2020-2021 Year in review - School of International Letters and Cultures at Arizona State University

YEAR IN REVIEW 2020-2021

WWW.SILC.ASU.EDU

2020-2021 WELCOME FROM THE DIRECTOR Dear Colleagues and Friends of SILC, Greetings from renovated Durham Hall. It has been such a pleasure to return to this beautiful building, it almost feels like we all got promoted. The light and spaciousness is truly inspiring. We take this as a sign that more good things are to come.

SILC is certainly thriving, in spite of the challenges of the past year and a half. Enrollments are strong, and we have been able to recruit outstanding faculty and graduate students to our various programs. SILC faculty, staff and students mastered the difficult period that is not quite behind us by working hard and revising programs, courses and processes.

We look forward to a year packed with events, such as the David W. Foster memorial service on September 10 and an international conference on translation on November 12 and 13. But before we delve into the new year, let us take a moment to celebrate last year's accomplishments.

Kind regards, Nina Berman, Director, School of International Letters and Cultures at ASU

FACULTY HIGHLIGHTS Danko Šipka was awarded a Fulbright Award to Serbia by the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Professor Šipka will contribute to the nascent Serbian language dictionary by the Matica Srpska institution and to the Serbian Language Corpus project at the University of Belgrade.

Steven Flanagan received this year’s Outstanding Instructor Award from The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. This distinction is much deserved; Steven has been a truly outstanding instructor and contributes in significant ways to program development in Spanish as well as to Learning Support Services.

Sara Lee has been chosen by the American Association of Teachers of German and the Goethe-Institut as one of 12 teachers in the U.S. to become a national teaching coach for German teachers. The program supports teachers on all levels from Pre-K to the University level in the United States, and is funded by the Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie.

FACULTY HIGHLIGHTS Miral Mahgoub was granted a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award. She will spend a year in Egypt to conduct research and network with local institutions.

Glen Goodman was awarded a Fulbright-Hays Award to take a group of Arizona K-12 teachers to Brazil for a month in summer 2022 and help develop Brazil-related curricula for middle and high school.

Regents' Professor Stephen Bokenkamp joins the American Society for the Study of Religion. The ASSR is a society of elected members whose purpose is to promote and advance the scholarly study of religion in its various forms. In addition, the society seeks to foster communication among those who are engaged in such study.

FACULTY HIGHLIGHTS Assistant Professor of classics Britta Ager received a grant from the Society for Classical Studies to sponsor a series of events related to Greek and Roman studies and video games. The grant is part of the Society for Classical Studies’ “Classics Everywhere” initiative.

Assistant Professor of comparative literature and media studies Ana Hedberg Olenina was chosen as a visiting associate professor at the Slavic-Eurasian Research Center at Hokkaido University for the fall of 2022.

Judit Kroo, Assistant Professor of modern Japanese linguistics and comparative cultural studies, received seed grant funding from the IHR for her project "Sustainable Artisanship: Mapping Alternative Lifeways in Contemporary Japan."

FACULTY HIGHLIGHTS 4 SILC faculty members awarded Institute for Humanities Research fellowships for the 2021–22 academic year.

Serena Ferrando, "City of Water: How Poetry Shaped Milan."

Natalie Lozinski-Veach, "Creaturely Constellations: Animals, Language and Critical Thought after Auschwitz."

Daniel Gilfillan, “'The Unsung Planet': Resilience, Resonance and Our Sonic Imagination."

Françoise Mirguet, "Rediscovering Consolation: Can Three Antique Cultures Help Us Reimagine Grief and Its Relief?"

Abitare il tempo. Metafora, storia e comunità nell’opera di Enrico Palandri by Alberto Della Rovere, Enrico Minardi, 2021

Words as Grains: New & Selected Poems by Duo Duo Translated from the Chinese and Edited by Lucas Klein, 2021

多多

Psychomotor Aesthetics: Movement and Affect in Modern Literature and Film by Ana Hedberg Olenina, 2020

Feminismo, literatura y exilio María de Maeztu. Edition, introduction and notes by Carmen de UriosteAzcorra, 2020

NEW BOOKS BY SILC FACULTY

The City of Ye in the Chinese Literary Landscape by Joanne Tsao, 2020

SILC Award for outstanding teaching, T/TT faculty: Professor Michael Gradoville Michael Gradoville is an outstanding educator who regularly incorporates social science research methods into all levels of SILC's linguistics curriculum. Gradoville also involves graduate students in research projects as a vehicle to teach them research methods such as statistics and acoustic analysis that cannot be adequately covered within the curriculum.

SILC Award for outstanding teaching, lecturer: Ms. Sandra Palaich and Ms. Bomi Oh Sandra Palaich is a creative, innovative, and highly organized educator. She has strong content knowledge and a desire for her students to learn and improve.

Bomi Oh has been an outstanding educator with expertise, passion, and inclusive classroom management.

With her dedication and hard work, she has inspired numerous students to continue learning Korean over the years.

SILC AWARDS

SILC Mentoring Award: Dr. Daniel Vargas Daniel Vargas is a skillful, knowledgeable, and expert professional. He provides constant support when the graduate students need advice, a book or any teaching material, training in a specific tool, an explanation about an administrative procedure, or emotional support.

SILC Award for outstanding service, individual: Mr. Ajitesh Goyal Ajitesh Goyal's contribution to SILC has always been outstanding, as he always goes beyond his duties. AJ is always punctual, kind, professional and also proactive.

SILC Service Award for Team Collaboration: IS team, consisting of Mr. David Parks, Ms. Kristin Elwood and Mr. Steven Flanagan The team contributed to SILC tremendously through the pandemic by directing and facilitating technology assistants. They have collaborated to create a resource site for remote learning, new online instructor training, and a language orientation module for our lower-division online students. They have hosted weekly ThinkSpace events designed to disseminate and share information on technology, pedagogy, and learning with our faculty.

SILC AWARDS

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

2020-2021

11

21

Undergraduate Degree Programs

Undergraduate Minors and Certificates

15

20+

Graduate Degrees and Certificates

Languages Taught

Cultivating an inclusive environment 42% firstgeneration students

40% Pell Grant eligible

49% racial and ethnic diversity

69% female

STUDENT HIGHLIGHTS Elisa Jennings graduated in May with a concurrent major in classics (ancient Greek concentration) and English linguistics. She earned a 4.0 GPA while at ASU, among numerous other achievements as a member of ASU’s classics community. Jennings was named the Spring 2021 Dean’s Medalist. She's now pursuing a master’s degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She aspires to teach Latin and Greek at the high school level.

Madeleine Stewart graduated in May with a degree in Spanish linguistics with an impressive 4.24 GPA. Stewart, who initially started as a major in theater, had a revelation when she was watching the movie "Arrival" and saw how complex and enriching linguistics can be. At that moment, she knew she wanted to switch majors and study Spanish linguistics at SILC. Stewart is now pursuing a master's degree at The University of Kansas.

This year’s edition of the Lanterna Prize was given to Chloe Larson, a chemistry and Italian senior at Barrett, The Honors College, for “La Celebrazione di Civita di Bagnoregio / The Celebration of Civita di Bagnoregio.” The prize is awarded for the best environmental short film script by a student enrolled in ITA/SLC494 and ITA598 “Italian Ecocinema.” Larson is also the president of the Club Italiano at ASU.

Ivan Alcazar, a 2021 graduate, won a Fulbright Award to South Korea for the 2021-2022 academic year. Alcazar majored in political science with minors in business and Korean.

Fiona Flaherty received the Agnes E. Vaghi Scholarship from The National Italian American Foundation (NIAF). This scholarship is awarded to an outstanding female Italian American undergraduate student majoring in Italian, English, literature or journalism with a GPA of 3.5 or higher.

STUDENT HIGHLIGHTS Recognizing SILC Awardees Our congratulations to the following SILC students whose accomplishments have been recognized with the awards that follow Jiyun Lee - Global Spanish-Chinese Grant Ana Silvia Cervantes Figueroa - Global SpanishChinese Grant Mckenzie Biondo - John H. and Sandra B. Koo Award Emily Anne Creasman - John H. and Sandra B. Koo Award Martha Lorena Jasso Solorzano - John H. and Sandra B. Koo Award Qidu Fu - Hing Fong Scholarship Jong-Woo Ryu - Hing Fong Scholarship Caysie Laine Reuter - Hing Fong Scholarship Megan Thomas - Ava and Raymond Tartar Literature Scholarship Collin Frank - Ava and Raymond Tartar Literature Scholarship Everardo Sanchez Huerta - Quino E. Martinez Scholarship

Juliana Fillies Testa Muñoz - Quino E. Martinez Scholarship Czarina Lagarda Lopez - David Raúl Foster Latin American Publishing Award Miriam A. Carpenter-Cosand - Foster Latin American Summer Stipend/Travel Support Leslie Del Carpio - Chasqui: Revista de Literatura Latinoamericana Bruno Nowendsztern - Chasqui: Revista de Literatura Latinoamericana Ninajean Quick - Robert J. Kestelik Scholarship Tyler Feezell - Judith Radke Award in Translation Mariano Yáñez Ibarra - Austrian Society Outstanding Major Sara Walker - Austrian Society Outstanding Minor Mlada Simper - AC4GC Outstanding 1st Year German Student Owen Lamb - Excellence in Biblical Hebrew

STUDENT HIGHLIGHTS ASU students take home top prizes in national Russian writing contest

This past April, four ASU students won awards in the 2021 National Post-Secondary Russian Essay Contest. Kirill Bor and Naomi Spektor both won silver medals, while Iryna Shakurova and Christian Shousha earned honorable mentions.

Together, these students showcase the diversity of the Russian department: Bor is majoring in business, Spektor in communication, Shakurova in microbiology with a Russian minor, and Shousha in Russian with an Italian minor. A total of 15 students from ASU entered the contest.

Over 1,100 students from 40 universities around the country participated, with judges in Moscow selecting the winning essays. In recognition of the COVID-19 pandemic, the topic for this year’s contest was "My Favorite Place."

“This is only the second year that ASU has participated, and even with stiff competition from top Russian programs such as the U.S. Department of Defense-funded Defense Language Institute, we are very pleased with our students’ performance,” said Hilde Hoogenboom, Associate Professor of Russian at SILC.

PhDs AND MAs 2020-2021 AWARDED Fall 2020 Cindy Bonilla-Cirocco, Spanish PhD Silvana Domaz, Spanish PhD Spring 2021 Lizet Gonzalez, Spanish MA Rachel Kelley, Spanish MA 4+1 Rachel Pape, Spanish MA Angela Benson, Spanish MA Jacqueline Shea, Spanish MA 4+1 Xuan Wang-Wolf, East Asian Languages and Civilizations (Chinese) PhD Baoshen Mu, Asian Languages and Civilizations (Chinese) MA Summer 2021 Edurne Beltrán de Heredia Carmona, Spanish PhD Laura Dicochea, Spanish MA Tianjun Chen, East Asian Languages & Civilizations (Chinese) PhD

GRADUATE STUDENT JOB PLACEMENT Angelica Amezcua, Spanish PhD - Assistant Professor & Director of the Spanish Heritage Program, University of Washington, Washington

Lizet Gonzalez, Spanish MA - PhD Student, School of International Letters and Cultures, Arizona State University, Arizona

Nayibe Azzad, Spanish PhD - Advisor for The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Arizona State University, Arizona

Alfredo Hernández, Spanish PhD - Assistant Professor, Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania

Edurne Beltrán de Heredia Carmona, Spanish PhD - Assistant Professor, Coastal Carolina University, South Carolina

Rachel Pape, Spanish MA - Spanish Teacher at BASIS Charter Schools, Mesa, Arizona

Laura Dicochea, Spanish MA - PhD Student, School of Transborder Studies, Arizona State University, Arizona Silvana Domaz, Spanish PhD - Canvas Learning Specialist, Instructure Gabriela Dongo Arévalo, Spanish PhD - Lecturer of Spanish, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia Kerry Green, Spanish PhD - Upper School Dean of Students, BASIS Scottsdale, Scottsdale, Arizona

Mariana Ruíz González Renteria, Spanish PhD Assistant Professor, Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington Jacqueline Shea, Spanish MA - PhD Student, School of International Letters and Cultures, Arizona State University, Arizona Xuan Wang-Wolf, East Asian Languages & Civilizations (Chinese) PhD - Founding Director of Online Education, Emory and Henry College, Virginia

WELCOMING NEW FACES | Staff Wes Jackson, Academic Advisor Wes.Jackson@asu.edu

Hometown: Tucson, AZ Hobbies: I love to read. Currently rereading "Shadow of the Wind" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, my favorite contemporary writer. I'm also a huge baseball fan. Spring Training in March is my favorite part of living in Phoenix.

Best trip I ever took: Growing up in Arizona I was never really impressed with the Grand Canyon until I actually hiked down into it. Spent an amazing week with friends hiking and camping at Havasupai Falls.

What I'm watching: I think I've watched season one of "Ted Lasso" three times now and I can't wait for season two. I love its optimism and how it exalts things like curiosity, humility, forgiveness, and redemption.

One person I’d love to have dinner with: It's a toss-up between Henry David Thoreau and Soren Kierkegaard.

Educational background: BA in English and MA in English Secondary Education.

Languages: I studied French and I speak some Spanish.

WELCOMING NEW FACES | Staff Kiké Martín-Bonneville, Communications Specialist Enrique.Martin.Palacios@asu.edu

Hometown: Madrid, Spain Hobby: I love learning languages! I speak five already (Spanish, English, Italian, Danish and Norwegian) and I started to learn some Swedish this year.

Best trip I ever took: I spent a month in Cuba. Driving from Viñales (West) to Bayamo (East) and stayed in a little village in the mountains, near Santiago de Cuba.

Biggest accomplishment: Being a polyglot has given me the opportunity to study, live and work in different countries, developing my career between Europe and the U.S. Favorite podcast: "Ravioleria 95", "¡Ay, la Caneli!" and "Puedo Hablar!?"

One person I’d love to have dinner with: Ursula von der Leyen, the first woman to be president of the European Commission.

Educational background: BA in Advertising and Public Relations, MA in Protocol, Corporate Communications and Event Management.

Languages: I am fluent in Spanish, English and Italian and have some proficiency in Danish and Norwegian. I am presently learning Swedish.

WELCOMING NEW FACES | Faculty An Nguyen Sakach, Lecturer, Vietnamese, An.Sakach@asu.edu

Sakach joins the school as a lecturer of Vietnamese. Prior to joining the School of International Letters and Cultures, Sakach was an instructor at Northern Arizona University in the Program of Intensive English, and target language reviewer (Vietnamese) at the University of Maryland in the National Foreign Language Center. Sakach's educational background is in linguistics and applied linguistics. She received a bachelor’s degree in linguistics in Vietnam and a master’s degree in applied linguistics from Ohio University.

“My research has been on second language speech, heritage language learners, bilingualism and Vietnamese curriculum development. I am also a learner of several Southeast Asian languages and have a passion for tonal languages,” Sakach said.

“One of my favorite memories of my academic career was the time a classmate in a graduate program and I were discussing our research projects on pronunciation. We were in a study room on Level 1 of the library of Ohio University, where we could find a wonderful collection of Southeast Asian studies. We both had the same interest in Southeast Asian languages, especially pronunciation learning and teaching.

The discussion went on with a lot of ‘I don't know’ and we didn't know that we would become life partners a year later.”

She enjoys how the warmth and beauty of the Valley makes her appreciate the water, trees and shades of the Sonoran Desert.

WELCOMING NEW FACES | Faculty Austin Cary, Instructor, ASL, aacary1@asu.edu

Cary joins the school as an instructor of American Sign Language. Before coming to ASU, Cary was an elementary school teacher for California School for the Deaf in Riverside, California, and a parttime ASL instructor for Santa Ana College and San Bernardino Valley College. He has a bachelor's degree in liberal studies and a master's degree in higher education leadership and student development from California Baptist University, with a research focus on deaf and hard-of-hearing students.

In his academic career, Cary has gone above and beyond for his students, incorporating several ASL activities and games to keep students engaged and have the most fun possible in the classroom.

“I like to use a series of images of well-known characters and have a student come up to the front to do their best to act out that character without using any words and have the audience guess who the character is,” Cary said.

Currently, his hobby is cycling, and he finished a 70-mile ride in Paso Robles, California, this year.

He also enjoys scuba diving, spearfishing and hiking: “One of my best trips was when I hiked to the top of White Mountain Peak.”

WELCOMING NEW FACES | Faculty Ronda Moriarty, Instructor, ASL, Ronda.Moriarty@asu.edu

Moriarty joins the school as an instructor of American Sign Language. She has a doctorate degree in physical therapy and has been teaching ASL and deaf culture for over 10 years. She was an adjunct professor at ASU for several years and taught all levels of ASL at Mesa Community College, Phoenix College, Estrella Mountain Community College and Glendale Community College.

“I like to volunteer, as I have volunteered for Ahwatukee Children’s Theater yearly to teach children ages 5 to 18 ASL songs so they can use sign language in their performances on stage," Moriarty said.

"I offer seminars for parents of deaf children to educate them on what they can do to better their children’s future, and I volunteer with the Community Health Mentor Program for NAU, ASU and the University of Arizona for a group of interprofessional health care students. Teaching is my passion.

Each year I am blessed to meet so many wonderful students from all walks of life. I hope to make an impact and inspire them to be the best at whatever they choose to do. Every one of those students brings joy to my classroom, and those are my favorite memories.”

Moriarty’s experience goes beyond the classroom. She worked as an ASL master for a Netflix series to increase understanding of deaf culture and etiquette, working with actors, writers and producers, teaching them sign language.

Outside of work, Moriarty loves to spend time with her wife and three dogs and enjoys traveling. “I love to travel to Europe, but my next big trip is to South Africa,” she said.

WELCOMING NEW FACES | Faculty Sean McKinnon, Instructor, Spanish, Sean.McKinnon@asu.edu

McKinnon joins the school as an instructor of Spanish. Prior to ASU, McKinnon was a visiting lecturer in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Indiana University Bloomington.

McKinnon graduated with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and Spanish from Ohio State University, a master's degree in theoretical and applied linguistics from Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona, Spain) and a PhD in Hispanic linguistics from Indiana University.

His research focuses on language variation and change in bilingual communities throughout the Spanish-speaking world, specifically looking at how bilingualism influences the grammar and pronunciation of both languages, and how different social factors mediate those linguistic changes.

He conducted research on Spanish in contact with Catalán in Spain and Spanish in contact with English in the United States, but his principal line of research examines Spanish in contact with Kaqchikel Maya in Guatemala.

One of his favorite memories is when he conducted his dissertation research in Guatemala.

“In order to investigate bilingual grammar and pronunciation, I recorded speech samples from my participants, so I interviewed them about their life. I was humbled by the very personal stories they would share with me and how much I learned about how their individual experiences fit into the history, customs and traditions of Guatemala,” McKinnon said.

Beyond the classroom, McKinnon enjoys cooking new recipes, improving lifts at the gym and spending time with his dog, Dexter.

"We’re looking forward to being outdoors more and exploring all the hikes, trails and parks that Arizona has to offer,” he said.

WELCOMING NEW FACES | Faculty Nicholas Williams, Associate Professor, Chinese Nicholas.Morrow.Williams@asu.edu

Williams joins the school as an associate professor of Chinese. Prior to joining ASU, Williams was an associate professor at the University of Hong Kong in the school of Chinese.

Williams was a math major in college when his interest in Chinese literature was first sparked.

“Over the years my interests have shifted somewhat, but the theme throughout has been the way that Chinese literary forms, especially poetry, are used to represent different sensibilities and worldviews.

Recently I have spent quite a bit of time working on the anthology called "Chuci" or "Elegies of Chu," which foregrounds the magical and mystical side of ancient China,” Williams said.

He ended up receiving a PhD from the Department of Asian Languages and Literatures at the University of Washington.

“Most of my research is on works of literature that are not exactly recent — the poems in the ‘Chuci’ are mostly over 2,000 years old," Williams said. "But because Chinese writers have continued to reuse literary forms, devices and images, even new poems from the 21st century can be written within the same tradition. Although I study classical Chinese literature, I have also translated a volume of poetry in the classical style by a polymath named Jao Tsung-i, who passed away only in 2018. Meeting him in person while I was in the process of translating his very archaic-seeming poems was an unanticipated delight of my career so far.”

Outside of the classroom, Williams enjoys jogging outdoors, even in the Arizona summer.

EVENT SPOTLIGHT | Language Fair 2021 The Language Fair showcases diverse cultural traditions, including music, dances and foods, to expand high school students’ global knowledge and cultural appreciation. It also demonstrates to students that they can continue their high-school language studies in college or even explore a new language.

Previous years’ events have drawn as many as 2,500 attendees. Nearly 20 schools with a total of more than 1,000 students registered to attend this year’s Language Fair, which was conducted online for the first time in the 23year history of the event.

The transition to a virtual format allowed students to attend from their own classrooms or homes, and they could drop in for just one session or participate in the full two-day event.

The School of International Letters and Culture's faculty members and student volunteers put in a lot of work organizing the Zoom setup for this year’s fair. Each department — from Asian Languages and European Languages to American Sign Language and academic advising and testing — had its own activity room that students could enter with a link. From there, they were placed into individual breakout rooms for the specific languages or activities they were interested in.

Principal Lecturer in classics Almira Poudrier has been involved with the Language Fair since 2002. She said that in years past, students would wander the event at the Memorial Union in person, being drawn by whichever events and displays caught their attention. This year’s virtual format allowed for more one-on-one discussions that went beyond just cursory overviews of the school’s language offerings.

The Language Fair is typically “loud, sometimes chaotic, and very fun!” Poudrier said. “The changes (this year) were profound — students had to come into those rooms individually instead of traveling in groups, and inside the room the conversations were longer, more in-depth and specifically focused on that particular language.”

The second day of the Language Fair was devoted to competitions for individual languages as well as an overall poster contest.

For example, students were tasked with reciting a classical Chinese poem or performing a scene from a play in French. The posters were to be centered on the 2021 event’s theme of holidays and celebrations.

Poudrier was in charge of the poster competition this year. Students created posters at home or in their classrooms ahead of the event, then presented them by video to a group of judges in their target language.

Some even chose to wear costumes or utilize props for their showcases. “The posters really are amazing in their artistic style and their language excellence, and the event is very competitive,” Poudrier said.

Instructor of Arabic Umar Sulayman, the coordinator of the Language Fair, said the competitions are his favorite part of the event.

The competitions demonstrate that high schoolers are interested in learning about languages and cultures besides their own, and that they understand how this knowledge benefits their future studies and careers.

“I like how Arizona high school students work hard with their teachers to impress our judges and faculty members,” he said. “Our faculty members always offer the contestants valuable feedback on their posters and presentations.”

Kimberly Koerth Content Writer, School of International Letters and Cultures

SUMMER 2021

UPDATES

Faculty members in Arizona State University's School of International Letters and Cultures kept busy over the summer by not only preparing their syllabi for the fall semester but also presenting and publishing their research, earning professional credentials and traveling abroad.

Finally, Goodman learned that he had been awarded a Fulbright-Hays Program grant to bring a dozen K– 12 teachers from the Osborne and Phoenix Union school districts to Brazil next summer. That project’s goal is to create Brazilian studies and Portuguese modules for primary and secondary school curricula.

Pamela Howard, a lecturer in American Sign Language, completed a Langue des Signes Française (LSF) class in preparation for her upcoming study abroad trip to Paris in May, “American Sign Language: The French Connection.”

School of International Letters and Cultures Director Nina Berman returned to her research location in Kwale County, Kenya. She completed work for an article on ecoliteracy and — in partnership with ASU colleagues Netra Chhetri, Okey Iheduru, and Salah Hamdoun — performed research for a collaborative project on the economic impact of COVID-19.

Ligia Bezerra, an assistant professor in Portuguese, worked with a group of female scholars from across the United States on a bilingual publication of poems by female Brazilian writers. The forthcoming publication is an initiative of the Mulherio das Letras - USA (Women of Letters) group, which Bezerra cofounded in 2019 as an extension of a Brazilian movement to promote publishing literature written by women.

Clinical Assistant Professor of Brazilian studies Glen Goodman traveled to Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador to meet with universities, government representatives, nongovernmental organizations, development implementers and other stakeholders as part of his involvement with the universitywide Central America Working Group. He also presented his research on ethnic food and tourism in southern Brazil at the Association for the Study of Food and Society’s virtual conference titled “Just Food: Because It Is Never Just Food.”

Sara Lee, a lecturer in German, was one of nine people in the United States selected to complete training to become a national Goethe-coach. She will soon be able to travel the country to provide curriculum support and classroom visits to German teachers at any level. The program, sponsored by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, is a collaboration between the American Association of Teachers of German and the Goethe-Institut.

School faculty members and students provided lessons in Portuguese and Italian to a group of 86 middle school and high school students participating in the nonprofit Friendly House’s TRiO Talent Search college and career readiness program. The ASU organizers instructed students on elements of both language and culture. Many of the youths were heritage Spanish speakers and found the lessons relevant to their experiences, knowledge and interests.

Clinical Assistant Professor of Spanish and Director of Spanish Language Acquisition Hope Anderson presented her research at two conferences. First was the International Association for Language Learning Technology conference, which was held virtually. Anderson presented with her colleagues Steven Flanagan, Anne Walton-Ramirez and Kristin Elwood on the topic of “Implementing Synchronous Virtual Sessions in Online Language Courses.”

Second was the American Association of Teachers of Spanish & Portuguese conference in July in Atlanta. Anderson’s presentation, “Abierto y Gratis: Developing Proficiency with All Digital Resources,” was based on a project she carried out in her Spanish classes.

Kimberly Koerth Content Writer, School of International Letters and Cultures

ASU News Stories 24 SILC ASU News Stories 2020

SILC Stories 2020-2021 Total 52

28 SILC ASU News Stories 2021

ASU News audit done by The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University, July 2021

BUILDING UPDATES The Durham building was named in 1994 to honor G. Homer Durham, president of ASU from 1960 to 1969. Durham is responsible for beginning the rapid expansion of our university.

As the 11th university president, Durham established several new colleges, including The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. During his presidency, the university more than doubled the size of its student body, increasing it to 23,000 in 1969.

Built in 1964, Durham Hall has been redesigned to take advantage of the growth and interest in languages and cultures at Arizona State University.

The renovated space offers expanded resources to prepare students for success after graduation, including careerbased advising and access to internships.

FIRST FLOOR Café Learning Support Services Advising Team Classrooms SECOND FLOOR Chinese Flagship Council of Arabic and Islamic Studies Enclaves Conference Rooms Project Rooms Center for Asian Research Center for Public Humanities Humanities Lab The Melikian Center THIRD FLOOR Front Desk Office Staff Offices Faculty Offices Enclaves Conference Rooms Journal Rooms FOURTH FLOOR Conference Rooms Faculty Offices