DECEMBER 2000 (TOP)

Summer Stipends -- Congratulations to Mark Sosower and Elvira Vilches who recently received CHASS Summer Stipends to work on their research during the summer of 2001.

Writing and Speaking -- Congratulations to Arlene Malinowski who has been nominated to be a participant in the Campus Writing and Speaking Faculty
Seminar which will focus on integrating various aspects of writing and speaking into undergraduate courses.

Spanish in the Workplace -- With support from the CHASS Dean's Office, and in collaboration with the Office of Human Resources, the department will sponsor a course for NC State Staff Supervisors, "Spanish in the Workplace."  Karen Hillman will teach this three-week course on everyday Spanish in the workplace in order to help staff supervisors communicate more effectively with the ever-growing number of Hispanic employees at NC State.

First Year Seminars -- Ana Kennedy ("FLS 201: A Visual Approach") and Dudley Marchi ("The Visual Arts in France") recently had their course proposals accepted for CHASS First Year Seminars.  These courses will be offered in the academic year 2001-2002.

FLL Student Internships -- In consultation with the Departments of Communication and English, and in collaboration with Joanna Johnson, CHASS
Director of Development, the department is exploring the establishment of an internship program for FLL majors.  Students will receive credit working for area companies, providing various foreign-language related services.  In return, companies may make monetary contributions to the department which will be used to support and enhance our various programs.  Mike Garval and Diane Adler have volunteered to work with me in developing this initiative.

New French Courses -- Dwight Stephens is developing a new French course sequence, FLF 201 and FLF 202 for Communication Majors.  The course materials will be web based and will cover the 201/202 language competencies, but its contents will be designed specifically for majors in the Department of Communication.  We hope that Communication majors, after completing the 201, will continue through 202, and then into upper-level courses.

OCTOBER 2000 (TOP)

New Summer Study Abroad Program Directors -- Mike Garval will direct the Lille, France program this year and Paul Miller the Cuernavaca, Mexico Program.  Afroz Taj will continue as director of the India program, and Greg Dawes along with Kay and Leo Villa-Garcia will continue to direct the Peru Program.

New Course -- Ana Kennedy has designed, and will offer in the Spring 2001 semester, an FLS 201 course for Design Students.  The course will cover the regular language proficiency goals for FLS 201, yet the contents of the course will be of special interest to students majoring in design, with a portfolio project due at the end of the semester.  Visit her website to see all of the creativity that has gone into this innovative course.

 Merlot Project -- The Merlot Project provides access to, and peer review of, digital learning
     materials that are available to faculty members who are using the world wideweb for both
     traditional and distance learning courses.  During this academic year, Scott Despain will be
     serving as a member of the Merlot Project for the UNC General Administration.

Guest Speakers -- Jordi Mari and Paul Miller have arranged for guest speakers to visit the
     campus in November.  Keep a lookout for their publicity flyers.

Provost's Departmental Teaching Award -- Last year the department applied for this award
     and came very close to making the final round.  Jordi Mari, Ana Kennedy, Michele Magill, and
     I prepared the application with the input of faculty.  This year, we will try again.  Arlene will
     chair the ad-hoc committee and Louise Salstad, Helga Braubeck, and John Mertz have kindly
     agreed help her to update the proposal for resubmission.  The final decision is made in the
     spring by the Office of the Provost.

New Language Offerings -- In collaboration with the Triangle South Asia Consortium,
     Dwight Stephens, serving as Coordinator, has successfully intiated the new "Critical Languages
     Program."  The department now offers Farsi, Bengali, and Tamil.

New Graduate Course -- Mary Ann Witt will offer a new graduate course in the Spring of
     2001, to be broadcast on cable television, ENG/FL 539, "Studies in World Drama."   The
     course will be interdisciplinary and feature faculty members from the Department of English and
     Foreign Languages and Literatures.
 

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