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Department of Modern Languages and Literatures
End of Semester Newsletter
Summer 2024 and Fall 2024
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Another year ends. And as always, most of us make a balance of the good and bad things that happened in the previous 12 months. We always win, we always lose. The balance for each of us depends on many circumstances. I know first-hand that many of us have faced challenges and fights during 2024. At a personal level, we all have sad and happy stories to tell and memories to share. As a collective, I do believe that we are stronger and that our individual achievements translate into a better place and environment for all. I also think that kindness and respect allow us to transform our department into a welcoming space for all to thrive. I have heard so many good things about DMLL in meetings and informal gatherings that I can only feel proud of all we have achieved together. I am pleased and humbled to be your colleague, serve you, and always try to find the best solutions. I appreciate your support, compassion, and understanding when things haven’t been as good as expected.
I hope that in 2025, we can achieve even better things, that we can take advantage of all the resources available to us, and that we can deliver conscious and transforming knowledge to our students. Times ahead won’t be easier. We have seen many social issues in the last few months. Still, I firmly believe that change has to start within each of us, and to make an impact, we need to have honest conversations among ourselves. With your fantastic ideas, we can have a positive effect on our students, and we can reach higher goals for ourselves, both academically and humanly.
As always, I am here for each of you. And as always, I will do my best to help you thrive. With the support of our golden team, Daisuke Fujimoto and Desirée Perry, we are in the right place. Thanks so much, Daisuke and Desirée. It is almost impossible to translate our appreciation for all you do for us into words. THANKS!!
For a better 2025!! Together, stronger, with respect and dreams!!
My best wishes to each of you and your families and loved ones.
~Damaris
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Nohora Viviana Cardona Núñez, Adjunct Lecturer of Spanish
Cisura de sol (Sun Fissure). Poetry. Editorial Lugar Común, 2024.
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Nohora Viviana Cardona Núñez, Adjunct Lecturer of Spanish
Poetas Caleñas (Poets from Cali, Anthology). Dr. Carmiña Navia (Ed.) Cali: Casa Cultural Tejiendo Sororidades, Universidad de San Buena Ventura, 2024.
The anthology, compiled by Dr. Navia, a pioneering figure in Women’s Studies in Colombia, was officially released in the Feria International del Libro de Cali on November 17, 2024.
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Beth M. Carter, Assistant Professor of Japanese
“Women’s Work Made Visible: The Placatory Effects of Female Mourning in Genji Monogatari.” Center for East Asian Studies Humanities Lecture, University of Pennsylvania. November 12, 2024.
“The Spectacle of Suffering: Noh, Mourning Poetics, and the Rokujō Haven.” 26th Annual Asian Studies Conference Japan, Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan. July 6, 2024.
https://ascjapan.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ascj-program-2024-final2.0.pdf
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Gabriela Copertari, Associate Professor of Spanish
“Cannibal Capitalism in Contemporary Argentine Literature” at Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association (PAMLA) 121st Annual Conference, Palm Springs, California. November 8, 2024.
“Pandemias en la imaginación distópica argentina.” Ohio Latin Americanist Conference (OLAC), Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio. October 3-4, 2024.
“Neofeudalismo y campo sojero: deshechos en la obra de Samantha Schweblin.” Latin American Studies Association (LASA) 42nd International Congress, Bogota, Colombia. June 12-15, 2024.
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Yawei Li, Lecturer of Chinese
“Constructing Learners’ Second-Culture Worldview through Chinese Calligraphy: Challenges and Takeaways.” Performed Culture Approach Conference, Columbus, Ohio. October 12, 2024.
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Jacqueline Nanfito, Associate Professor of Spanish
“The Itinerant Mistral: Reflections on the Other and Reconstructions of the Self” on the Nobel Prize Poet Laureate from Chile, Gabriela Mistral. Twenty-second International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. June 28, 2024.
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Nohora Viviana Cardona Núñez, Adjunct Lecturer of Spanish
Invited as speaker at the III Coloquio Internacional sobre el cuento latinoamericano. Lecture: "Del coloquio de las perras a la escritura del cuerpo: la cuentística de Rosario Ferré y Luisa Valenzuela." Event organized by Universidad del Valle, Universidad Icesi, and Universidad Autónoma de Occidente, Cali, Colombia. August 28-30, 2024 (online).
“El cuestionamiento de la ‘memoria mala’ en Pequeñas mujeres rojas de Marta Sanz.” 60th Conference of the Canadian Association of Hispanists at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada. June 1, 2024.
https://www.hispanistas.ca/_files/ugd/f38858_4fdc8e0bf69b40beae5c4bd489312082.pdf
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Alessandra Parry, Lecturer of Spanish
"No sabo kids; la nueva identidad latina." Ohio Latin Americanist Conference (OLAC), Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio. October 3-4, 2024.
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Xin Zhang, Lecturer of Chinese
“The Significance of Chinese Calligraphy to the Comprehensible Input of Chinese Characters for Chinese Beginners.” 2024 Forum of China-US Alliance Chinese Teacher, Xiamen, China. June 2, 2024.
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Tatiana Zilotina, Senior Instructor of Russian
“The Russian Canon in the Time of the Russian-Ukrainian War: The Case of Nikolai Gogol.” International Nineteenth Century Studies Association (INCSA) Inaugural Conference: The Nineteenth Century Today: Interdisciplinary, International, Intertemporal, Durham University, Durham, England. July 10-12, 2024.
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Gabriela Copertari, Associate Professor of Spanish
Organizer and chair of the panel Representaciones de la violencia ejercida sobre las comunidades rurales en la literatura y el cine latinoamericanos. 42nd Latin American Studies Association International Congress (LASA). Bogota, Colombia. June 12-15, 2024.
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Nadav Linial, Lecturer of Hebrew
"Gay Voice: Embodiment, Sexuality, and Voice in Yonatan Sagiv and Omri Horesh’s Prose." Panel Queering Jewish and Israeli Identities. The AJS 56th Annual Conference (Association for Jewish Studies). December 18, 2024 (online).
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Barbara Mann, Hoffman Professor of Modern Hebrew
"Books and Other Narrative Objects from the Camps." Panel Material Culture. Biannual International Conference Lessons and Legacies of the Holocaust. Claremont McKenna College and the University of Southern California, November 14-17, 2024.
Her presentation included a discussion of a "surrogate" version of a tiny book discovered during her research, prepared in cooperation with conservation staff at KSL.
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Jacqueline Nanfito, Associate Professor of Spanish
Moderator, and presenter of the paper “Weaving the Verbal and the Visual in Andrea Jeftanovic’s DESTINOS ERRANTES”. XXXVII CILH (Congreso Internacional de Literatura Hispanica) Memoria e Identidad en la narrativa hispanoamericana. October 26, 2024 (online).
“Traveling Concepts: The Transfer and Translation of Ideas in the Humanities.” Twenty-second International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. June 28, 2024. (Travel funded by an ACES grant).
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Susanne Vees-Gulani, Associate Professor of German and Comparative Literature
Organizer of the panel "Rearming German Culture? Representations of Bundeswehr Soldiers in the 21st Century." Paper presented: "The Bundeswehr in the German Cultural Imagination of the 21st Century." The German Studies Association, Atlanta, Georgia. September 28, 2024.
In her paper, she analyzed cultural representations of the German Armed Forces' engagement in the Afghanistan War. Here, German soldiers, for the first time since the founding of the Bundeswehr, engaged in combat and suffered fallen soldiers in battles. The German participation in NATO war missions caused much debate in German society, given Germany's history of World War II.9.
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Beth M. Carter, Assistant Professor of Japanese
On November 11, 2024, Dr. Carter gave an informal presentation to the Gender and Sexuality in East Asia Working Group at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
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Margaretmary Daley, Professor of German and Comparative Literature
On November 18, 2024, Dr. Daley delivered a talk on the German historical novel to the faculties of German, Comparative Literature, and Medieval Studies at FAU Erlangen. Her lecture explored the novel cycle of Caroline Pichler on the Thirty Years War and the paradoxes of the historical novel genre.
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Patrick Lyons, Assistant Professor of French
“‘The True Builders’ Names are Always Silenced’: Uncovering the Traces of Immigrant Labor in The Man Who Stepped Over the Sea.” The Baker Nord Center for the Humanities, Case Western Reserve University. November 11, 2024.
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Barbara Mann, Hoffman Professor of Modern Hebrew
Barbara Mann's translation of Agi Mishol's Hebrew poem, "Safe Room," was featured in an installation in the Jewish Museum Munich commemorating the events of October 7, 2023.
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Ching-Hsuan Wu, Eirik Børve Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics
"Languages and Society in Taiwan." Invited speaker by Polyglot Gathering at Case Western Reserve University, Ohio. November 7, 2024.
Invited Facilitator. "Oral Proficiency Interview workshop for language educators," National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei, Taiwan, May 2024.
This was a two-day workshop on the applications of Oral Proficiency Interview and the ACTFL proficiency standards as pedagogical strategies in promoting proficiency-based language teaching, organized by the Department of Chinese as Second Language. Attendees included in-service language educators, graduate students, and administrators. During the workshop, Ching-Hsuan was able to engage the attendees in theoretical discussions and hands-on practice. The workshop was positively received.
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Xin Zhang, Lecturer of Chinese
Invited Speaker. "How to Successfully Organize a Cultural Event in a University Chinese Class." American Academy of International Culture and Education 2024 Fall Teacher Professional Development Series, September 28, 2024 (online).
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Gabriela Copertari, Associate Professor of Spanish
Dr. Copertari was accepted to the Online Undergraduate Learning Community (OULC). The purpose of the OULC is for faculty to receive the support needed to develop elective online courses as part of a three-year pilot beginning in the 2024-25 academic year.
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Gabriela Copertari, Associate Professor of Spanish
Dr. Copertari was awarded a Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities Faculty Travel Grant in the amount of $2,500 to support her research in Buenos Aires, Argentina for her project, Dystopian Worlds in Contemporary Argentina.
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Margaretmary Daley, Professor of German and Comparative Literature
The Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg appointed Dr. Daley as a Visiting Scholar (Gastwissenschaftler) with research privileges through spring semester 2025.
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Hyun Kyung Kim, Lecturer of Korean
Dr. Kim received Korean Outreach program funding from the Chicago Korean Education Center, an affiliate of the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Chicago. This funding will be used to cover the costs of student activities related to the CWRU Korean language program.
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Nadav Linial, Lecturer of Hebrew
Dr. Linial taught the “Elements of Poetry Workshop: Exploring Themes & Tools of Poetry Writing” at Literary Cleveland, September 5 through October 17, 2024. The workshop explored different themes and technical aspects of poetry writing, moving from the fundamental unit of poetry – the word, line, a stanza – to wider aspects of composition.
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Barbara Mann, Hoffman Professor of Modern Hebrew
Dr. Mann received a $175,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to direct a Summer Institute in June 2025. “Between Memory and the Archive: Jewish Print Culture” will feature lectures from international scholars, archival research and letterpress printing. The two-week intensive program will take place in New York City and at the Cary Graphic Arts Collection at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Twenty-five participants will work collaboratively with unique artifacts and learn how to print on a variety of historical presses.
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Jacqueline Nanfito, Associate Professor of Spanish
Dr. Nanfito was awarded a grant from the Ohio Holocaust and Genocide Memorial and Education Commission for $1500 for expenses related to the presentation by Chilean Jewish author and human rights champion, Marjorie Agosín (Professor, Wellesley College) on The White Islands/Las islas blancas: a Sephardic Sojourn.
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Damaris Puñales-Alpízar, Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies and Department Chair
Dr. Puñales-Alpízar presented her nonprofit organization, Trasatlantica, Creation and Scholarship, during the Humanities in Action Luncheon at the Baker Nord Center for the Humanities on Wednesday, November 13, 2024. The event coincided with the official launch of the website and the first issue of the journal. As part of the presentation, two members of the Board of Directors, Luis Arturo Guichard (Salamanca, Spain) and Haydee Espino (Chicago), were able to be at the event via Zoom. In the first 24 hours of being launched, the website had received 1,576 visitors from more than 15 different countries.
On September 17, 2024, the Baker-Nord Center hosted a celebration luncheon for the CAS faculty members who were promoted this year. Dr. Puñales-Alpízar shared her plans and aspirations for the next steps in her research.
Damaris Puñales-Alpízar was promoted to Full Professor. Dr. Puñales-Alpízar is the Director of the International Studies Program, Professor of Hispanic Studies, and Department Chair of Modern Languages and Literatures.
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Ching-Hsuan Wu, Eirik Børve Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics
Dr. Wu has been selected as a Baker-Nord Center Faculty Affiliate for the spring 2025 semester. She will deliver a public presentation on her work-in-progress, "Use of the Standardized Oral Proficiency Interview to Further Strengthen World Language Teaching and Learning at CWRU." She will also receive a research fund as an award for her service.
Dr. Wu received an EHI grant to support her research and the publication of the article "Hybrid language program administration: Nurturing a virtual-oriented teacher community in a STARTALK Mandarin program. Distance Learning." Her article has recently been accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. In it, she studies key elements of the hybrid community of language instructors in a federally funded language program and its administrative challenges, conditions, and strategies in building such a virtually self-formed teacher community. The theoretic framework of Community of Practice (Wenger & Snyder, 2000) was adopted to analyze the data. The results identified participatory membership, sustainable challenges, and equal contributions as key characteristics for the teacher community (TC) members to attain the teacher community functions. Moreover, the administrator’s presence in the community was facilitative, and the administrator’s humility, responsiveness, and transparency in supporting the teacher community’s operation contributed to the members’ positive experiences.
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Denise Caterinacci, Senior Instructor of Italian and
Tatiana Zilotina, Senior Instructor of Russian
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Denise Caterinacci and Tatiana Zilotina were selected by The Language Center of the University of Chicago to participate in the 2-week Mellon 2024 “Transforming Language Instruction at the University of Chicago and Beyond: Collaborative Curricula and Professional Development” workshop on the ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview and workshop on related ACTFL Test Design and Development. In addition to Italian and Russian, other languages represented were Hindi, Armenian, Hawaiian, Spanish, Kurdish, Japanese, Serbian/Croatian, Polish, and Uyghur. All participants were university faculty from around North America. Sessions were held at the University of Chicago, May 27 to June 6, 2024. | |
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Ching-Hsuan Wu, Eirik Børve Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics
Dr. Wu participated in a two-week faculty development overseas program with the Japan Studies Association through the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa to learn about the Ainu Indigenous culture and history in Hokkaido, Japan during the summer 2024. Twenty-four college professors of varying disciplines from the U.S., Japan, and Australia traveled together to visit relevant historical sites and museums, took part in hands-on art making, and attended a series of seminars. The learning experience was productive. Knowing there is a devoted group of people who try to preserve and promote the indigenous Ainu traditions was certainly touching and inspiring!
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Beth M. Carter, Assistant Professor of Japanese
Dr. Carter's article, “Weeping, Wailing, and Writhing: Corporeal Mourning in The Tale of Genji,” was accepted for publication in Studies in Japanese Literature and Culture, vol. 8, run by the National Institute of Japanese Literature. The anticipated publication date is March 2025.
Dr. Carter will present “Salt-makers’ Fires and Funeral Pyres: Love and Death in Genji Smoke-themed Poetry” at the 2025 Association of Asian Studies Conference, Columbus, Ohio on March 14, 2025.
Dr. Carter was invited to give the Global Speakers Lecture at Michigan State University. On January 22, 2025 she will present her paper, tentatively titled “Revelatory Eulogy: Shamanic-based Post-death Ritual in Genji monogatari.”
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Gabriela Copertari, Associate Professor of Spanish
Dr. Copertari’s article “El escarabajo de oro y las posibilidades del arte combinatoria” has been accepted for publication in Studies in Latin American Popular Culture, Vol. 43 (2025).
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Hyun Kyung Kim, Lecturer of Korean
Dr. Kim will present “Beyond Decoding: The Role of Context in Students' Development of Academic Reading Proficiency and Difficulty” at the 2025 American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) Conference, Denver, Colorado. March 22-25, 2025.
Dr. Kim’s paper, “Mediating Factors in ELL Academic Reading: High School Students' Classroom Experiences,” has been accepted for the 2025 American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting, to be held in March 2025, and will be submitted to AERA Open, a peer-reviewed, open-access journal published by AERA. In this paper, she identifies how institutional school policies such as tracking and labeling (e.g., EL, LTEL, "at-risk") create social and academic stratifications for students, linking them with placement in remedial or low-track courses, and thus significantly affecting their trajectories through secondary and post-secondary education. By collaborating with researchers and practitioners who develop and enact educational policies and initiatives, she suggests shifting away from the remedial approach and remodeling secondary language/literacy support programs. She presents evidence that these programs, which disproportionately serve language and ethnic minority, low-income students, contribute to perpetuating inequities in education by limiting their learning opportunities.
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Nadav Linial, Lecturer of Hebrew
Dr. Linial recently published new work in Ho! (הו!) and Helicon (הליקון). These poems are part of his upcoming book, Eruv (עירוב) expected to be published in 2025.
Dr. Linial recently joined the editing board of the Hebrew literary magazine, Ha'Musach.
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Jacqueline Nanfito, Associate Professor of Spanish
Dr. Nanfito's paper presented at the Sapienza University in Rome in June 2024, "Gabriela Mistral: The Itinerant Wanderer,” will be published in the proceedings of the 22nd International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities.
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Ching-Hsuan Wu, Eirik Børve Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics
Dr. Wu's proposal to organize a special research topic with Frontiers in Education has been accepted. Dr. Wu serves as the chief editor of this research topic: Issues, Transformations, and Strategies in World Language Teaching and Learning: Administration, Pedagogy, Technology, and Learning Outcomes. Now this special topic is calling for submissions. We are interested in both research-based and practice-informed papers from contributors of diverse geographies, work and learning experiences, and research backgrounds. This research topic seeks to raise awareness of varied issues in world language education and move the community forward with increased understanding, evaluation of the situation, and identification of possible solutions. The journal is peer-reviewed focused on international scholarships. More details about this research topic can be found here.
Dr. Wu has been invited to give a talk/workshop on second language pedagogy at the 2025 Heritage Language Learning Symposium by the Department of Languages and Culture Studies, University of North Carolina Charlotte. February 20-21, 2025.
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Xin Zhang, Lecturer of Chinese
Dr. Zhang's new course proposal CHIN 310: Medical Chinese Text I was approved by the CEP. CHIN 310 is an upper-level Chinese language course tailored for the healthcare field. It focuses on advanced language skills within the context of the healthcare industry. The course is designed to help students develop proficiency in understanding and communicating both orally and in writing, with an emphasis on professional medical terminology and language skills. Students will gain specialized vocabulary and skills necessary for professional medical communication and proficiency test preparation. CHIN 310 represents the first "Language + Occupation" course within the Chinese section and is expected to launch in Fall 2025.
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DMLL welcomes Patrick Lyons, Assistant Professor of French. Dr. Lyons holds a PhD in French and Critical Theory from the University of California, Berkeley. His research interests include 20th and 21st century Francophone culture and politics, North and West African immigration narratives, critical race theory, post-colonial studies, and critical theory. | | |
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DMLL welcomes Yawei Li, Lecturer of Chinese. Dr. Li holds a PhD in East Asian Languages and Literatures, Chinese Language Pedagogy, from The Ohio State University. Her research interests include language pedagogy, teaching Chineses as a foreign language, and intercultural communication. | | |
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DMLL welcomes Lisa Mistele, Lecturer of German. Lisa is currently a German teacher at the German Language School Cleveland where she teaches German as a second language. Lisa holds a 2nd State Examination in Teacher Education for Primary Schools from the Teacher’s Training College in Pforzheim, Germany. She is currently Deutsch Lehren Lernen (Training for teachers of German as a Second Language) at the Goethe-Institut. | |
French Cultural Attaché Visits Campus | | |
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On Wednesday September 11, 2024, the French Cultural Attaché from the Consulate in Chicago, Caroline Hourdry, met with the French section and our CWRU Education Abroad Assistant Director, Kevin Sullivan. We look forward to continuing our collaboration, in an effort to provide our Case students with access and resources to engage with French culture and to explore opportunities to study French abroad. | |
Chinese Program Goodie Bags | |
The student organization, the Mandarin Club, and the Chinese Program collaborated to wish our students of Chinese good luck for their final exams by preparing Chinese goodie bags! Each bag contains snacks from China and Taiwan respectively and good wishes written in both traditional and simplified characters to ensure social justice in our material selections is practiced in our Chinese Program! | |
On September 17, 2024, the student Mandarin Club and the Chinese Program co-hosted the Moon Festival. The participants included the faculty and students in the Chinese Program and students who simply wanted to celebrate the holiday. The club president gave a presentation about the cultural and historical background of the Moon Festival. We saw the moon through the clouds, and it was like an ink brush painting. The event was fun and brought the community together. | |
Study Abroad: The Chinese Experience | |
Dr. Zhang accompanied 9 students to Taiwan from May 13-May 31, 2024. Students visited 6 universities to communicate with Taiwan Students and partake in volunteer activities which were held by Buddhist organizations. Students also had the opportunity to meet with CWRU Alumni in Taiwan. |
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Study Abroad: National Sun Yat-Sen University | |
Darin Hall, a student of CHIN 302 in Spring 2024, studied Mandarin at National Sun Yat-Sen University for eight weeks in Kaohsiung, Taiwan during the summer 2024. During his time there, he traveled to Taipei to visit Dr. Wu and had an authentic Taiwanese dinner in the neighborhood in which Dr. Wu grew up. | |
On Saturday, October 26, 2024, the German Club held its annual immersion day on the university farm, where students had the opportunity to practice their German and learn about German culture and food. | |
On Friday, September 20, 2024, a group of high school exchange students from Goslar, Germany, staying with students from Shaker Heights High School visited CWRU and were given a tour around campus by our German Club, Die deutsche Gesellschaft. |
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This semester we explored Hebrew poetry, and the artwork of Israeli artists.
Next semester, we will discuss short Hebrew texts, in translation (poems, short stores), explore Israeli art and talk about contemporary Israeli culture – using the text as an opportunity to delve into central aspects of Israeli society, its history and social makeup. No prior knowledge of Hebrew is required. Refreshments will be provided.
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La Dolce Vita student organization - GELATO on the Porch | |
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On the beautiful, sunny afternoon of Sunday, October 6, the campus student organization for Italian culture and language, La Dolce Vita, hosted a gelato sampling on the porch of Guilford House.
An assortment of flavors was provided by neighboring Little Italy's premium gelateria, ROSSO GELATO. It was a delightful gathering of about 100 attendees, to enjoy the weather and conversation.
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Slow Matters & Dr. Hope Barkoukis - Special Topics | |
As the concluding talk in conjunction with the special topics courses in Italian and Spanish on the worldwide Slow Food movement, and the special exhibit in Kelvin Smith Library that continues through January 2025, Hope Barkoukis gave a talk titled "Food is the Force that Binds Us All Together" Monday, November 25, 2024. Professor Barkoukis is the chair of the Department of Nutrition in the CWRU School of Medicine, an enormous proponent of collaboration, and the recipient of numerous national, regional, local, and university awards, including the School of Medicine's most prestigious award, The Medal for Excellence in Health Science Innovation. The talk tied together many disciplines related to food generally and Slow Food specifically, while sharing scientific points and cultural highlights. Students, visitors, and faculty enjoyed her skillful portrayal of the immensity of global and national issues, all connected to everyone populating this planet currently and in the future. KSL visitors have been seeing the exhibit in the first-floor art gallery: "SLOW MATTERS: Intersecting Food and Fields." | |
Slow Food USA and CWRU: The Future is Now | |
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Interim executive director of Slow Food USA, Bilal Sarwari visited Guilford House at CWRU on Thursday, November 21, 2024. DMLL sponsored the talk in conjunction with the fall semester special exhibit in Kelvin Smith Library - SLOW MATTERS: Intersecting Food and Fields, which continues through December. CWRU's recognized student organization Slow Food on Campus provided assorted delightful afternoon refreshments prepared by Bon Appétit.
Students in the fall parallel Special Topics courses on Slow Food, in Italian and Spanish, and others from the campus and greater Cleveland communities attended. Along with a talk about the history of Slow Food and its US organization, background on non-profits and foundations, attention to language and culture, global environmental concerns, highlights of numerous projects and the outlook for the future, Sarwari fielded questions for almost an hour. The diversity of backgrounds, interests, and specializations in the attendees all intersected to confirm the most important detail: EVERYONE!
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Spotlight on Cleveland's Ethnic Diversity and the Cultural Gardens | |
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Dan Hanson, founder of ClevelandPeople.com and president of the board of the Cleveland International Hall of Fame, visited Guilford House on Tuesday, November 12, 2024. He spoke to captivated attendees about the history of such immense ethnic diversity in Cleveland and the evolution of CWRU's neighbor and Cleveland's gem, The Cleveland Cultural Gardens. Even students currently in their final year at CWRU learned a surprising amount of information they had never known before. Hanson is a strong presence in the NE Ohio area and is a very knowledgeable, personable, and engaging speaker about this Land we all inhabit. He promised to return soon to share even more!
This visit was another one of the activities surrounding the Kelvin Smith Library special exhibit this fall - SLOW MATTERS: Intersecting Food and Fields, curated by DMLL's Denise Caterinacci and Jacqueline Nanfito.
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ITAL 370 and SPAN 370 Students Treated to a Slow Food Feast by Michelson & Morley | |
On Wednesday, November 6, 2024, students in Denise Caterinacci's ITAL 370 (Slow Food in Italy) and Jacqueline Nanfito's SPAN 370 (The Slow Food Movement in Latin America) were treated to a slow food inspired dinner by the chefs of Michelson and Morley. Following the dinner, students went up to the FSM Center for Women to watch the classic film, Like Water for Chocolate. | |
Italian Filmmaker Speaks about Creativity and Visits Classes | |
Italian filmmaker Renzo Carbonera participated in a talk about Intersecting Slow Matters, Collaborations, and Creativity with Denise Caterinacci and Jacqueline Nanfito on Monday, November 4, 2024, sharing experiences related to narration and cinema, and how collaborative activities strengthen creativity along with reflections on creativity as a response to contemporary issues. On Tuesday, November 5, 2024, he visited the courses in Italian, sharing conversation in the language and responding to students' questions. | |
ITAL and SPAN 370 Visit with Brandon Chrostowski | |
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Students in the special topics courses on the Slow Food movement, ITAL 370 and SPAN 370, and others shared an informative visit with Cleveland chef, restaurateur, and founder of EDWINS Leadership and Restaurant Institute, Brandon Chrostowski, on Wednesday, October 23, 2024, in the Mandel Center. Attendees viewed the Oscar-nominated film Knife Skills first, which describes the inspiring story of Cleveland's EDWINS on Shaker Square.
Students attentively listened to his message of stretching and pushing past boundaries, perseverance, and belief in potential and innovation. EDWINS is a model approach to giving formerly incarcerated adults a foundation in the hospitality industry while providing a support network necessary for a successful reentry.
Brandon shared his numerous experiences as a pioneering creator of his operation and the impressive network he has developed to assure that the project thrives and expands. He underscored that food offers the unique way of uniting people in unlimited directions, describing food as a language in itself. This visit was in conjunction with the fall semester exhibit in Kelvin Smith Library, "SLOW MATTERS: Intersecting Food and Fields", curated by DMLL faculty Denise Caterinacci and Jacqueline Nanfito with KSL librarian Elizabeth Meinke.
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KSL Fall Special Exhibit is Open - SLOW MATTERS: Intersecting Food and Fields | |
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On October 15, 2024, the special full-semester exhibit this fall in Kelvin Smith Library opened with a reception and two speakers, Mary Holmes with Slow Food Cleveland and Hope Barkoukis, chair of the department of nutrition at CWRU. DMLL faculty Denise Caterinacci and Jacqueline Nanfito made opening remarks.
"SLOW MATTERS: Intersecting Food and Fields" remains through January 2025. The exhibit highlights how CWRU has been involved with the international Slow Food movement for over a decade, along with many other various collaborative activities that involve food. Department of Modern Languages and Literatures special topics courses held in Italian, French, and Spanish on the Slow Food movement and Slow Food in Latin America, the university farm, and the School of Medicine's department of nutrition are also featured.
The intersections emphasize the centrality of world languages and cultures. Other surrounding activities, such as film screenings, guest contributors, restaurant visits, food tastings, and student volunteer experiences have been held in conjunction with this exhibit and the special topics courses.
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SLOW MATTERS: Intersecting Food and Fields | |
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Students in the DMLL special topics courses, ITAL 370: The Slow Food Movement and SPAN 370: Slow Food in Latin America, attended the world summit of Slow Food, TERRA MADRE in Turin, Italy September 26-30, 2024, with Denise Caterinacci and Jacqueline Nanfito. The Eirik Børve Fund for Foreign Language Instruction funded 6 student travelers to this biennial, global event. The official languages were Italian, Spanish, and English, conveying content in anthropology, economics, biology, environmental studies, and much more. There were reportedly 300,000 attendees at Terra Madre 2024.
Over 1,000 events that included speakers, workshops, and tastings were held. Students have benefitted from the collaborative approach offered through holding the two parallel courses this fall semester, and they were immersed in Italian and Spanish throughout the duration of the summit. Simultaneous interpreters in booths at each session provided several languages that attendees could listen to through headsets. There were abundant displays of Slow Food’s activities around the world. The overlapping disciplines and humanities-based activities, for which Slow Food has evolved into a worldwide initiative, were highlighted and celebrated.
Key speakers were Italians Slow Food founder Carlo Petrini and world-renowned physicist Federico Faggin, and American, Slow Food School Gardens pioneer Alice Waters. Faggin delivered an impassioned talk that linked quantum physics to spirituality, the focus of his latest book Irreducible - Consciousness, Life, Computers, and Human Nature (2024) and then tied it all to Slow Food and Terra Madre. The special topics students of Italian and Spanish are currently reading Petrini’s seminal books, Good, Clean, and Fair and Food and Freedom, in the respective languages. Students of Spanish have learned about Petrini's past collaborative work with acclaimed Chilean author and journalist Luis Sepulveda.
Students attended talks and activities of their individual preference and reunited each day to share their impressions. They were immersed in experiential learning about the multi-faceted features of this topic and the movement, along with putting their language skills to work. They enjoyed meeting and interacting with Carlo Petrini and many other speakers, producers, vendors, educators, and delegates from around the world.
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Slow Food and Tropical OHIO! | |
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Students in the ITAL 370 and SPAN 370 courses on the Slow Food movement, along with the student organization Slow Food on Campus, acknowledged National Pawpaw Fruit Day on Thursday, September 19, 2024, by gathering together for a tasting and discussion.
They sampled fresh pawpaws from a local family farm in Brunswick, Ohio and pawpaw bread made for them that morning by Professoressa Caterinacci, talked about the history of North America’s largest native tree fruit, and learned about food’s role in cultural manifestations such as folklore, music, and cinema!
They read articles in Italian and Spanish about the so called “tropical” fruit, with botanical details included, and connected this to Good, Clean, and Fair, the primary reading on the international Slow Food movement written by its Italian founder, Carlo Petrini. Students will also create a short story or dialog to share, inspired by the imaginative short film they also viewed together. The pawpaw is the official state native fruit of…OHIO!
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Meeting with Japanese Exchange Students | |
On Wednesday, October 23, 2024, CWRU students from Japanese classes participated in a cultural exchange meeting with Japanese exchange students from Kinki University. Over 40 students joined the event, where they practiced their Japanese skills while helping the exchange students improve their English through conversations in both languages. Everyone enjoyed the experience, along with free pizza and drinks. Many students expressed their joy at meeting new friends and look forward to nurturing these friendships throughout the school year. We hope to organize another cultural exchange meeting for students in the Japanese program in the spring semester! | |
On September 12, 2024, the Program in Jewish Studies hosted their annual open house/new year's card event in Guilford Parlor. Students, faculty and staff noshed on apples and doughnut holes, and created cards for the Jewish New Year (beginning the evening of October 2) using a pomegranate linocut and Hebrew wood type on a portable "provisional" letterpress. A splendid start to the new semester and the new year! | |
Korean Students Attend The Cleveland Orchestra | |
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On November 15, 2024, KORE 101 and KORE 201 students attended The Cleveland Orchestra debut of pianist Yunchan Lim. Lim, who became an international sensation as the youngest winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2022, performed Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto. Pianist Minsoo Sohn opened the program with a performance of Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto.
Students appreciated this unique opportunity to experience performances by both Yunchan Lim, celebrated as “the most exciting new classical artist on the planet,” and his esteemed mentor and teacher, Minsoo Sohn, at Severance Hall, one of Lim’s favorite venues.
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Guest Lecture with Aimee Lee | |
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Aimee Lee, an artist, papermaker, writer, and the leading hanji researcher and practitioner in North America, visited two Korean classes on Wednesday, October 9, 2024. Through photographs, videos, hanji samples, and artwork, Aimee Lee shared her experience of excavating the traditions of Korean papermaking and localizing the entire process in the U.S.—from planting trees to producing hanji and transforming it into art.
Students learned about the history, science, cultural significance, and craft of Korean papermaking, as well as how this coveted material has supported various aspects of Korean culture and society.
Visitors from Cleveland-based arts organizations joined the session and made it more interesting with their insights. Ika Hsiao, Conservator of Asian Paintings at the Cleveland Museum of Art, who specializes in Chinese painting conservation, gave a glimpse of the use of handmade paper in conservation. Nicole Donnelly, Executive Director of the Morgan Conservatory, which specializes in handmade papermaking, book arts, and letterpress printing, joined the session, along with other local papermakers. Through discussions and hands-on interactions with hanji samples and artworks, students understood hanji’s continued relevance in contemporary Korean culture and its potential for adaptation in other contexts.
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Career Fair
Korean Program Lecturer, Hyun Kyung Kim, invited Korea-based companies operating in Ohio to participate in the CWRU 2024 Fall Career Fair and Job Information Session on September 26, 2024. LGES-Honda Joint Venture participated in the Fair, and students in the Korean program and KSA and KASA members visited their booth and learned about the company.
LG Energy Solution and Honda Motor Co., Ltd. have announced Ohio as the location for their new battery plant serving the North American market, with production expected to begin by the end of 2025. This project is anticipated to create 2,200 jobs in Fayette County, Ohio.
The hiring manager informed students of the company's critical need for bilingual candidates fluent in both Korean and English, as well as those familiar with the Korean language and culture, explaining that key documentation and information related to the transfer of LGES's EV battery technology are in Korean. Senior students submitted individual applications. Specifically, students in the Korean program were allowed to submit their applications collectively through the instructor, enabling the hiring manager to receive them directly in one batch.
In the late afternoon following the career fair, students attended a separate job information session with LSP USA, LLC, a major partner of Ultium Cells, LLC, the LG-GM joint venture. The session focused on small and medium-sized companies involved in and collaborating on Ohio’s electric vehicle projects. Students learned about the companies' missions, projects, and career opportunities, as well as details about benefits and visa sponsorship opportunities. Through this session, students gained insights into how their projects operate and had the chance to network.
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Korean Students Visit the Cleveland Museum of Art | |
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On September 18, 2024, in celebration of Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving Day), 30 students from KORE 101 and KORE 201 classes visited the Cleveland Museum of Art. Students explored two exhibitions: “Korean Couture: Generations of Revolution” and “Into the Seven Jeweled Mountain: An Immersive Experience.”
The "Korean Couture" exhibition showcased the history and transformative legacy of Korean fashion, featuring approximately 30 garments from 17th-century aristocratic attire to contemporary couture by modern Korean designers. After exploring the evolution of Korean fashion, students were immersed in “Into the Seven Jeweled Mountain,” a digital experience inspired by a 19th-century folding screen illustrating the mountain’s striking scenery.
Through these exhibitions, students gained a deeper appreciation for Korea’s rich artistic heritage while exploring the innovative ways in which history, art, and digital technology come together to celebrate Korean culture.
Afterward, the students viewed objects in the Korean art gallery, including landscape paintings from the Joseon Dynasty, celadons from the Goryeo Dynasty, and other notable collections.
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Russian Song (RUSN305) Students study Klezmer Music | |
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In November 2024, the Russian Song (RUSN305) students studied Klezmer music, an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. Bert Stratton, the leader of a Klezmer band, Yiddishe Cup, visited the class and demonstrated beautiful samples of Klezmer. Students enjoyed his performance greatly.
By the end of the semester, the students of RUSN305 learned some popular Russian songs and romances. Here they perform the old romance "Down the Endless Road."
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On October 31, 2024, the students of the Russian program attended a concert of the iconic Ukrainian rock band Okean Elzy. Their music is a mix of hard rock and alternative rock, with lyrics about love, life, and politics. Okean Elzy is the most popular rock band in Ukraine. After Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2024, the band has raised millions of dollars for the Ukrainian military through concerts on their world tours. | |
Russian Students Study Orthodox Church Music | |
Students of the Russian Song course (RUSN305) studied the history of church singing in the Russian Orthodox music, which is directly related to the nation’s cultural and musical history. They studied the form and sequence of a typical Orthodox service and listened to Russian classical composers (such as Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov) who composed their most elegant and sophisticated music for the Orthodox liturgy. The culmination of this study was a visit to St. Sergius Russian Orthodox Cathedral on October 27, 2024 where our students witnessed a liturgical service. |
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Fiesta con estudiantes en mi casa | |
Dr. Nanfito's students from SPAN 370 were invited to her home on December 9, 2024, to enjoy a Latin American themed dinner: Chilean pastel de choclo, Peruvian papas a la Huancaina, flan, etc. It was a lovely way to bring closure to a very busy semester. | |
The White Islands/ Las islas blancas: A Sephardic Sojourn | |
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On Wednesday, October 30, 2024, legendary Spanish flamenco guitarist, Guillermo Salinas, performed at the Maltz Performing Arts Center. The program, entitled THE WHITE ISLANDS / LAS ISLAS BLANCAS, was inspired by the poetry of the same name, by Chilean Jewish poet, author and human rights activist, Dr. Marjorie Agosín (Wellesley College). For the poetry recital in the first part of the program, Dr. Nanfito read her translations of the poems (U of Chicago's Swan Isle Press, 2017) and Dr. Puñales-Alpízar filled in for Dr. Agosín reading the poems in Spanish, while Guillermo played the guitar in the background.
Earlier in the day, Guillermo gave a Master Class in Harkness Chapel for students studying Music. Dr. Nanfito's students of Spanish were also in attendance.
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Spanish Student Presents at the 20th Ohio Latin Americanist Conference | |
Helen Trujillo, a student in the Spanish program, read a paper on the 20th Ohio Latin Americanist Conference, hosted by Bowling Green State University between October 3-4, 2024. Her paper was entitled "El ruido de las cosas al caer: Antonio Yammara, masculinidad y trauma." Her presentation was initially developed as a research project for Spanish 370 in Spring 2024. | |
Slow Food Movement Delegates | |
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Two of Dr. Nanfito's students in Spanish, Lauren Menke (featured left) and Jaela Robinson (featured right), have been selected as delegates to the Slow Food Movement's biannual Terra Madre Summit in Torino, Italy, in late September. As a delegate, every student receives airfare, housing, and meals. Jaela and Lauren are 2 of 55 chosen delegates.
In the application, Jaela also applied for the The Katherine Rachel Deumling Memorial Scholarship Fund which offers travel support for delegates. Ten delegates in total were offered this scholarship. Lauren is a previous Eva L. Pancoast Memorial Fund winner from spring 2024.
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