Summary of Language Center March 2018 Events

• March 1, 2018: TandemPlus Blankets for Charity in 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. in Bruininks 117
• March 30, 2018: Inclusive Teaching in Canvas Series - Session 3 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. in Folwell 8

Language Center Research Opportunities

The Language Center (LC) is pleased to support research that makes use of LC resources including, but not limited to, PACE project data. To carry out a research project using LC resources, please follow these steps:

1.  Complete the Research Project Form prior to beginning your project.
2.  Complete the online Final Report form at the close of your project.
3.  Share bibliographic information for any presentations, workshops, or publications resulting   from the project for inclusion in the LC’s online project bibliography.

For more details, please visit the Research & Funding Opportunities page of the Language Center website.

TandemPlus Accepting Student Group Officer Applications

The TandemPlus Student Association (TPSA) is looking for new student group officers for the 2018 - 2019 Academic Year! We have four positions available within the student group: Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary, and Social Media Coordinator! A brief description of each is in the application form below.

The TandemPlus Student Association works directly with the TandemPlus program and leads in the planning and executing of the program’s semesterly events, helping also to promote the program and support its goals. Interested in participating? We invite you to apply for one of the student officer positions listed above! These positions provide opportunities for experience in leadership, writing, finance management, time management, and more. Student officers can expect to attend board meetings, help plan and hold events with other board members, complete tasks specific to their officer position, and play a more active role in the TandemPlus community.

Please apply online. Those applicants who best show that they fit the needs of the open positions will be invited for an interview in April.

If you have any questions, email tandem@umn.edu.

TandemPlus Blankets for Charity

Wednesday, March 1, 2018
5:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Bruininks 117

For the month of March, the TandemPlus Student Association is throwing a charity event for the participants of TandemPlus. This is a ‘give back to the community event’. Those who join will have the chance to make (and learn how to make) fleece tie blankets to donate to a local shelter, Project Linus’s Greater Twin Cities Chapter. Through them, more than 55,000 blankets have been donated to a variety of hospitals and social service agencies. You’re welcome to join whether you’re a participant, just interested in the program, or simply have the desire to help give to charity. Participants can enjoy hot chocolate and cookies to help forget the cold.

Interested in joining TandemPlus? Register at tandem.umn.edu, or email us with any questions at tandem@umn.edu.

Accessibility Resources for Instructors via Accessible U

The transition to Canvas represents an opportunity to improve the course experience for all students, and the Accessible U site now includes Canvas accessibility considerations.

To make your course more accessible and inclusive, consider the accessibility of each of its components. In Canvas this means:

• Running the Accessibility checker (located in the Rich Text Editor or Design Tools) after making edits to pages and assignment descriptions
• Accessible course readings using the Libraries’ eReserves service and digital course packs
• Accessible documents such as Microsoft Office and Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides
• Accessible PDFs
• Activities using the principles of Universal Design
• Captioned video and alt text for all your images
• Suggesting 6 core skills of digital accessibility to your students (and assessing these practices as line items on rubrics)

BOSSA: Planning for Fall 2018

Soon Language Center staff will begin contacting language section coordinators whose classes have administered a Basic Outcomes Student Self-Assessment or BOSSA session in the past about scheduling a BOSSA session for Fall 2018.

BOSSA was created for students learning a second (or third) language at the University of Minnesota in order to improve how they learn language. It gives students opportunities to practice assessing their own language ability and to reflect analytically about ways they use language to develop their language proficiency. As students learn to notice how they and others (instructors, peers, etc.) use language – vocabulary and structures in different contexts – they will start to recognize their own language strengths and challenges.

If you are an instructor who has not participated in BOSSA in the past, but are interested in potentially including it in your Fall 2018 course, please email bossa@umn.edu to get started.

Multimedia Lab Survey (Gift Card)

Do you have any experience with or regularly use our Multimedia Lab Space (Jones 135) We want to hear from you! Please take our short (2-minute) survey and provide feedback on how our lab might improve. The survey is anonymous; however, if you choose, you can enter your email address at the end of the survey to be put in a drawing for one of three $10-dollar gift cards.

Meet the Spring 2018 Office and Lab Assistants!

Ellen Eng

I am from Minneapolis, MN and am a sophomore majoring in Gender, Women, & Sexuality Studies and minoring in Cultural Studies & Comparative Literature. I have previously taken French for six years, and have also taken some Swedish. In addition to school, homework, and sleep, I also enjoy yoga, reading, and writing. I am also in the University Women’s Chorus. In the future, I hope to either have a job that allows me to both live comfortably and help women in situations of injustice and danger, or become a yoga instructor. Maybe both! I have worked at the Language Center for more than a year now, both at the front desk and in the Multimedia Lab.

Evan Mendoza-Bjorkstrand

Hello! My name is Evan Mendoza-Bjorkstrand. I am from Champlin, Minnesota, which is a suburb of Minneapolis. I speak English and a small amount of German. I am also taking German classes! I am studying computer science currently, and after I graduate I plan to get a job in the field. I am not sure of exactly where I would like to work, but something along the lines of cybersecurity sounds very interesting! When I’m not doing school work or working, I am usually playing sports or working with computers for fun. I play soccer as much as I can year round, and during the winter time I snowboard.

Lucy Thao

Hello! My name is Lucy and I am a junior studying Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, thinking about a Statistics minor in CSE. I’ve called Minnesota my home my entire life and have moved around in the cities a few times, but currently reside in Maplewood. I love anything mystery-related. Give me a book, movie, or TV show with an unexpected plot, and I’ll read or watch it! During high school, I learned a little bit of French and Chinese. I wish I would’ve continued learning those languages throughout college as well, but was unable to due to time. However! I love music and enjoy listening to music from all around the world, and that helps me learn a few words from different languages from time to time. Another interesting fact about me is, I love donuts! LOVE. DONUTS. I also really want to learn Muay-Thai.

Lydia Elhadi

I am a sophomore this year studying Environmental Sciences, Policy and Management, with a focus on Conservation Resource Management. I am from Chanhassen, Minnesota and I have lived there my whole life until I moved to the campus. I took French for three years in high school and college. Although I am not still taking French classes in school, I still try to study it. I also intend to take an Arabic class in my senior year. After I graduate I would like to do some lab technician work for a couple years until I go back to school to get my Masters. After that I will hopefully find a job doing climate change adaptation and mitigation. Other than science, I enjoy reading, playing the piano, and hanging out with my roommates and friends. I also sing in a choir at the University and have played in a band class in previous semesters.

Michelle Her

I am a Junior, majoring in Economics with a minor in Statistics. I am from Woodbury, Minnesota. I have lived most of my life in Minnesota although I don’t really enjoy the cold winters. Aside from English, I speak Hmong. Currently, I am not learning a new language but I would like to learn French and Chinese. After I graduate, I plan to find a job in the finance and analytical field. When I’m not working, I like to exercise, read, and listen to music.

Mirah Yoon

Hello! I am Mirah. I am a senior this year studying Sociology with an emphasis in Nursing. I am from Minnesota and California #WEST COAST, BEST COAST.  Although not fluent I have been learning French, and Korean! I also know Vietnamese, but it's very conversational. I am studying at the University since we have great programs offered here, and I want to continue my studies in languages. For fun hobbies, I would say I like to try new things out. One thing I absolutely cannot say no to is KARAOKE. It's literally one of my favorite things, and it brings out my inner Beyonce.

Polina Matveeva

My name is Polina. I am a freshman at the U, and it is my first year in Minnesota. I was born in Moscow, Russia and moved to Menasha, Wisconsin my sophomore year of high school. Throughout all twelve years of school I was involved in all kinds of arts: theatre, choir, painting, dance. Singing and dancing are still my main hobbies, and I am planning on joining one of the dance clubs next year. As for my academic career, I will be double majoring in Art History and Studies in Cinema & Media Culture as well as minoring in Comparative Race and Ethnicity.

Sophie Gray

I'm Sophie, a sophomore majoring in Chinese and minoring in Public Health. I'm also a member of the university’s Chinese Flagship Program, and am hoping to study abroad this summer in Taiwan. After college, I want to work abroad in China, focusing on public health research and epidemiology. My favorite foods are cinnamon rolls and the Chef's Dry Chili Chicken from Lao Szchuan. In my free time I enjoy watching Chinese movies (Zhang Yimou films are my favorite), painting, reading, and researching Game of Thrones conspiracy theories. I also love dogs and cats, because they're cute. I have two kittens, an older cat, and a dog at home (the kittens have an Instagram account: @pokeyandthebandit).

Trang Son

My name is Trang, I’m a third year student of University of Minnesota. I’m currently working on my Medical Laboratory Science major. I originally come from VietNam, so I can speak and write Vietnamese influently. I love going out with friends and family. I work part-time at the CLA Language Center, and I love my job. I learn new things every single day from my coworkers and supervisors.

Courseshare: Planning for Fall 2018

Instructors: are you interested in potentially sharing your course beyond the University of Minnesota?
Students: are you looking for a language course that you can’t find on MyU?

Courseshare may be the answer, and now is the best time to start preparing for Fall 2018!

The university is an active participant in the Big Ten Academic Alliance Courseshare program, which uses technology to send and receive less commonly taught language and culture courses with partner institutions. Sending courses expands the profile of our language and culture programs, and increases and diversifies their audience. Receiving courses provides students with access to courses they need for their academic and career goals, and connects them with students and scholars across the country.

Courseshare is administered by the Language Center, through collaboration with academic departments. Our staff provides support both for instructors teaching in the program and for students enrolling in a shared language course. Instructors can contact Stephanie Treat at treat002@umn.edu to see if their course might be a good fit to share with another institution. Students can register for courses received from other institutions through the LANG course subject and request a new course by contacting Stephanie or emailing elsie@umn.edu.

Courseshare and DISC Lecture: Situating Rumi in Islam

Wednesday, February 7, 2018
4:00 - 5:00 p.m.
Humphrey 25

Rumi has been the best-selling poet in North America for twenty years, but most readers do not seem to be aware of his background and the mystical tradition which he belonged to. This talk
will shed light on these subjects to facilitate a more nuanced understanding of his message.

Presenter: Dr. Jawid Mojaddedi, Professor of Religion at Rutgers University.

This event is cosponsored by the center for Medieval Studies and the department of Asian Languages & Literatures. It is made possible through the support of the Digital Islamic Studies Curriculum (DISC) and BTAA Courseshare.

Summary of Language Center February 2018 Events

• February 6, 2018: TandemPlus Spring 2018 Registration and Orientation 5:30 - 8:00 p.m. in Nicholson 35
• February 7, 2018: Courseshare and DISC Lecture: Situating Rumi in Islam 4:00 - 5:00 p.m. in Humphrey 25
• February 21, 2018: Inclusive Teaching in Canvas Series - Session 2 12:20 - 1:10 p.m. in Nolte 140