News
Special Visit!
On Monday, August 25th, two former Directors of the Geddes Language Center, Gail King and Bruce Parkhurst both stopped in for a visit to the GLC. If that wasn’t special enough neither Bruce or Gail had planned to visit the lab that day. Did I mention that Gail and Bruce were here at the same time and hadn’t seen each other in 20 years? Or that it was the new GLC Director, Mark Lewis’ fifth day on the job, and that part of his introduction to the GLC that week were stories of the wonderful community that Geddes had created and maintained over the years, a community that engendered frequent visits from faculty, employees and students of Geddes past and that that very culture was instilled into the very fabric of the GLC by both Gail and Bruce. It left us wondering if the stars had aligned, and really what better way to introduce our two new staff members, Director, Mark Lewis and Services Coordinator, Julianne McCobin to it?
Flipping the classroom
Many of the technology tools we support in the Geddes Language Center help faculty to put interactive learning resources online for their students, so that more classroom time can be spent on critical thinking and application. We call this pedagogical approach “flipping the classroom.” In a “flipped” classroom, students are given the opportunity to acquire content knowledge online by watching mini-lectures and completing focused learning activities, and then come to face-to-face sessions to apply what they have learned in class (Bergmann and Sams, 2012).
A great resource for faculty on this subject is the Flipped Learning Network. In order to avoid confusion and misconceptions about what flipped is, this group also recently authored a rather useful Definition, Pillars, and Indicators document.
NEW! Teaching with Technology Series
Sign up now to attend training and other Geddes events this fall. Click on the training menu and choose Workshops for a full listing and to register.
New Faculty Space
The Geddes Language Center presents its updated renovated relocated Faculty Workspace for 2013. You can find the new workspace at the far left-hand end of the main language lab. The space is equipped with three computing stations, a new scanner and printer, assorted office supplies, comfortable chairs, more room, robust vegetation and a hospitable ambience. There is also a video viewing option and a small area for quiet meetings. Reservations are not required. Come check it out at your convenience.
BU Asia Film Week
Boston University Asia Film Week 2012
“Young Asia: Conversation between Generations”
October 22-26, 2012
Oct. 22 Monday Opening Event
4 – 6 pm: Student Symposium: “Young Asia: The Past and the Future”
6 – 7:30 pm: Reception
Location: Pardee House | 67 Bay State Road
Oct. 23 Tuesday
12:30 – 2 pm Sushi lunch Talk “From MOGA to Gyaru: Rebellious Girls in Japan"
Speaker: Sarah Frederick (Boston University)
Location: Japanese Language House, Boston University | 206 Bay State Road
3 – 5:00 pm Japanese film viewing: "Hula Girls" (2006), Director: Sang-il Lee
Introduction: Mariko Itoh Henstock (Boston University)
Location: Geddes Language Center | 685 Commonwealth Avenue, Room 533B
6:30 – 9:30 pm Japanese film viewing: “Akira” (1988), Director: Katsuhiro Otomo
Guest Speaker: SusanNapier (Tufts University)
Location: College of Communication | 640 Commonwealth Avenue, Room 101
Oct. 24 Wednesday
12:30 – 2 pm Live Korean Music Performance and Korean Lunch
Introduction: Yoon Sun Yang (Boston University)
Location: BU Central | 775 Commonwealth Avenue (George Sherman Union, Lower Level)
3 – 5 pm Korean Film viewing: “Bandhobi” (2009), Director: Shin Dong-Il
Introduction: Jaemin Roh (Boston University)
Location: Geddes Language Center | 685 Commonwealth Avenue, Room 533B
6:30 – 9:30 pm Korean Film viewing: "Bleak Night” (2011), Director: Yoon Sung-Hyun
Guest Speaker: Michelle Cho (Brown University)
Location: College of Communication | 640 Commonwealth Avenue, Room 101
Oct 25 Thursday
12:30 – 2 pm Dim Sum Lunch Talk “The young thinkers and social change in late Qing China”
Speaker: Hsiao-Chih Chang (Boston University)
Location: Chinese Language House | 172 Bay State Road
3 – 5 pm Chinese Film viewing: “Platform” (2000) Director: Jia Zhangke
Introduction: J. Keith Vincent (Boston University)
Location: Geddes Language Center | 685 Commonwealth Avenue, Room 533B
6:30 – 9:30 pm Taiwan Film viewing: “A Brighter Summer Day” (1991) Director: Edward Yang.
Guest Speaker: Eileen Chaw (Duke University)
Location: College of Communication | 640 Commonwealth Avenue, Room 101
Oct. 26 Friday
3 – 5 pm Bangladesh Film Viewing: Ontorjatra (“Inner Journey”) (2006), Directors: Tareque & Catherine Masud
Introduction: Nazli Kibria (Boston University)
Location: Geddes Language Center | 685 Commonwealth Avenue, Room 533B
5:30 – 7 pm South Asian Dance and Reception
Introduction: Sunil Sharma (Boston University)
Location: The Alley | 775 Commonwealth Avenue (George Sherman Union, Lower Level)
7:30 – 10:30 pm Hindi Film Viewing: Iqbal (2005), Director: Nagesh Kuknoor
Guest Speaker: Lakshmi Srinivas (UMass Boston)
Location: College of Communication | 640 Commonwealth Avenue, Room 101
Sponsored by the Boston University Center for the Humanities, the Boston University Center for the Study of Asia, the Department of Modern Languages and Comparative Literature, the Geddes Language Center, and Asian student organizations at Boston University
Free and open to the public
More information: www.bu.edu/asian
Persian Film Website
The Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute has made it possible (through a grant to NETPAC/USA-Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema/USA - and AsiaPacific Films) for Boston University to stream the films in the "Understanding Persian Culture Through Film" project.
This grant made it possible to add films that examine the theme "Love and Devotion in Persian Culture as Seen through Film." You can see the new films, with introductions by Persian film scholars and experts her: http://www.asiapacificfilms.net/persianfilms/category/love-and-devotion/
You can read about the project, including an important message from Dr. Elahe Mir-Djalali Omidyar, by exploring the links found on the home page of the project. Your faculty and students can stream the free films by clicking on your portal here using the password 'bostonu': http://www.asiapacificfilms.net/persianfilms/educational-resources/roshan-institute-educational-programs/
This will allow faculty and students to access all 32 movies for free.
The streaming of 32 films for all students and faculty at Boston University remains a gift, thanks to a grant from the Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute until June 30, 2013.
L’Apéro – French Cultural Center – Sept 27
Boston University students (with BU student ID), $8
Members and other students, $10
Non-members, $15
21+ only (government-issued photo ID required)
RSVP Recommended: 617.912.0400
The French Cultural Center invites Boston University students to join in the fun of our September Apéro at a special, reduced price. L'Apéro is a great way for Francophiles and Francophones to come together and socialize en français while enjoying some wine, a bit of fromage, French music and the latest art exhibit. Practice your French in a low-key, fun setting with fellow French language enthusiasts.
About L'Apéro (short for l'apéritif)
(n) désigne le moment de convivialité où des personnes se retrouvent pour discuter.
(noun) a friendly get-together where people enjoy libations and conversations.
All levels of French are welcome.
http://www.frenchculturalcenter.org/index.cfm/events/scheduled-events/lapero7/
Blackboard Language Support
On Friday, 2/24, IS&T activated the language packs in Blackboard. The language packs allow an instructor to change the user interface language to French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German, Chinese, Japanese or Arabic. All of the menus, messages, and buttons for a course will automatically appear in the target language instead of English. Changing the language is easy and can be accomplished in four steps:
2. Choose "Settings"
3. Choose "Set Language Pack"
4. Select the appropriate language pack. Click the Enforce Checkbox if you don't want students to be able to change the language back to English.
Click "Submit".
Here is an example of the French interface:
Seminar in Translation 2010
Audio from the long running lecture series “The Theory and Practice of Literary Translation” from the Spring 2010 semester is now available online: https://www.bu.edu/geddes/events/translation/
Forrest Gander – Translating poetry from Spain and Latin America
Yehudi Wyner – Words and Music
Michael Hofmann – Translating German
Arthur Sze – Translating Chinese poetry
Donald Keene – Translating Japanese
Norman Shapiro – Translating French comedy
Welcome to Geddes 4.0
Today we launched a new version of the Geddes website. We hope you find it easier to navigate and enjoy having a cleaner page layout. Almost everything that was here before still is, just perhaps in a different place. Take a moment to look around and if you can't find anything then contact us using the contact link on the bottom of the page.
There are a few things missing. The slide libraries are gone, but no one used them based on our research. We had hundreds of music CDs streaming through the website to the Geddes Language Centers computers only. You can still see the lists of music in our music collection from anywhere, but with the exception of the Music Appreciation material, you'll need to come to the lab and launch iTunes to continue to enjoy the streaming music.
If you are an instructor and had a course website here before May 16th, it is no longer online. We can put it back, but please give us a week or so to do so so that it can be formatted into the new layout.
Finally, some credit. Emily Heffernan, our lab manager, took most of the photographs on the website. The archival images in the history section are from BU photo services. The design is a template created for departments by BU Marketing. Thanks to Ron at IS&T for his help as well.
Enjoy!
Shawn Provencal, Systems Administrator