Students have been engaged in a wide-variety of cultural activities this semester using their language skills creatively to reenact intellectual debates in 19th century Russia (19th Century Russian Literature class joined with history class Muscovy and the Russian Empire) ; prepare and partake in a typical Egyptian breakfast (Elementary Arabic); celebrate the Oktoberfest with food and dance (all students in German); participate in a workshop with DAM, a Palestinian hiphop group (Pop Culture in the Arab World); present skits in Arabic accompanied by delicious Moroccan and Palestinian food (Intermediate Arabic); learn a few bachata steps in between tastes of Spanish tapas and Argentinian empanadas (all Spanish classes); enjoy each others cooking at the annual Russian potluck feast (all students in Russian); study LaFontaine fables with actress Emmanuelle Delpech (Intermediate French); and relive study abroad in Spanish-speaking countries with a sampling of wine and cheese from Latin America and Spain. The possibilities are endless when studying languages, literatures and cultures. Reach for the challenge of understanding through language and join us!
ARAB 101
ARAB 201
Oktoberfest
Pop Culture – ARAB 251
RLFR 103
Russian potluck
Russian salon
On November 20th, Professor Yuliya Ladygina and Professor William Wagner led their students from RUSS203 (19th-Century Russian Literature in Translation) and HIST 240 (Muscovy and the Russian Empire) to stage a salon gathering where they recreated the central intellectual debate of the 1840s Russia, arguing on the question of Russia’s role in the European history. The debate was warmed up by the Russian samovar and delicious Russian-styli pirozhki. Sarah Fleming ’17 who played a piece by Chopin on the piano and Sarah Stevenson ’17 who performed selections from Bach and Mozart on the flute helped enhance the cultural setting of the 1840s. Among other student performers were Youngsoo Beak, Yeljas Bakhyt, Quentin Cohan, Dana Cohen, Ayodele Ekhator, Joshua Harrington, Roya Huang, Katherine Taylor-Hasty, Vidya Venkatesh, Erika Watkins, and Sarah Weiser.
Many thanks to the History Department, Russian Department, and the CFLLC for helping finance and organize such a memorable interdisciplinary learning experience!
