WLL students at the 2013 campus-wide commencent in Spartan Stadium.
Dear WLL Community:
It has been a busy year here at the SJSU Department of World Languages and Literatures. As you will see from this first edition of our newsletter, there has been plenty going on around the department. We have welcomed new faces, launched new initiatives and sent our graduates off into the world -- though fortunately some come back as M.A. students! Our students and faculty have been busy winning awards, putting on high profile events, not to mention teaching and contributing to scholarship. We hope you will enjoy this inaugural edition of our department newsletter, and we look forward to hearing back from you, the members of our extended family. Feel free to drop us a line and let us know what you are doing. We will be glad to include it in our next newsletter.
Blanca Smith (Spanish) and Anne Fountain (Spanish) invited local detective fiction writer William C. Gordon to speak to students in Spanish on April 18. A return visit by Gordon is scheduled for September 17, 2013. Gordon is the author of detective novels that have been translated into Spanishand several other languages and he spoke to students in Spanish. He is married to author Isabel Allende.
Admitted Spartan Day is the day that SJSU welcomes all of the newly admitted students to SJSU. Freshmen and transfer students have the opportunity to meet with and talk to faculty from their prospective departments, get campus tours and attend special topics workshops. In this photo, Professors Yasue Kodama Yanai (Japanese) and Dorina Cereghino (Italian) talk with students interested in majoring and/or minoring in a world language.
The College of Humanities and the Arts Student Showcase
Students studying Japanese show off their calligraphy skills.
Dean Lisa Vollendorf and Dr. Anita Fountain at the Humanities and the Arts Student Showcase.
This past spring semester, the Department of World Languages and Literatures came together with other departments of the college to present the first annual Humanities and Arts Day Student Showcase. The showcase did a great job of highlighting students' achievements and included dance, poetry and musical performances. The showcase was a great success and we look forward to the second annual Humanities and Arts Day Student Showcase. We hope that this becomes a tradition for our college!
Student Achievements and Study Abroad
Study Abroad
We would like to acknowledge and congratulate our recent scholarship recipients! Winners of Winter 2013 Isabel Allende Scholarship:
Teresa Aragón Robles, Aaron Yamada, Daisy Carriedo, Dulce Ramos, Eva Franco-Iñiguez, Uriel Aldama, and Kari Freese.
Winner of the Spring 2013 Carla and Mario Federici Scholarship: French MA student Maria Stone.
Stay informed on the latest scholarship information by checking our website at www.sjsu.edu/wll or on our facebook page at www.facebook.com/sjsuwll
Thinking about spending a summer abroad? This year, our faculty are taking students to Portugal, France and Japan! Unfortunately, the deadlines for these programs have already passed but it is never to early to start dreaming about and planning for next year!
For more information on these programs, please contact the following professors:
Prof. Deolinda Adao at Deolinda.Adao@sjsu.edu (Portugal Program)
Prof. Yasue Yanai at Yasue.Yanai@sjsu.edu (Kyoto, Japan program)
Prof. Dominique van Hooff at Dominique.vanhooff@sjsu.edu (Paris Program)
Phi Sigma Iota is an International Foreign Language Honor Society that recognizes outstanding accomplishment in foreign language study (phisigmaiota.org). Students are nominated by their professors. Above are this year's initiates in Phi Sigma Iota.
Diego decided to minor in Italian to gain a better understanding of the differences between Spanish and Italian, especially the grammatical aspect. His advice for students considering a major in World Languages and Literatures? “Try to understand [what you’re studying] as best you can. And ask yourself what you plan to do with the major. How will the major be beneficial to you after you graduate?†And for those already in World Languages and Literatures programs to be successful, he suggests, “Study with classmates as long as you can and communicate in the new language more often than you do in English.â€
---------------------------------------------------- Do you know a student who should be highlighted in our next newsletter? Please email worldlanguagesandlit@sjsu.edu for more information.
Faculty Awards, Recognition and Achievements
Above, Prof. Rina Katzen(Hebrew) was recognized for 40 years of service to SJSU.
Below, Prof. Carmen Sigler(Spanish) was recognized for 25 years of service to SJSU.
This spring, Prof. Juan Sempere (Spanish) was awarded the Teaching Excellence Award by the College of Humanities and the Arts.
Prof. Seiichiro Inaba (Japanese) has written an introductory textbook on the structure of Japanese primarily for advanced learners of the language. The book provides an introduction to Japanese linguistics ,comparing the structures of Japanese and English phonetics, phonology, morphology, and syntax. The author introduces linguistic notions and terminology discussing the theoretical analyses of linguistic phenomena in both languages. It is a good invitation to Japanese linguistics not only for advanced learners of Japanese but also for those interested in studying linguistics and becoming Japanese or English language teachers.
Written by Professor Jean-Luc Deslvo (French), this three-volume work is a statistical, linguistic word frequency analysis of Maillet's entire literary corpus (42 books in all). The findings are of great benefit to present and future scholars of Acadian literature (literature of Eastern French Canada).
The book can be purchased directly from the publisher:
Kristine Adams and Ashley Onadele are the newest additions to the WLL team. Together with the department chair and faculty memebers,they work to make the Department of World Languages and Literatures the best it can be.
Kristine Adams
Kristine Adams was born and raised in San Jose. After moving throughout the Bay Area and graduating from San Francisco State, she and her husband, Winston, ventured out to West Los Angeles. A couple of years later, the Adams made their way back to San Jose -- Winston as a SJSU student and Kristine as the Office Coordinator for the WLL Department. Kristine is responsible for administrative support to the Department Chair, coordinating budgets faculty matters, schedules, records and projects. Kristine enjoys music festivals, fitness and cheering on her hometown team, the San Jose Sharks.
The Department of World Languages and Literatures at SJSU was proud to begin teaching first-year Persian in the Fall semester of 2012. The class is currently taught through special sessions and available to all students. We will be offering Persian 96A again this Fall with plans to offer the second year of study in the coming year.
Isabel Allende Day
The Spanish Program and the CÃrculo Hispánico with co-sponsorship from the WLL office and the Center for Literary Arts planned and coordinated an “Isabel Allende Day†at SJSU on November 27, 2012. This was a campus wide series of events that included Library exhibits, Animated film trailers for Allende’s book, The City of the Beasts, a luncheon, a theatre production of her short story “Tosca,†and an Awards ceremony and presentation plus Q&A with the author. In addition, the City of San Jose conferred honors at City Hall and the day included press and T.V. coverage.
In connection with Allende Day, the author has donated books from her personal library to the University where they will form part of an Isabel Allende Collection in the King Library. As a follow-up to the trailers for The City of the Beasts, the SJSU Animation and Illustration Program has produced trailers for Allende’s latest novel, Maya's Notebook.
From October 17th - November 15th 2012, along with the Consulate General of Mexico in San Jose, CÃrculo Hispánico and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library, The Department of World Languages and Literatures presented an Homage to the late Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes. The event featured the film series "The Soul of Mexico" narrated by Carlos Fuentes. The films explored Mexico's art, history and culture.
WLL alumnus and UC Davis doctoral student Jonathan Alcántar participates in a panel discussion on Carlos Fuentes as part of the "Soul of Mexico" series.
7th US-Japan Future Forum
On Friday, September 21, 2012, students and staff from seven universities across Japan met with President Qayoumi, the Consul General of Japan in San Francisco and other dignitaries to discuss the evolving relationship between the US and Japan. The event was organized by Prof.Yasue Kodama Yanai (Japanese) along with faculty from Japan's Kagoshima University.
Since 2012 marked the 100th anniversary of the planting Japanese cherry blossom trees in Washington, D.C., the event culminated with the planting of Japanese cherry trees on the campus' central lawn near Tower Hall.
SJSU President Mohammad Qayoumi addresses the US-Japan Future Forum.