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The following feature story appeared in the campus publication MOSAIC in April, 1997. Although some courses, students, and faculty members referenced in the story may have changed, it still provides a full and accurate picture of the Modern Languages department. For current course information and a faculty listing we encourage you to visit the department's homepage.
Modern Languages & Literature
A miniature United Nations connects students with today's global community
In important ways, the department of modern languages and literature epitomizes a key component of Trinity's recently articulated academic vision: "the liberal arts with a difference." At the heart of that vision is the concept of liberal learning with a global dimension. "We must enable our students to engage the global community thoughtfully, creatively, and passionately," said President Evan S. Dobelle recently. "We must prepare our students for a successful conversation with the world."
Comprising academic programs in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish, plus an even more extensive array of languages though the Self-Instructional Programs in Modern Languages (SILP), the department prepares students for that global conversation by focusing on the complex interplay of language and culture. Professor of Modern Languages and department chair Dori Katz says that all faculty members in the department share "a commitment to the importance of language in the acquisition of knowledge about culture."
Interactive learning
Students say that learning to speak a language requires a certain teaching environment. Loren B. Giallanella '00, a beginning student of Italian, says, "It's really important to hear the language and to speak it. You need vocal skills as well as grammar. You need to know how to listen and respond." Elizabeth K. Eakeley '97, the department's President's Fellow, is a French major who is also studying Chinese. She says that by the second semester of Chinese, her class is expected to speak as little English as possible in class discussions.
The interactive -- as opposed to presentational -- style of teaching and learning lends itself to creative uses of technology. The CTW-Mellon Project for Language Learning and Technology, a consortial program involving Trinity, Connecticut College and Wesleyan University, is designed to help faculty members use technology to enhance their language teaching, according to Senior Language Resource Specialist Nina Garrett, the project's director. As part of the grant, Trinity has established in Seabury Hall a fully equipped faculty development site, where teachers can experiment with software options, and a state-of-the-art electronic classroom, with 16 student computer workstations and complete multimedia capabilities.
With this kind of technology available, applications are virtually limitless. For example, a professor may develop software that enables students to read a particular text and click on certain words to hear the correct pronunciation, to read a footnote about the historical or cultural context of an aspect of the reading, or to call up a helpful visual image. "Multimedia is the perfect environment in which to emphasize the interdisciplinary quality of language learning," says Garrett.
In addition to introductory, intermediate, and advanced language-based courses, the department offers a number of interdisciplinary history and culture courses that are taught in English and open to all students. One of the goals of the department, says Katz, is to "call attention to the importance of language in all fields." The department's "Language across the Curriculum" program encourages students to use their language skills to supplement their work in other courses. Under faculty supervision, for example, a psychology student with a German minor could earn an extra half-credit for reading Freud's writing in the original German.
Outside the classroom, the department promotes cross-cultural learning by sponsoring events open to the community, such as the Spanish and Latin American film series. Modern languages faculty members consider themselves to be ambassadors of a sort. "It's just the nature of my job -- teaching about China at an American institution -- to promote cross-cultural understanding," says Assistant Professor of Modern Languages and International Studies King-Fai Tam. He notes that despite the diversity of the cultures they represent, there's a "close-knittedness" among the faculty members. He says, "When you walk down the hallway in the modern languages department, it's almost like a miniature United Nations."
Languages unlimited
John J. McCook Professor of Modern Languages Kenneth Lloyd-Jones says that a great strength of his department is that it offers "such a fabulous variety of languages." In addition to the languages and courses described in the course catalogue, SILP offers Trinity students the unique opportunity to study an almost unlimited number of other languages. If a student wants to study Irish, for example, Trinity can access a national network to locate the recommended textbooks and tapes, as well as local native speakers and a qualified academic examiner who will work with the student. SILP, as Lloyd-Jones points out, "opens up the whole world." It is, he says, no small distinction that a liberal arts college of Trinity's size has no limits on the languages it can offer.
The department embraces this concept of no limits, which is compatible with and indeed promotes the concept of global conversation. Learning is not limited by the walls of the classroom or the boundaries of the campus. Recently, for example, the department hosted a campus visit from the Japanese consul general of Boston, who participated in an informal question-and-answer gathering with students.
When the world can't be brought to Trinity, professors send Trinity students into the world, starting with the Hartford community beyond the College's campus. Students in Visiting Lecturer in Italian Studies John Alcorn's "Italy and America" course, taught in English and cross-listed with American studies, explore Italian immigration in the United States and take field trips to Hartford's "Little Italy" on Franklin Avenue as well as to enclaves of Italian culture in other cities along the East Coast.
The department also actively encourages students to spend time abroad -- at Trinity's Rome Campus or the College's program in Spain or in other accredited programs all over the world. Many language students studying abroad have the option of living with native families and of participating in academic internships in cultural, governmental, and commercial areas. These opportunities, says Katz, enable students to "live the culture day to day." Modern languages faculty members emphasize the personal growth and insight into one's own culture that come naturally from the experience of immersing oneself in a different culture. Says Reiko Wagoner, a lecturer in Japanese, "It really opens up possibilities in life."
Graduating senior Eakeley recently discovered the truth of Wagoner's observation. Last October, Eakeley participated in an interview with Merrill Lynch for a position in one of its international divisions. As a test of her abilities to work with representatives and clients from other countries, the interview was conducted entirely in French. Having recently accepted a position in Merrill Lynch's international telecommunications division, Eakeley has no doubt that her language skills and cultural knowledge helped win her the position and will continue to benefit her particular conversation with the world.
-- Leslie Virostek