[goglobalatsnu.blogspot.com]
It has been a good spring, summer and now fall for Southern Nazarene University students studying in Latin America. In the spring, Rachel Ekdahl studied at the Latin American Studies Program (LASP) in Costa Rica and Rachel Cadwallader, Abby McCrummen, Lindsey Rochester and Mat Wood studied at the Nazarene International Language Institute (NILI) in Ecuador. The students at NILI were joined by Dr. Howard Culbertson who spent a sabbatical semester teaching a class and studying Spanish at NILI. Then Kyle Sides studied at NILI over the summer. Now we have four more students at LASP for the fall semester. Erin Fitzgerald, Destry Howland, Sarah Stocks and Rhea Woodcock arrived in San José, Costa Rica, just a few days ago. I heard that at least one of them had a little bit of an adventure getting there but finally made it.
For any SNU students interested in studying at LASP (or just thinking about it), this semester is a great opportunity to keep up with some first hand accounts of what it is like to study there. Erin and Rhea are writing blogs (http://erin-fitz.blogspot.com/ and http://rheaincostarica.blogspot.com/) and Destry has an open Facebook group going called Destry in Costa Rica. Follow Erin's and Rhea's blogs and Destry's group and keep up with the adventure.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
Education with an expiration date
[http://www.goglobalatsnu.blogspot.com/]
This morning I read an article in the Wall Street Journal that takes on college rankings (Those Little Lists: What College Rankings Tell Us,). The impetus for the article was U.S. News & World Report's newest rankings of universities and liberal arts colleges. Not surprisingly, Harvard is ranked #1. What I particularly liked about the article is the basic question it asked. What is most important to consider when thinking about the real value of a college or university: social status, starting salary or the content of an education? Of course, the article came down on the side of content. It also came down on the side of a more traditional liberal arts content. The article ended with this: "The irony of modern education is that the faster the world moves the more value there is in the dusty old undergraduate curriculum. Train for a specific technology and chances are it will be obsolete before the ink is dry on the diploma. Indulge in the academic fad of the moment and you may find it hard to change your bell-bottomed intellectual wardrobe when styles shift. Who wants an education with an expiration date?"
I think Southern Nazarene University holds up well to an analysis like this. It does a good job of combining a strong emphasis on a liberal arts core curriculum and innovation and responsiveness to changing educational insights and career opportunities. Thinking specifically about our GoGlobal majors at SNU, the International Studies Program provides a strong grounding in three areas that are vital to any student interested in pursuing an international oriented career: business fundamentals, global historical, political and geographical understanding, and language and cultural competency. That is not an education with an expiration date. Our new Spanish-English Translation major is a direct response to globalization and the accompanying demand for global communication. It is an innovative major that up to now is available in only a few schools at the undergraduate level. However, it is also built on a foundation of excellence in the core competencies of developing high-level reading, writing and research skills in both English and Spanish. That is not the kind of intellectual wardrobe that will need changing with shifting styles.
This morning I read an article in the Wall Street Journal that takes on college rankings (Those Little Lists: What College Rankings Tell Us,). The impetus for the article was U.S. News & World Report's newest rankings of universities and liberal arts colleges. Not surprisingly, Harvard is ranked #1. What I particularly liked about the article is the basic question it asked. What is most important to consider when thinking about the real value of a college or university: social status, starting salary or the content of an education? Of course, the article came down on the side of content. It also came down on the side of a more traditional liberal arts content. The article ended with this: "The irony of modern education is that the faster the world moves the more value there is in the dusty old undergraduate curriculum. Train for a specific technology and chances are it will be obsolete before the ink is dry on the diploma. Indulge in the academic fad of the moment and you may find it hard to change your bell-bottomed intellectual wardrobe when styles shift. Who wants an education with an expiration date?"
I think Southern Nazarene University holds up well to an analysis like this. It does a good job of combining a strong emphasis on a liberal arts core curriculum and innovation and responsiveness to changing educational insights and career opportunities. Thinking specifically about our GoGlobal majors at SNU, the International Studies Program provides a strong grounding in three areas that are vital to any student interested in pursuing an international oriented career: business fundamentals, global historical, political and geographical understanding, and language and cultural competency. That is not an education with an expiration date. Our new Spanish-English Translation major is a direct response to globalization and the accompanying demand for global communication. It is an innovative major that up to now is available in only a few schools at the undergraduate level. However, it is also built on a foundation of excellence in the core competencies of developing high-level reading, writing and research skills in both English and Spanish. That is not the kind of intellectual wardrobe that will need changing with shifting styles.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
McNair Scholars Program
[http://www.goglobalatsnu.blogspot.com/]
A couple of days ago in my GoGlobalatSNU blog/FB note, I wrote about how pleased I was to teach at a university that helps women prepare for leadership roles in society. Southern Nazarene University has created programs designed to help a variety of students, both women and men, achieve all that they can. One of those programs that I think is fantastic is the Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program. The McNair Program is designed for first generation university students. Specifically, it is for students who meet the following criteria:
*U.S. citizen or permanent resident
*First generation and income eligible student OR a member of an underrepresented group: African American, Hispanic, Native American or Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander
*Must have completed 56 credits by the time of initial entry into the program
*Must have a minimum cumulative GPA of: 3.0
*Must express a desire to attain a Ph.D
McNair scholars enjoy benefits like
*conducting original research under a faculty mentor ($2,800 stipend included);
*having the opportunity to present their research at a McNair Research Conference or a professional conference in their discipline;
*receiving tutoring and academic assistance;
*participating in graduate school workshops and seminars;
*going on graduate school visits;
*receiving help with GRE preparation;
*receiving graduate school fee waivers; and
*participating in special cultural activities.
Nicki Pope was a 2008-2009 McNair Scholar and a May 2009 graduate with a Spanish major. Nicki has been accepted into a master's program in translation and is the first SNU graduate to pursue a graduate degree in translation. The McNair Program was an encouragement for her to go on and pursue graduate study.
Any SNU student who meets the criteria listed above should check out the McNair Program and see if it is right for them. Visit the McNair website at http://www.snu.edu/mcnair.
A couple of days ago in my GoGlobalatSNU blog/FB note, I wrote about how pleased I was to teach at a university that helps women prepare for leadership roles in society. Southern Nazarene University has created programs designed to help a variety of students, both women and men, achieve all that they can. One of those programs that I think is fantastic is the Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program. The McNair Program is designed for first generation university students. Specifically, it is for students who meet the following criteria:
*U.S. citizen or permanent resident
*First generation and income eligible student OR a member of an underrepresented group: African American, Hispanic, Native American or Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander
*Must have completed 56 credits by the time of initial entry into the program
*Must have a minimum cumulative GPA of: 3.0
*Must express a desire to attain a Ph.D
McNair scholars enjoy benefits like
*conducting original research under a faculty mentor ($2,800 stipend included);
*having the opportunity to present their research at a McNair Research Conference or a professional conference in their discipline;
*receiving tutoring and academic assistance;
*participating in graduate school workshops and seminars;
*going on graduate school visits;
*receiving help with GRE preparation;
*receiving graduate school fee waivers; and
*participating in special cultural activities.
Nicki Pope was a 2008-2009 McNair Scholar and a May 2009 graduate with a Spanish major. Nicki has been accepted into a master's program in translation and is the first SNU graduate to pursue a graduate degree in translation. The McNair Program was an encouragement for her to go on and pursue graduate study.
Any SNU student who meets the criteria listed above should check out the McNair Program and see if it is right for them. Visit the McNair website at http://www.snu.edu/mcnair.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Bright and capable women
[http://www.goglobalatsnu.blogspot.com/]
Yesterday at our church we heard a powerful testimony from Maziel Dani. Maziel is a Latina from Puerto Rico who is studying at Brite Divinity School in Ft. Worth. In her testimony, Maziel spoke about the support and encouragement she has received from First Baptist Church, Oklahoma City, to fulfill her call to ministry. She contrasted the support from FBC OKC with the lack of support she received from another church where she had been a member. In that previous church, it was made clear to her that a woman’s ministry in the church could only be exercised within narrowly defined limits, limits that did not include pastoral ministry. I am very happy to be part of a church that supports women in responding to God’s call to ministry without the culture-bound, artificial barriers erected by so many other churches.
Thinking about our church’s role in Maziel’s journey leads me to think about Southern Nazarene University’s role in helping women fulfill God’s calling in their lives. I am also very happy to teach at a university that takes women seriously and helps them prepare for the leadership roles to which God is calling them. The women students in my own department at SNU (Modern Languages) are some of the brightest and most capable women with whom I have worked anywhere. I truly believe that God has called them to make significant contributions to society and that under God’s leadership they will make a major difference for good in our world. Some of them will do that within careers that are directly church and mission related. I think most of them will make their contributions outside of traditional ministry related careers. Whatever their career paths, my hope is that SNU will always be a significant part of their response to God’s call to minister wherever they are and whatever they do.
Yesterday at our church we heard a powerful testimony from Maziel Dani. Maziel is a Latina from Puerto Rico who is studying at Brite Divinity School in Ft. Worth. In her testimony, Maziel spoke about the support and encouragement she has received from First Baptist Church, Oklahoma City, to fulfill her call to ministry. She contrasted the support from FBC OKC with the lack of support she received from another church where she had been a member. In that previous church, it was made clear to her that a woman’s ministry in the church could only be exercised within narrowly defined limits, limits that did not include pastoral ministry. I am very happy to be part of a church that supports women in responding to God’s call to ministry without the culture-bound, artificial barriers erected by so many other churches.
Thinking about our church’s role in Maziel’s journey leads me to think about Southern Nazarene University’s role in helping women fulfill God’s calling in their lives. I am also very happy to teach at a university that takes women seriously and helps them prepare for the leadership roles to which God is calling them. The women students in my own department at SNU (Modern Languages) are some of the brightest and most capable women with whom I have worked anywhere. I truly believe that God has called them to make significant contributions to society and that under God’s leadership they will make a major difference for good in our world. Some of them will do that within careers that are directly church and mission related. I think most of them will make their contributions outside of traditional ministry related careers. Whatever their career paths, my hope is that SNU will always be a significant part of their response to God’s call to minister wherever they are and whatever they do.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Don't study Spanish at Southern Nazarene University!
[http://www.goglobalatsnu.blogspot.com/]
That's right. You read it here. Don't study Spanish at Southern Nazarene University! Studying Spanish will ruin your ability to read with an uncritical eye. For instance, this morning I was reading an online New York Times article about Mexican corridos in Los Angeles (http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/travel/16corridos.html?ref=global-home). At the bottom of the first page was a short corrido with an accompanying translation and I had a hard time getting past the Spanish errors (such as "vez" instead of "ves" and "cayo" instead of "callo"). That's sad because I need to be able to overlook what some would call minor errors and go on to enjoy the rest of the article. Nevertheless, I get stuck on the errors and hear in my mind the accusation, "Surely the New York Times can afford to pay a bilingual proofreader who can catch things like that!"
In our Spanish related majors (Spanish, Spanish-English Translation, International Studies, Latino Ministry/Latino Studies) at SNU we concentrate on producing excellent writers in Spanish who die a thousand deaths when they let grammar errors slip into their writings. (O.K., maybe that's an exaggeration; however, we do concentrate on producing highly competent writers who avoid silly errors like "vez" instead of "ves" and "cayo" instead of "callo".) So, I'm warning you, if you want to be able to speak, read and write Spanish without noticing errors, don't study Spanish at SNU.
P.S. Don't let my ranting keep you from reading the article (follow the link above). It is a good article about "narcocorridos" in some sectors of the Los Angeles Latino community.
That's right. You read it here. Don't study Spanish at Southern Nazarene University! Studying Spanish will ruin your ability to read with an uncritical eye. For instance, this morning I was reading an online New York Times article about Mexican corridos in Los Angeles (http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/travel/16corridos.html?ref=global-home). At the bottom of the first page was a short corrido with an accompanying translation and I had a hard time getting past the Spanish errors (such as "vez" instead of "ves" and "cayo" instead of "callo"). That's sad because I need to be able to overlook what some would call minor errors and go on to enjoy the rest of the article. Nevertheless, I get stuck on the errors and hear in my mind the accusation, "Surely the New York Times can afford to pay a bilingual proofreader who can catch things like that!"
In our Spanish related majors (Spanish, Spanish-English Translation, International Studies, Latino Ministry/Latino Studies) at SNU we concentrate on producing excellent writers in Spanish who die a thousand deaths when they let grammar errors slip into their writings. (O.K., maybe that's an exaggeration; however, we do concentrate on producing highly competent writers who avoid silly errors like "vez" instead of "ves" and "cayo" instead of "callo".) So, I'm warning you, if you want to be able to speak, read and write Spanish without noticing errors, don't study Spanish at SNU.
P.S. Don't let my ranting keep you from reading the article (follow the link above). It is a good article about "narcocorridos" in some sectors of the Los Angeles Latino community.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Bilingual babies and beyond
[http://goglobalatsnu.blogspot.com/]
This morning, I tweeted on twitter and updated on facebook about an interesting article on examiner.com with the title "Reasons why you should raise a bilingual child" (http://www.examiner.com/x-17553-Denver-Bilingual-Families-Examiner~y2009m7d29-It-cant-hurt). I want to follow up on one statement the author of the article made. In speaking about her desire for her child to be multilingual, she said, "It can't hurt [emphasis in original]." She went on to say, "It hasn't hurt me. On the contrary, being a bilingual journalist has opened twice as many doors as being a monolingual one would ever have!"
This simple statement about doors being opened to a bilingual journalist reinforces one of the points I have been making to students interested in Southern Nazarene University's Spanish-English Translation major. SNU's translation major prepares students for a variety of careers in addition to translation and interpreting. I think the translation major would make an excellent course of study for anyone interested in journalism. What is often not appreciated about translators is that above all else, good translators are good writers. One of our major emphases in the translation major is to make sure our students write well in English and in Spanish. It is not enough to write well in one of the languages. We expect our students to write well in both languages. Also, we do not just want our translation majors to be able to churn out good term papers in Spanish and English and nothing else. They have to be able to write in a variety of styles for many different contexts.
I am convinced that being able to write well in both languages and being able to understand fully and speak competently in both languages will open doors for students in all sorts of fields where highly skilled written and oral communication is an essential element of the job, such as journalism, editing, public relations, international business, international project management, translation (of course) and other fields.
If you're interested in learning more, check out the details of SNU's translation major at http://goglobalatsnu.net/translation.htm.
This morning, I tweeted on twitter and updated on facebook about an interesting article on examiner.com with the title "Reasons why you should raise a bilingual child" (http://www.examiner.com/x-17553-Denver-Bilingual-Families-Examiner~y2009m7d29-It-cant-hurt). I want to follow up on one statement the author of the article made. In speaking about her desire for her child to be multilingual, she said, "It can't hurt [emphasis in original]." She went on to say, "It hasn't hurt me. On the contrary, being a bilingual journalist has opened twice as many doors as being a monolingual one would ever have!"
This simple statement about doors being opened to a bilingual journalist reinforces one of the points I have been making to students interested in Southern Nazarene University's Spanish-English Translation major. SNU's translation major prepares students for a variety of careers in addition to translation and interpreting. I think the translation major would make an excellent course of study for anyone interested in journalism. What is often not appreciated about translators is that above all else, good translators are good writers. One of our major emphases in the translation major is to make sure our students write well in English and in Spanish. It is not enough to write well in one of the languages. We expect our students to write well in both languages. Also, we do not just want our translation majors to be able to churn out good term papers in Spanish and English and nothing else. They have to be able to write in a variety of styles for many different contexts.
I am convinced that being able to write well in both languages and being able to understand fully and speak competently in both languages will open doors for students in all sorts of fields where highly skilled written and oral communication is an essential element of the job, such as journalism, editing, public relations, international business, international project management, translation (of course) and other fields.
If you're interested in learning more, check out the details of SNU's translation major at http://goglobalatsnu.net/translation.htm.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Another reason to hate spammers
[http://www.goglobalatsnu.blogspot.com]
This morning I posted on Twitter and Facebook a link to a ZDNet article (“Spammers go multilingual, use automatic translation services,” http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=3813) about how spammers are using automatic translation services to go multilingual. Globally, about 95% of spam is in English. Now, with automatic translation services, spammers can produce their spam in English and then translate it into German (46.5% of spam in Germany is in German) or French (53% of spam in France is in French). The ZDNet article shows how spammers are aware that non-English speakers are more likely to respond if the pitch is in their first language rather than in English. Give them credit for a global awareness that is only recently being shown by a lot of others who want to play on the global stage.
The writer of the article made an interesting observation. He said, “Despite the easy [sic] of use and free nature of automatic translation services, their use is prone to decline due to the questionable quality of the translated messages, which could potentially undermine the efforts the spammers are putting in the first place. Cultural diversity cannot be achieved automatically….” I am not too sure about the probability of decline due to concerns about quality. “Phishers” seem more attuned to quality issues. After all, their game depends on the quality being good enough to snare unwary victims. Spammers, on the other hand, seem more focused on quantity. If you can pump out enough of the stuff, someone is bound to click on a link.
I particularly appreciate the last comment of the writer: “Cultural diversity cannot be achieved automatically.” I’ll add, neither can it be achieved easily. It requires hard work and a commitment to keep working at it. It can also be exciting, a little scary at times, and lots and lots of fun. In the end, however, it is all worthwhile.
This morning I posted on Twitter and Facebook a link to a ZDNet article (“Spammers go multilingual, use automatic translation services,” http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=3813) about how spammers are using automatic translation services to go multilingual. Globally, about 95% of spam is in English. Now, with automatic translation services, spammers can produce their spam in English and then translate it into German (46.5% of spam in Germany is in German) or French (53% of spam in France is in French). The ZDNet article shows how spammers are aware that non-English speakers are more likely to respond if the pitch is in their first language rather than in English. Give them credit for a global awareness that is only recently being shown by a lot of others who want to play on the global stage.
The writer of the article made an interesting observation. He said, “Despite the easy [sic] of use and free nature of automatic translation services, their use is prone to decline due to the questionable quality of the translated messages, which could potentially undermine the efforts the spammers are putting in the first place. Cultural diversity cannot be achieved automatically….” I am not too sure about the probability of decline due to concerns about quality. “Phishers” seem more attuned to quality issues. After all, their game depends on the quality being good enough to snare unwary victims. Spammers, on the other hand, seem more focused on quantity. If you can pump out enough of the stuff, someone is bound to click on a link.
I particularly appreciate the last comment of the writer: “Cultural diversity cannot be achieved automatically.” I’ll add, neither can it be achieved easily. It requires hard work and a commitment to keep working at it. It can also be exciting, a little scary at times, and lots and lots of fun. In the end, however, it is all worthwhile.
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