The Bi-Weekly MFLL E-Newsletter
MONDAY, August 27, 2007
The Newsletter for Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures
web.utk.edu/~mfll

• NIKE ARNOLD'S (German) article titled "Language in Action: Supporting Foreign Language Literacy Development with Online Discussions" will appear in the volume "Teaching Literature and Language Online" (Ed. Ian Lancashire) as part of the MLA series Options in Teaching.



• KATHRYN ATKINS-ROBERSON (French) taught at Tsinghau University this summer in Beijing, China. The summer program is part of Beijing's preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games. All three thousand students are required to attend a summer language camp. Singing competion was a huge part of the camp. The program was organized by the UT Office of International Education and Tsinghua University, the most prestigious university in China.



• FLAVIA BRIZIO'S (Itallian) article "Antonio Tabucchi: dove va il romanzo?" has been published in vol. 83, numbers 3 and 4 (2006), of the journal Italica.



• DOUG CANFIELD'S (Language Resource Center) work on Skype technology in the modern language classroom was featured in the August 16 edition of The Christian Science Monitor (http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0816/p13s02-legn.html). In addition to delivering the Henderson plenary at the IALLT (International Association for Language Learning Technology) conference in Boston, June 19-24, he received the Marie Sheppard Memorial Award. The Sheppard Award rewards junior IALLT members who show promise for future IALLT Journal and publication involvement.



• NURIA CRUZ-CAMARA'S (Spanish) article "Un icono femenino de la revolución: 'Heroínas' de Federica Montseny," has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Iberian and Latin American Studies. It will be published in the July issue (which will actually come out in September).



• SÉBASTIEN DUBREIL (French) was invited to speak at the Anderson Language and Technology Educational Center (ALTEC) at the University of Colorado on May 10-12, 2007. He gave a lecture and a workshop on setting up and using podcasts for the FL classroom and culture learning. This event titled "Pedagogical Uses of Podcasts for Intercultural Communication" was part of the ALTEC certification program for TAs and faculty.



• DAWN DUKE'S (Spanish & Portuguese) manuscript was accepted for publication by Bucknell University Press/Associated University Presses. Title: "Literary Passion, Ideological Commitment: Towards a Legacy of Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian Women Writers." Her most recently published article, “How She Strikes Back: Images of Female Strength in Esmeralda Ribeiro’s Writing,” came out in the collection of essays The Afro-Cuban Mind. Contemporary Afro-Brazilian Literary and Cultural Criticism, Editors: Niyi Afolabi, Márcio Barbosa, Esmeralda Ribeiro. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, Inc., 2007.



• MICHAEL HANDELSMAN (Spanish) presented a paper at the recent AATSP meeting in San Diego titled "Las mujeres divinas también tienen secretos."



• CHRIS HOLMLUND (French) chaired a panel in Glasgow, Scotland, in July titled “Queering the 1990s” and presented a paper on “Queering Performance” (on supporting actors who “play queer” like Chris Cooper in American Beauty, Catherine Keener in Being John Malkovich, and Chloe Sevigny in Boys Don’t Cry).

  This summer also, Chris and Jenn Fishman (English, Rhetoric) received nearly $5000 from the Ready for the World Intercultural and International Initiative (QEP) funds for their proposal for a “Citizenship, Literacy, Media” Film and Speaker Series. Eleven other units on campus, among them MFLL, English, Cinema Studies, History, Art, Political Science, and Instructional Technology, Health & Cultural Studies, and the Highlander Center are contributing an additional $6000.

  The CLM series concentrates on the many ways in which literacy and media can be used to foster local and global citizenship. The series will begin the week of 9/11 with a screening and discussion of "Time for School," the first documentary in an ongoing Wide Angle/PBS series. In October they will screen "Back to School," the second film in the series, and host Wide Angle producer Tamara Rosenberg. In November, they will host Vicky Colbert, former vice minister of Education in Colombia, who helped revolutionize state education during the 1980s and subsequently has funded “Fundacion Escuela Nueva,” an organization that has received international recognition for changing the face of education, community by community, in more than fourteen countries worldwide. She will be joined by Erin Krampetz, who has recently helped open the foundation’s U.S. office.

  Anyone in MFLL who is interested in having Tamara, Vicky, or Erin speak to their classes or who otherwise wants to be involved with the “Citizenship, Literacy, Media” events, please contact Chris at cholmlun@utk.edu or Jenn at jfishman@utk.edu. (See UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST below for the film series overview)




• GREG KAPLAN'S (Spanish) book, "El culto a San Millán en Valderredible, Cantabria: Las iglesias rupestres y la formación del Camino de Santiago" (Santander: Gobierno de Cantabria, Consejería de Cultura, Turismo y Deporte, 2007), was officially presented at a press conference July 31 in Santander, Spain. In addition to discussing the content of the book, Kaplan also spoke about a related theme, the Cantabrian origins of Castilian, which is the topic of his current research.



• KATHERINE KONG'S (French) article, "The Ethics of Secrecy in 'La Chastelaine de Vergi,'" appeared in the Summer 2007 issue of Symposium.



• KEITH MOSER (French) completed his Ph.D. and is now Visiting Assistant Professor at Mississippi State University.



• DOLLY YOUNG'S (Spanish) new textbook, "Te das cuenta?," has received a $20,000 marketing award. She also gave a presentation this summer at the AATSP meeting in San Diego in August on IPod Applied Research in Second Language Acquisition.

Back to Top

• Time for SchoolWide Angle Film Series Overview
• Part I: TIME FOR SCHOOL

Doesn't everyone remember their first day of school? Not everyone can. The facts speak for themselves. Over a hundred million children worldwide have never spent a day in school. One in four does not complete even five years of basic education. Now, 182 nations have promised to provide access to free and compulsory education for every child in the world—by 2015. To test the reality of this commitment, WIDE ANGLE profiles children in Japan, Kenya, Benin, Brazil, Romania, and India who have managed to enroll in the first year of primary school—in most cases despite great odds. Planned as the premiere episode of a longitudinal series of films through 2015, this program will provide a fascinating glimpse into the lives of children with very different personalities, in diverse circumstances and countries, all taking a hopeful first step into an uncertain future.


• Part 2: BACK TO SCHOOL

An update of one of last year's most acclaimed films,Time for School spotlights the global crisis in access to education. The facts speak for themselves. More than a hundred million children have never spent a day in school—and one in four does not complete even five years of basic education. Now, 182 nations have promised to provide access to free and compulsory education for every child in the world—by 2015. Last season Wide Angle visited Japan, Kenya, Benin, Brazil, Romania, and India to meet children who have managed to enroll in the first year of primary school—in most cases despite great odds. This year's update of Time for School will feature the newly shot story of a 12-year-old girl in Afghanistan who is attending classes for the first time with the hope of making up for years of schooling denied her under the rule of the Taliban.Time for School introduces viewers to some of the challenges—poverty, child labor, and violence—that millions of children around the world face on a daily basis, providing rich insight into the striking disparities of circumstance and opportunity around the globe.


• The French program's Table française will be meeting on Tuesdays, 5-6 p.m., at the Sunspot restaurant, 1909 Cumberland Avenue. Their first meeting is September 4.



• Cheerful Diligence a Russian folk/bluegrass quartet, will be performing twice in coming weeks:
  - Tuesday, August 28, 12:00 p.m. -
  WDVX Blue Plate Special (at One Vision Plaza, Gay & Summit Hill downtown)
  Contact sblackwe@utk.edu for details.
  
  - Thursday, September 6, 6:30 p.m. -
  International House