Oscar A. Pérez of Skidmore College will present “Spanish for Science and Engineering in the United States: Past, Present, Future” on Tuesday, March 12, at 5 p.m., in Franz Hall room 120. His talk is sponsored by international languages and cultures and the Shiley School of Engineering.
Why should scientists and engineers in the United States learn a language other than English? What kind of benefits would they get from investing the significant amount of time required to be proficient in another language? In his talk, Pérez will seek some answers, first, by exploring the long, although sometimes hidden, tradition of Spanish-language learning in scientific and technological contexts. Then, he will discuss current efforts in the United States to promote the teaching of Spanish for STEM, including some pedagogical models that have been proven useful, and some possibilities to facilitate the proliferation of Spanish for science and technology course offerings within language departments or in conjunction with science and engineering programs at institutions of higher education.
The lecture is free and open to all. For more information contact Maria Echenique, international languages and cultures, at echeniqu@up.edu.