MIT Global Studies and Languages (GSL) is a hub for international languages and cultural studies within the School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (SHASS) at MIT. Babel newsletter brings you GSL news and events.

The MIT Faculty Newsletter September / October issue highlights the role of GSL in growing opportunities for MIT students to study abroad.

WMBR Radio interviewed students from GSL’s German language program in November about their experiences working in Germany. Riley Davis ’19 is double major in MechE and a German major through Global Studies and Languages (GSL). Kaleigh Hunt ’20 is a ChemE major, pursuing a German minor at GSL. Listen here.

Tong Chen authored a chapter, “An analysis of the teacher-student drill interactional pattern and tactfulness,” in 语法动起来 [Interaction and Chinese Grammar Pedagogy], which is being published this month by a Taipei publisher 新学林 出版社 [New Sharing].

Ian Condry hosts a program called “Near and Far” on WMBR Radio from 6:00 to 7:00 AM on 88.1 FM every other Wednesday (next show airs December 26). The show presents music across genres: Japanese hip hop, R&B, and more; and features musicians from Cambridge to Tokyo. If you miss the show live, find it in the WMBR digital archives.

Jane Dunphy was invited to give a seminar “Communication & the Global University”  for the Department of Biology, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, on December 7. On January 8,  2019, she will be doing a two-day seminar for the SCMb Master’s Program, MIT.  “Presenting Research: The Academy, Government and Industry.”

Amah Edoh was awarded in December a MISTI Global Seed Fund to launch a collaboration with colleagues in Togo, Rwanda, and France. The project, “Return Migration and African Futures: Togolese and Rwandan Experiences,” will be carried out in the 2019-2020 academic year. In other news, Edoh’s new course “Global Africa: Creative Cultures” has been added to MIT’s Open Courseware. Edoh co-convened and chaired a panel titled “From the Venice Biennale to Wakanda: Cultural Production and Reconfigurations of Africa” at the 2018 African Studies Association meeting in Atlanta, held November 29-December 1. On December 3, she also gave the pre-departure training lecture for students taking part in MISTI-Africa projects during IAP.

Masami Ikeda reports that the Japanese language group at MIT hosted the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) December 2, 2018, for the 4th year, with over 350 participants. The JLPT is an internationally accredited language examination that is administered by the American Association of Teachers of Japanese. In the US, the test was held at 17 sites with more than 6,000 test-takers. More information about JLPT.

Hee-Jeong Jeong was invited to deliver the talk about “Incorporating the intercultural Competence and Proficiency in Advanced level of Korean Textbook at EALL (East Asian Languages & Literatures) Talk series, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa on December 14, 2018. She served as an evaluator of the 2019 CLS (Critical Language Scholarship) Program sponsored by the U.S Department of State. In December, Jeong joined the project National Examinations in World Languages: Korean” developed by American Councils as an assessment specialist.

Björn Kühnicke gave a talk at his alma mater, Humboldt University Berlin, on “Kreuze und Trichter: Kalligramme zwischen Barock und Avantgarde” [Visual Poetry between Baroque and Modernism] on December 7.

Bruno Perreau was interviewed about “queer theory and belonging” by the French journal of psychoanalysis, Nouage, published in December 2018. In January, Bruno will give a paper on “The queer child and the state” at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Paris at a research seminar organized by Professor Sahar Sadjadi on childhood and institutional normality. In January he’ll also give a talk at Sciences Po about the revision of bioethics laws in France.

Paul Roquet gave a talk on “The Ethics of Atmosphere” on December 18th at the Atmospheres in the Urban Anthropocene workshop at the Aarhus School of Architecture, Denmark.

Leanna Rezvani often integrates field trips, such as to concerts and other cultural events, into her French classes. At the end of this semester, her French II class enjoyed a traditional French dinner at Ma Maison. In November, she took students to a concert by the French-Canadian artist Coeur de Pirate at Paradise Rock Club.

Bettina Stoetzer who just learned she has been awarded a SHASS Research Fund for her research project on “Becoming Urban: Animals, Plants and the Resilience of Cities in an Era of Environmental Change.” SHASS research funds are awarded to support “research in the areas of humanities, arts, and social sciences that shows promise of making an important contribution to the proposed area of activity.”

Emma Teng published a review, STEPHANIE HINNERSHITZ. A Different Shade of Justice: Asian American Civil Rights in the South” in the The American Historical Review, Volume 123, Issue 4, 1 October 2018, Pages 1324–1325.