
Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, 2011. pp. 74-85.
Jörg Meindl,
Assistant Professor of German, presented his paper "Loss of
Code-Switching as Sign of Social Change in Works by Theodor Fontane
and Thomas Mann" at the annual convention of the Northeast
Modern Language Association in New Brunswick, New Jersey on April
7-10. The paper shows how authors use the description of the language
skills of multilingual characters (speakers of dialect, standard
language, and foreign languages) to depict social interaction.
Gabriela
McEvoy, Assistant Professor of Spanish, presented a paper titled "W.R.
Grace: a discursive character" in the Third Conference of
the Society for Irish Latin American Studies at Dublin City University
(Ireland) on March 11 and 12, 2011.
Ivette Guzman-Zavala, Assistant Professor in Spanish,
presented in the "Motherhood Initiative for Research and Community
Involvement Conference" in Lisbon, Portugal on February 18 and 19. Her
presentation “Motherhood through Photography" examines images of
women and mothers taken by United States photographers after 1898 in the
Caribbean. A comparison with contemporary photographic images by Puerto
Rican artists demonstrates how the institution of motherhood has been
manipulated as an excuse for colonization at times and used as a
strategic method of self representation at others.
Recent Publications
Rick Chamberlin, Assistant Professor of French and German,
published the article “Enseignement à deux vitesses: Das Lied Education
nationale von Grand Corps Malade” in the October 2010 edition (#107) of
Der fremdsprachliche Unterricht Französisch, a German journal on
the teaching of French. The article (written in French) focuses on
teaching about the French educational system using cross-cultural
analytic strategies, with a song by a popular French slam poetry artist
as a teaching tool.
Jörg Meindl, Assistant Professor of German, published the book chapter “Solving the Preacher’s Dilemma. Communication Strategies in Old Order Amish Sermons.” in the volume The Language and Culture of the Pennsylvania Germans: A Festschrift for Earl C. Haag. The
article describes how Amish preachers solve problems resulting from
differences between spoken Pennsylvania Dutch and the written German
they find in the Luther translation of the Bible.
Blogs from Abroad (Spring 2011)
Several LVC students are currently studying abroad and some of them
keep us updated through their logs. Students are currently in Spain,
Italy, Germany, and Greece. Students studying abroad - read their blogs
You find information on all LVC study abroad programs here: Office of Study Abroad
¡Bienvenidos al Club de
español! -- Welcome to the Spanish
Club!!
The
Spanish Club is a group of students interested in Spanish culture outside of
classes. We schedule a number of events throughout the semester, and engage in
a variety of activities such as the monthly Tertulias gathering to
practice Spanish informally, as well as field trips, Spanish film viewings,
cooking projects, and lecture attendances.
In
addition, we are involved with the local Hispanic community. As you participate in the various events and
activities you will learn about their culture and earn community service hours.
Stay
tuned for more information…
If
you have any questions, please contact Dr. Gabriela McEvoy (Faculty advisor
– mcevoy@lvc.edu)
or Daniel Ramírez-Bao (Student and President of the Spanish Club – dramirezmiami@gmail.com).
¡Te esperamos!
International Culture Day on Friday, March 25
International
Culture Day is an event that brings together around 600 students of French, German, and
Spanish from local high schools for activities related to the
theme. this year's theme was "Music Speaks to the World." The event introduced high school students
to the LVC campus and the diverse cultural
life at the college. Students from 25 high schools participated in a competition on flag design, the quiz game Bengaku and other games related to French-, German-, and Spanish-speaking cultures.
International
Culture Day is organized by LVC students and sponsored by the Foreign Language
Department and Office of Admission.
Door panels unveiled - ABRE TU PUERTA A LA DIVERSIDAD: OPEN YOU DOOR TO DIVERSITY
The Department of
Languages now greets students and visitors with a door panel that has
been painted in cooperation between LVC art students and students from
The Migrant Education Office in Lebanon. A second door panel will be
installed in Lebanon to symbolize the connection between students of
diverse backgrounds that has developed during the project and as appeal
for others to open their doors to diversity.
Foto left: unveiling of the door panel -- Right: The LVC art students who painted the door panel (Fotos by Sam Shoemaker).
The project with the
name “Abre tu puerta:open your door to diversity” has been developed by
Nancy Williams (Adjunct Instructor of Art and Art Education) and Ivette
Guzmán-Zavala (Assistant Professor of Spanish) and has been supported
by a grant from the Darrell Woomer Diversity Program.
Come and see the door panel in the 3rd floor of the Humanities building (HUM 310/301)!
Read about the unveiling of the door panels and see pictures at Valley News and in Facebook
Foto: The students of the The Migrant Education Office in Lebanon
with the two diversity doors. The left door will be installed in
Lebanon. (Foto by Sam Shoemaker)
Primavera 2011: Serie de Cine (Spring Movie Series) - revised dates!
The Spanish section of the Department of Languages presents three
movies throughout the Spring Semester. Screening will be in Chapel 101;
admission is free.
The movies are:
"Solas"
Director: Benito Zambrano, Wednesday, February 16, 5 pm in Chapel 101.
This is a story of a Spanish woman who has a troubled relationship
with his parents. The movie is a character study of individuals in
desperate situations and how they confront them.
"El secreto de sus ojos" ("The secret in their eyes")
Director: Juan José Campanella, Wednesday, March 16, 4:45 pm in Chapel 101.
An
Argentinean criminal court employee retires and decides to write a
novel hoping to find for one of his past unresolved homicide cases and
for his love with his superior.
"El hijo de novia" ("Son of the Bride")
Director: Juan José Campanella, Wednesday, April 20, 4:45 pm in Chapel 101.
Rafael
Belvedere has a crisis at age 42. He feels guilty about rarely visiting
his aging mother and not spending enough time with his daughter. A
minor heart attack will make him look the present in a different way.
Hispanic Heritage Month (Fall 2010)
In the fall semester 2010, the Department of Languages in cooperation with the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the students of Latinos Unidos sponsored the first Hispanic Heritage Month at LVC. The Heritage Month opened on September 15 with a poster display from two Spanish courses “Latin American culture and civilization” taught by Prof. Gabriela McEvoy and “Latin American Literature of the 19th century” taught by Prof. Ivette Guzman-Zavala. Other events included screening of three movies (Bread and Rose; Casi una mujer; Borderland), a banquet with typical Chilean food along with music and dance, in collaboration with the Disaster Relief Coalition and LVC’s Office of Community Service. Furthermore the visit of middle and high school students from the Migrant Education Program on campus, and the cooperation of Nancy Williams’ “Teaching of Art K-12” course with “Abre Tu Puerta a la Diversidad,” or “Open Your Door to Diversity” throughout the month of September. The last events of Hispanic Heritage Month were Dr. Iris Lopez’s Colloquium conversation on HEALTH and the visit of artist Simon Silva who spoke on “Culture, Creativity & Art - A new route for change and opportunities.”
Left: Student Luisa Perez shows her research project poster on Caribbean Literature
Right: Students Ronny Acosta, Christina Belousov, and Katalyn Funk during the Spanish poster exhibition
French Movie Series (Fall 2010)
Throughout the fall semester 2010, Dr. Rick Chamberlin, Assistant Professor of French and German, presented a series of French movies (with English subtitles). The line-up included: The lineup included The Rules of the Game (La règle du jeu, 1939), Beauty and the Beast (La belle et la bête, 1946), Mr. Hulot’s Holiday (Les vacances de M. Hulot, 1953), The 400 Blows (Les 400 coups, 1959), Hiroshima mon amour (1959), Breathless (A bout de souffle, 1960), My Night at Maud’s (Ma nuit chez Maud, 1969), Diva (1981) , Vagabond (Sans toit ni loi, 1985), Au Revoir les enfants (1987), La Haine (1995), and Amélie (Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain, 2001).
Conference of the German Studies Association (Fall 2010)
Jörg Meindl, Assistant Professor of German, attended the 34th annual conference of the German Studies Association in Oakland, California, October 7-10. He presented the paper “National Outsiders as Mediators between Nations? German-writing Authors in Alsace and the Concept of a Super-national Identity.”