LiLaC: Literatures, Languages and Cultures in the 21st Century
LiLaC was a learning community to improve practices and teaching models in foreign language, literature and culture departments across the University of Arizona. It was supported by funding from the UA College of Humanities.
LiLaC’s inaugural event on September 27, 2019, was an opportunity for faculty and graduate students at UA to focus on the question of what it means to teach and study world languages, literatures, and cultures in the 21st century, and how that might continue to shape the design of programs on our campus. It opened with a panel showcasing programmatic innovations undertaken by colleagues at other institutions, followed by small group discussions / working groups centered on specific topics related to research and best practices around how we can provide meaningful and relevant learning opportunities for students in our programs. Through these conversations, we will identify future directions to explore as a campus. In subsequent years, these groups will meet for activities that may include, but are not limited to, materials development, the execution of pilot studies, and the invitation of guest speakers.
Designed for UA faculty, administrators and graduate students, September 27th’s event feature renowned speakers on innovative program development: Charlotte Melin (University of Minnesota, Professor of German), and Domna Stanton (City University of New York, Distinguished Professor of French; former President of the MLA). (Gillian Lord [University of Florida, Professor and Chair of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies] was unable to attend at the last minute, and her presentation was rescheduled to the Spring). See below for presentation titles and abstracts. A reception followed the breakout discussion groups.
Presentation Details:
Gillian Lord, University of Florida
The world is not flat, so why are our textbooks?
Following the Modern Language Association’s (2007) recommendations, and in the face of declining enrollments nationwide, language programs are beginning to undertake serious self-reflection with respect to our curricula and our pedagogical approaches. This process often reveals our need to re-envision our approach to teaching languages, literatures and cultures. One such way language educators look to innovate their teaching is by embracing digital tools, whether of their own design or those that accompany textbook packages. While there is no doubt that digital materials facilitate opportunities for fostering the “translingual and transcultural competence” called for by the MLA, it is less clear when and how these technologies will cease to be add-ons and begin to serve a more integrative function in transforming our teaching and learning. To this end, I argue that the paper-based textbook has outlived its usefulness in today’s world, both logistically and pedagogically, and that the change we need in terms of how we teach cannot fully take place until we change the materials we use to teach. To demonstrate, I explain the theoretical underpinnings that went into the design and development of my new co-authored digital beginning Spanish textbook, Contraseña. To conclude, I analyze student outcome data from learners using this program in order to show that this transformed approach benefits both students and instructors.
This presentation was recorded, to view the recording and access the slides visit: cercll.arizona.edu/webinar-lord/
Charlotte Melin, University of Minnesota
Foreign Languages and the Environment: The Turn toward Sustainable Humanities
How can language departments catalyze curricular change and foster collaborations with STEM fields by developing environmental humanities initiatives? This talk will explore the ways in which the landscape of higher education is evolving toward integrative models that signal both the potential for a new relationship to content within language programs and a more fundamental rethinking of educational priorities as a whole. Drawing in part on examples from the essay collection Foreign Language Teaching and the Environment: Theory, Curricula, Institutional Structures (MLA publication forthcoming in 2019), it will reflect on key actions for creating curricular renewal in the midst of accelerating climate crisis.
Domna Stanton, City University of New York
Forging Alliances, Developing New Trans-fields: A Future for the Modern Languages
Despite the crisis in the humanities and the reduction in the languages-other-than-English offered on U.S. campuses– in fact, because of these developments– departments and their scholars need to move beyond their discipline’s walls, work collaboratively and proactively within their academic community and be even more innovative in their curricular offerings. I focus on two possible aspects of this endeavour: forging alliances, beyond the humanities, with STEAM departments and professional schools (e.g. business and law, medicine and pharmacy); and becoming an integral part of emerging trans-disciplinary fields: e.g. ecology and the environment; human rights, refugee studies in particular. In this uncertain climate, thinking capaciously about languages, literatures and cultures is productive and rewarding.