Modern Languages News

New Faculty Publications:

Professor Yun Xiao announces her newest publication Current Issues in Chinese Linguistics (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2011) with Liang Tao and Hooi Ling Soh.

Upcoming Events:

BUSCO
Cinco de mayo event: Date TBA

(See our Facebook page for more information on this and other upcoming events for the Spanish program.)

FRANCO B.U.

Global Community Hour: France
Tour the world without leaving Bryant's campus! Join the ICC in learning about the countries of our international students. Join French Fulbright Mélanie Bozzo and senior Emmanuelle Calvet as they talk about their native country. Free French food from La Crêpérie in Providence!

Wednesday, March 21^st12:00-1pm
Location: Papitto

Franco BU Meeting
Wednesday, March 21^st2-3pm
Location: Heritage
Come join us to discuss the wine and cheese event as well as upcoming elections!

French Film: Monsieur Ibrahim
Wednesday, March 21st
5-7pm
Interfaith Center
Discussion and refreshments to follow the film.
Synopsis: A boy from a broken home finds a friend in a spiritual shopkeeper in this period drama from writer/director François Dupeyron. Set in 1960s Paris, Monsieur Ibrahim et les Fleurs du Coran revolves around Momo (Pierre Boulanger), a young man who lives alone with his father in the bustling Rue Bleue district. Still smarting over the separation from his wife and other son, Momo's dad neglects his son in ways both minor and major, to the point where the teen spends most of his time out of school alone and isolated. He finds an unlikely ally in Monsieur Ibrahim (Omar Sharif), a Muslim shopkeeper who spends most of his days behind the counter of his store reading the Koran. As time passes, Momo and Ibrahim begin to bring each other out of his respective shell, sharing a series of everyday adventures, culminating in Momo's indoctrination into Ibrahim's faith. Monsieur Ibrahim et les Fleurs du Coran played the Toronto and Venice film festivals; at the latter, Sharif was given a lifetime achievement award for this and the rest of his career's work. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi

Presidents' Day weekend: Franco B.U. trip to Montréal (Feb 17th-20th)
Franco BU meeting
Wednesday, February 12th
2pm
Bryant Center, Heritage Room

French Coffee Hour:
Wednesday, February 12th
3:30-4:30
Rotunda

French Coffee Hour:
Wednesday, February 22nd
3:30-4:30
Rotunda

IAA
Mask Making for Carenevale
Wednesday,February 15
2pm
Bryant Center, South

Film, Benvenuti al Sud
Wednesday, February 15
2:45
Unistructure, M33

Italian Festival, Friday, April 13th. For more information email iaa@bryant.edu or Prof. Misuraca

IAA Meetings
3:00pm, Bryant Center, South
Feb 29^th, March date TBA, April 11^th and April 25^th.

Italian film showing at Interfaith Center on March 21^st at 2:00pm. For more information email iaa@bryant.edu or Prof. Misuraca emisurac@bryan.edu

Chinese Language Day

The Chinese Language Day in spring 2012 will feature a guest speaker, Mr. Patrick Lui, the President of Green Great Wall Foundation-- a film producer in profession, will speak on “Green China” at Bryant University at 5 pm on April 12^th, 2012. It will be held at the Grand Hall of Douglas & Judith Krupp Library.

TASTE THE WORLD
Co-sponsored by BUSCO, FRANCO B.U. and IAA will be held on Wednesday, March 28^th from 5-6:30pm. Look for sign-ups in the Rotunda on Marc 6^th, 7^th, 8^th, 20^th and 21^st!

Past News and Events:

January 2012

The Modern Language Department held its traditional all member Professional Development Day on Saturday, January 21, 2012. Lead and organized by the department Chair, Yun Xiao (Chinese), guest speakers included David Lux, Dean of Arts and Sciences at Bryant and the distinguished Professor Terrance Wiley.

Professor Wiley is the current President of the Center for Applied Linguistics in Washington DC. He is also Professor Emeritus at Arizona State University. Professor Wiley’s teaching and prolific research have focused on educational and applied linguistics, concentrating on language policy, literacy and biliteracy studies, language and immigration, bilingual education and bilingualism, heritage and community language education, English and globalization, and English as a second and international language with emphases on educational equity and access.

His presentation, “The Salience of Language Rights in the United States with Implications for Language Education” addressed the extent to which language minorities in the United States have historically been able to access language rights in education and considered the implications of restrictive policies on language education more broadly.

Faculty presentations included a technology roundtable on teaching with slate computers by Tony Houston (Spanish), Patricia Gomez (Spanish), Heather Moon (Spanish) and Elisabetta Misuraca (Italian). Heather Moon also presented an overview of the Spanish and Latin American Film course to the department, with specific analysis of the Argentinean film “El secreto de sus ojos.”