UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

International Languages & Cultures

Lecture from International Languages and Cultures department

738 copyPamela Cappas-Toro will present “Pelo Rebelde”: Race, Dominicanidad, and the Contested History of Natural Hair on Monday, February 2 at 4:30 p.m. in the Holy Cross Lounge on the third floor of Franz Hall.

Cappas-Toro, a candidate for the position of Assistant Professor of Spanish, scholarship explores the historical legacies of blackness and national belonging through the contested meanings of hair in the Dominican Republic, from the dictatorship of Rafael Trujillo (1930-1961) to the present. “Pelo Rebelde” argues that hair has been a central element in the construction of anti-black aesthetics and ideologies that inform Dominican national identity.

All Welcome For Adam Coon Lecture, Jan. 19

adam_coon-1b82dfb3-cb00-49af-940c-935977d4c03cThe Department of International Languages and Cultures invites faculty, staff, and students to attend a talk by Adam Coon, a candidate for the position of assistant professor of Spanish, on Monday, January 19, at 4:30 p.m., in the Holy Cross Lounge on the third floor of Franz Hall. Coon will present “Grinding Words: Self-Representations of Women in Contemporary Nahua Cultural Production.” Coon’s scholarship focuses in Mesoamerican indigenous literature from Mexico and Central America, and his dissertation is a study of emerging Nahua literature, written for the most part in its original language, though published bilingually in Nahuatl and Spanish.

For more information contact Maria Echenique, international languages and cultures, at 7190 or echeniqu@up.edu.

International Night This Saturday, Nov. 22

internationalAll are welcome to bring the whole family to enjoy an evening of international sights, sounds, tastes, and smells at the 51st annual University of Portland International Night on Saturday, November 22, in the Bauccio Commons, from 5 to 8 p.m.

The night will begin with dinner and a selection of world and African music spun by DJ SOLO, a local favorite for global music-infused dance parties. Members of Portland Taiko will take the stage with their hypnotic and heart-pounding Japanese drums. A fashion show displaying the attire of cultures all around the world will be followed by a dazzling collage of dances from Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, and the Pacific Islands. The mesmerizing MexicaTiahui Aztec Dance Group will demonstrate and teach Native American dance and drumming traditions from Mexico. DJ SOLO will return to close the night with an African dance party.

Enjoy live performances and the company of friends while savoring international dishes from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. Students from Germany, China, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Mexico, Peru, and more will showcase their cultures at the Showcase of Nations. Event attendees can take home a free photo strip memento from the night by piling into the Red Curtain Photo Booth with friends, family and global attire.

This program is sponsored by the International Club, international student services, and ASUP. For more information go to www.up.edu/iew.

Adios y que Dios te bendiga, Kate (Goodbye and God Bless)

up_stained_glass-37 2150Please join colleagues, students, and alumni for “Querida Profe: Student readings to Professor Regan,” a memorial reception for Kate Regan, on Tuesday, September 9, following her memorial Mass at 4:45 p.m. in the Chapel of Christ the Teacher. The student and alumni-led memorial for Profe will be held in St. Mary’s Student Center at 7 p.m. Organizers we will be reading a collaborative spoken letter to Kate by providing an open mic to all students and alumni who wish to participate. All are welcome to read, speak, or listen; give a eulogy, read a favorite literary text, read from course notes, tell a story, give “Kate quotes,” read an original letter, poem, or essay, or just say farewell. Those who wish to speak may sign up when they arrive, and will have four minutes each. Acompáñanos en esta despedida de nuestra Querida Profe. (“Join us for this farewell of our Dear Profe”).

For more information contact Maria Echenique, international languages and cultures, at 7190 or echeniqu@up.edu.

Prayers For Kate

Staff and faculty portraitsThe University of Portland community was shocked and saddened to learn of the sudden death of Spanish professor Kate Regan in the early morning of Wednesday, July 23.

Kate joined the UP faculty in 1995 and wasted no time in becoming one of the most popular and respected professors on campus. She served as program director for the Spanish section from 1995 to 2007. Among her many tasks was the revitalization and development of the UP Spanish language program, which at the time of her hiring had two students enrolled. By 2007 the Spanish major had 60 students enrolled, and in 2013-2014 boasted 119. Kate served as chair of the foreign languages department (now international languages and cultures) from 2007 to 2010, and from 2010 to the present served as chair of the Collaborative in International Studies and Global Outreach (CISGO).

She earned her B.A. from the University of Illinois, Urbana, in 1981; her M.A., ibid, in 1983; and her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1995. Before starting at UP she was a lecturer in Spanish at Southwest Missouri State University (1983-1987), and served as an assistant professional specialist at the University of Notre Dame (1991-1995).

Listing Kate’s many academic accolades and accomplishments would take more space than is available here, but many of Kate’s colleagues and friends warmly remember her recognition as the national U.S Professor of the Year for Master’s and Comprehensive Universities in the United States by the Carnegie and Case Foundation in 2000. She also won the 2013 Dean’s Award for Faculty Leadership, awarded annually by the University’s deans to a tenured faulty member who exemplifies, in an extraordinary way, the qualities of teaching and scholarship.

While Kate’s loss has dealt an undeniable professional blow to our campus community, it is her passion and love of teaching, her unending energy and compassion, her complete and utter devotion to her students, colleagues, and friends (who wasn’t Kate’s friend, really?), her generosity in sharing her many gifts, and of course her perpetual ear-to-ear smile we will miss most. The woman had charisma to spare.

The Funeral Mass for Kate will take place at the Madeleine Church on Friday, August 8, at 10 a.m. with a reception immediately following in the parish hall. Any students, faculty, or staff desiring additional pastoral support at this time are encouraged to contact Campus Ministry at 503-943-7131 or ministry@up.edu. Sympathy cards and letters can be sent to Belgin Inan, international languages and cultures, at MSC 155.The Professor Kate Regan Memorial Fund has been established in Kate’s memory. To make a gift honoring her life, please visit onlinegiving.up.edu.

Student Wins Cultural Exchange Scholarship

letendreEnvironmental studies and German studies double major Sarah Letendre (pictured) has been awarded a Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Scholarship for Young Professionals and will spend a year in Germany starting in July, according to Laurie McLary, international languages and cultures. Letendre participated in the studies abroad program in Salzburg and recently traveled with the entrepreneur scholars program to China. She has begun a business creating handbags from recycled fabrics and will be pursuing study and an internship in eco-fashion in Germany with the grant.

The Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange for Young Professionals (CBYX) is a fellowship funded by the German Bundestag and U.S. Congress. Each year it provides 75 American and 75 German young professionals the opportunity to spend a year in each others’ countries, studying, interning, and living with hosts on a cultural immersion program. Find out more at http://tinyurl.com/c2kjbrq, or contact McLary at 7255 or mclary@up.edu.

Andrew Cohen Lecture on Using Language, Culture Learning, March 26

Andrew Cohen pic_2.jpgAndrew D. Cohen will present a lecture on using language and culture learning strategies to develop higher levels of proficiency and intercultural competency on Wednesday, March 26, at 4:15 p.m., in Shiley Hall room 123, according to Jeffrey White, international languages and cultures. The lecture is free and open to all students, faculty, staff, alumni, and the public.

Cohen is a leading researcher in the applied linguistics field of language and culture learning strategies. He co-edited Language Learning Strategies with Ernesto Macaro, (2007), co-authored Teaching and Learning Pragmatics with Noriko Ishihara (2010), and most recently authored the second edition of Strategies in Learning and Using A Second Language (2011).

The presentation has been made possible through funding from international languages and cultures, the College of Arts and Sciences, School of Business, School of Education, School of Engineering, School of Nursing, the McNerney-Hanson Endowed Chair in Ethics, and the Collaborative for International Studies and Global Outreach (CISGO). Cohen’s visit will include a full day of meetings with a variety of UP faculty, staff, and students who are involved with efforts to internationalize curriculum and programming.

For more information, contact White at 7141 or white@up.edu.

Graves Award in the Humanities for Alexandra Hill

hill copyAlexandra Hill, international languages and cultures, has been awarded an Arnold L. and Lois S. Graves Award in the Humanities. This competitive award, offered biennially, is “intended to encourage and to reward outstanding accomplishment in actual teaching in the humanities by younger faculty members.” The Graves Awards are administered by Pomona College under the auspices of the American Council of Learned Societies. The award recognizes excellence in teaching, and the funding that accompanies it is designed to help with research-related expenses. This award will help Hill begin a new project investigating the museumification of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in the months leading up to the twenty-fifth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, an experience that will support her course GRM 353, Remembering Divided Germany.

For more information contact Terry Favero, associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences, at 7373 or favero@up.edu.

Mobile App Vendor Sessions

Apps Smart phone applications logos images dreamstime_m_31882324.jpgThe administration has heard the message: students want mobile application functionality at UP. The President’s Advisory Council on Information Technology has appointed a sub-committee to identify the needs and goals of mobile applications and/or websites. This is a time of transition for mobile technology, so the focus of this group is the long term.

In the short term, committee members have identified two vendors who offer solutions specific to higher education, and whose offerings complement other campus mobile solutions such as Moodle, Library, and Guidebook. Information services will be demonstrating two vendor solutions on campus with sessions focusing on students, and also for University personnel. The two vendors are DubLabs (www.dub labs.com) and ModoLabs (www.modolabs.com). The committee is very interested in all opinions concerning these two offerings and it is hoped that representatives of all campus units are able to attend. There will be three sessions by each vendor. Everyone is welcome to attend any of the three sessions. Each session will be approximately one hour in length with the first half hour being a demonstration of the product offerings, and the remaining time for questions.

The DubLabs sessions took place on Thursday, January 30. The ModoLabs sessions will take place on Wednesday, February 5, at 10 a.m., in Buckley Center room 163, with focus on University personnel; at 2 p.m., in Buckley Center room 163, with focus 0n students and university personnel; and at 5 p.m., in Buckley Center room 163, with focus on students (refreshments provided).

For more information contact Ann Harris, information services, at 8116 or harrisa@up.edu.

CISGO Seed Grant Recipients

Staff and faculty portraitsThe Collaborative for International Studies and Global Outreach (CISGO) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2013-2014 CISGO Seed Grants, according to Kate Regan, international languages and cultures. The grants are for projects related to increasing international issues and learning on campus, and support faculty, staff, and student projects that increase international awareness and inter-cultural competency at the University of Portland and beyond. The awardees are:

  • Student Erika Standeven: “CSWE Training in Intergroup Dialogue: Knowledge and Skills for the Practice of Cross-Cultural Competence, Awareness, and Social Justice”
  • Student Aurora Myer: “A Comparative Study of Food Distribution Policies in the U.S. and Central America: Tackling Inequity through Social Entrepreneurship”
  • Sally Hood, English: “English as a Second Language (ESL) Curriculum Development in Toledo and Madrid, Spain for School of Education Students”
  • Alice Gates, sociology and social work: “Exploring Brazilian and U.S. Perspectives on Social Work Practice, Research, and Education”
  • Jeffrey White, international laguages and cultures: “Peer Mentoring for Global Learning: Program Planning and Implementation”
  • David Taylor, biology: “A Moveable Feast: A Comparison of Food Crop Diversity and Utilization among Portland-area Asian and Latino Immigrant Communities”
  • Mark Meckler, business administration: “The impact of authenticity and truthfulness driven cultural leadership and followership on regional and national economic health”
  • Jennette Lovejoy, communication studies: “Coming Together Through Stories”
  • Howard Feldman, business administration: “Intercultural Effectiveness Scale Workshop”
  • Brad Franco, history: “UP Study Abroad Program in Siena, Italy.”

For more information contact Regan at 7364 or regan@up.edu.