Department
of Foreign Languages
Annual Report 2001-2002
Activities
and Accomplishments
The Department of Foreign Languages has been very much
saddened by the sudden death of one of its best-known
and beloved members, Dr. Kenneth A. Stackhouse,
Associate Professor of Spanish. Dr. Stackhouse died
suddenly on June 16, 2001. He had long been recognized
at the University and in the community for his strong
advocacy of foreign language study and for his
generous service to Spanish and Hispanic causes. An
active participant in many professional organizations,
he was President of the Virginia Chapter of the
Partners of the Americas. He was responsible for the
introduction of Portuguese into the curriculum and
worked with the Federal University of Santa Caterina
in Brazil in efforts to promote cooperative
enterprises. Dr. Stackhouse is very much missed by
both students and colleagues. Dean Stephen D.
Gottfredson has established the Kenneth A. Stackhouse
Scholarship in honor of our colleague.
A memorial service, organized by Dr. Eugenia Munoz,
was held in honor of Dr. Stackhouse in October.
Colleagues and students of Dr. Stackhouse spoke of
their admiration and appreciation of his work.
Dr. Margaret T.
Peischl will complete her fifth year as Chair of the
Department. Dr. Paul F. Dvorak will assume the
chairmanship on July 1.
The Department has
three new faculty members: Dr. Patricia W. Cummins,
Professor of French, Dr. Mar Martinez-Gongora,
Assistant Professor of Spanish, and Dr. Gina Kovarsky,
Instructor of Russian, who has a joint appointment
with our department and International Studies. Mrs.
Saba Abed has joined us as an adjunct instructor of
Arabic.
Greatly involved in studying and teaching the role of
France in the European Union, Dr. Cummins will be
sharing her expertise with her students this fall in a
newly created course. Dr. Martinez-Gongora's scholarly
specialty is peninsular Spanish literature. Dr.
Kovarsky has taught a course on the city of St.
Petersburg with a colleague in the History Department
as well as our Russian language courses.
Several members of the Department have been recognized
for their achievements and expertise in various
fields. Dr. Cummins has received a Fulbright Study
Grant for work in Egypt this summer. Dr. Dvorak was
the recipient of an NEH Summer Institute Grant on
"The People of Vienna from 1848-1945" in
Vienna, Austria last summer. Dr. Robert Godwin-Jones
will participate this summer in a Goethe-Institute
Grant in Germany focusing on Germany's role in the
European Union. Dr. Peter Kirkpatrick has been lauded
by the French Ambassador for the success of the Tenth
Annual VCU French Film Festival and has been
accredited to represent the Festival at the
International Film Festival in Cannes this May. Dr.
Ann White was invited by the Spanish Ministry of the
Exterior, the Chamber of Commerce of Madrid, and the
Cervantes Institute to tour university and language
institute facilities in Spain this spring.
The VCU French Film Festival, directed by Dr.
Kirkpatrick, celebrated an especially
successful
tenth year. The eight films featured at the Festival
were also premiered on the PBS Community Idea
Stations. Dr. Kirkpatrick gave press and television
interviews on the films.
Two additional summer study-abroad programs are being
offered this year. Dr. Munoz will conduct a Spanish
program in Cuernavaca, Mexico, and Dr. Kovarsky will
be the director of a program in St. Petersburg,
Russia. Dr. Antonio Masullo will again direct the
Italian program at the University for Foreigners in
Perugia, Italy. Ms. Esperanza Soria-Nieto, adjunct
instructor of Spanish, will conduct the program in
Seville, Spain, and Dr. Ann White will be accompanying
students studying in Antigua, Guatemala.
Dr. Angelina Overvold will be participating in a VCU
African Study Abroad Program in Uganda and Kenya. She
will be responsible for a portion of the curriculum
together with two colleagues in other disciplines.
Dr. Patricia Cummins accompanied a group of students
on the Legends of China trip last August. She gave a
VCU welcome and participated in the events preceding
the World University Games.
Foreign Languages on Stage, the annual competition for
high school students of foreign languages, was held in
March under the leadership of Dr. Consuelo Navarro.
This was the 27th consecutive
year for the event.
Many students and teachers in the Department
participated in the International Studies Student
Research Conference last October. Dr. McKenna Brown,
Director of International Studies, organized the
increasingly successful event. The Department was also
well represented at the African Literature Association
Conference held at VCU last spring. Dr. Angelina
Overvold was in charge of the French section of an
accompanying institute for high school teachers.
A Spanish major, Jennifer L. Craig, is this year's
recipient of the Janet D. Sheridan Scholarship. Three
foreign languages students received awards at the
College's Awards Ceremony in April. Richard Haselwood
was given the French Award, Dragan Jerkic was
recognized for his achievements in German, and
Kristine Mikkelson received the Spanish Award.
Teaching
The Department offered courses in eleven foreign
languages during the past academic year: Arabic,
Chinese, French, German, Classical Hebrew, Italian,
Latin, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Swahili. A
teaching staff of forty-nine taught classes in these
languages. Members of the Department represent twenty
different cultures.
The Department is also responsible for FRLG 203,
Language and Identity, and FRLG 204, Language Groups
in the United States. These courses focus on a variety
of languages and cultures so that non-foreign language
students have an opportunity to become exposed to
foreign cultures.
Drs. Brown, Dvorak,
Kirkpatrick, Marechal, and Murphy-Judy have been
participating in thesis and dissertation committees
for graduate students in various disciplines. A
variety of Independent Studies courses has also been
conducted by professors in the Department.
Dr. Peischl taught a German Reading course to graduate
students at Union Theological Seminary last June. Dr.
Overvold will teach the French course at the Seminary
this summer. Dr. White teaches a Spanish course to
executives at Capital One.
The
Internship Program in the Department has been highly
successful and gives students an opportunity to
utilize their language skills in service to the
community. Dr. Murphy-Judy has been in charge of the
program.
Drs. Cummins, Godwin-Jones, Murphy-Judy, and White are
very actively involved in FLEX (Foreign Language
Exchange Program). This program involves the exchange
of foreign language methodologies and materials with
foreign language teachers on all levels of
instruction.
The Language Learning Center continues to be heavily
utilized and is being kept up to date with its
hardware and software by Ms. Sandy Darmagnac, its
Director. Televised broadcasts from approximately
sixty countries are shown in the lab each day.
The Undergraduate Certificate Program in International
Management Studies, for which Dr. Brown is in part
responsible, was approved by the Undergraduate
Curriculum Committee.
A Francophone Literature course, French 450,
created by Dr. Overvold, was also approved by the
committee.
Dr. Cummins taught an Honors module on France and the
European Union. She is also preparing a course on the
topic for the French curriculum.
Dr. Masullo has been doing on-line teaching with five
students outside of the United States. He has also
been directing weekly conversation sessions between
his American students of Italian and students in Italy
who are learning English.
Dr. Kirkpatrick has created film study guides to
accompany the VCU French Film Festival Series on PBS.
These guides are used by students and teachers who
view the films as part of their French curriculum.
Dr. Kirkpatrick also continues to direct the French
Film Festival Internship Program in cooperation with
the Institut d’Etudes Politiques in Rennes, Audencia
Ecole Superieur de Commerce de Nantes, and the
Universite de Lille, France.
Both Drs. Dvorak and Kovarsky taught new FLET (Foreign
Literature in Translation) courses this year. Dr.
Dvorak taught “Viennese Voices: Dissent and Social
Reform in Austrian Literature” and Dr. Kovarsky
taught a course on “Dostoevsky and the West.” Dr.
Masullo created a course on "Women in
Dante's Comedia" which was taught by Ms. Cinzia
Corubolo, an adjunct in Italian.
Dr. Navarro
continues to teach Medical Spanish to medical
personnel on the MCV campus.
Dr. Marechal created a Website with thematic links for
French students and teachers. She also recorded a
series of poems to be used in conjunction with those
on the Web.
The Department administers an increasing number of
placement tests to students enrolling in foreign
language courses. The purpose of these tests is to
place students in courses on appropriate levels and
thus better serve students' needs. Mrs. Nancy Mustafa
is the coordinator of this program. In the past year
approximately 1150 tests were given.
A total number
of 2,193 students were enrolled in foreign language
courses this spring.
Research
Faculty research projects that have appeared in print
this year are listed under Faculty Publications.
The Department has a total of eleven publications for
the academic year. Three books, two book chapters and
six articles have appeared. Three chapters and
thirteen articles are currently in press.
Dr. Sims is presenting preparing a text on The New
World Plays of Lope de Vega, written by the late
Dr. Stackhouse, for publication. Before his death Dr.
Stackhouse signed a contract for his nearly completed
monograph with Mellen Press.
Faculty in the Department have made several
presentations at professional conferences outside of
the country.13 presentations were invited. Sessions
were also chaired or organized by our faculty.
Dr. White signed a contract with Prentice-Hall
Publishers for a Spanish conversation text. Dr.
Overvold is a co-editor of The Creative Circle:
Artist. Critic. Translator: the Proceedings of the
African Literature Association Conference, recently held
at VCU. Dr. Munoz served as a reviewer for the Spanish
text Impresiones for Prentice-Hall.
The Department is well represented on the reviewing
staffs of professional journals. Our professors are
reviewers for such periodicals as the CALICO
Journal, The Comparatist, Le Cygne, French Review,
German Quarterly, Global Business Languages, Journal
of Language for International Business, Modern
Austrian Literature, Modern Language Journal, Revista
de estudios colombianos, The Southern Comparatist,
Speculum, Tristiana, and Unterrichtspraxis.
Dr. Sims is a contributing editor for Chasqui.
Dr. Marechal is an assistant bibliographer for Encomia:
Bibliographical Bulletin of the International Courtly
Literature Society .
Professors
participate in 5 international organizations: the
Academy ofMayan Languages of Guatemala, Foundation for
Endangered Languages, Guatemala Scholars Network,
International Marie de France Society, Societe
d'Etudes Jauresiennes, Theodor-Storm Gesellschaft, and
the Yax Te Foundation. Dr. Cummins keeps active
contact with the EU Headquarters in Paris for her work
in that field.
Service
The faculty
performs much service for the profession as officers
in professional organizations or in advisory
positions. Dr. Marechal continues her work as the
webmaster for the Homepage of the International Marie
de France Society and is listserv owner for the
Society's electronic conversation list, Le Cygne.
Dr. Kovarsky served on an Awards Committee for the
Southern Conference on Slavic Studies. Dr. Cummins
participates in the AATF Commission on French for
Business. Dr. Kirkpatrick serves as a representative
for the French Embassy Exchange. Dr Masullo is the
United States Representative for the University for
Foreigners in Perugia, Italy.
Several professors have prominent posts on university
committees: Dr. Murphy-Judy has been the President of
the Faculty Council for the past year, and Dr.
Kirkpatrick is the Secretary- elect of the Faculty
Senate and a member of the OIE Advisory Committee. Dr.
Cummins also serves on the Senate. Dr. Dvorak has
served as the Honors Code Coordinator for the College
and is a member of the University Honors Program
Council. Dr. Brown has participated in the
International Task Force Committee, and Dr. Navarro is
a member of the Library Advisory Committee and of the
Education Committee for the VCU Center for Women's
Health. Dr. Murphy-Judy is on the Applied Linguistics
Committee.
Dr. Murphy-Judy has been given the honor of
participating in the Grace Harris Educational
Leadership Institute. Having designed the French BA
and MBA in cooperation with the School of Business,
she also maintains active contacts with the ESCMP in
France in conjunction with the School of Business
agreement.
Dr. Masullo has developed a study-abroad program for
VCU students of the Arts at the Art Center Lorenzo de
Medici in Florence, Italy.
Members of the Foreign Language Department faculty are
likewise heavily involved in College committee work.
Dr. Godwin-Jones serves on the College Tenure and
Promotion Committee and the International Studies
Advisory Committee; Dr. Overvold is a member of the
Women's Studies Advisory; Dr. Brown has participated
in the Advisory Committee for General Education and is
Chair of the Undergraduate Curriculum committee. Drs.
Brown and Marechal were members of the Russian search
committee; Dr. Marechal also served on two search
committees for the History Department, a tenure and
promotion committee for the English Department, and on
the Rice Scholarship Committee.
Dr. Sims was responsible for the Spanish Newsletter
and a Spanish Film Festival for the Department's
Spanish students.
The Department is very
strongly committed to community service, particularly
to cooperative enterprises with area schools.
Mr. Michael Panbehchi has served as an advisor to St.
Benedict's School with its development of a Spanish
curriculum for grades K-8. He has also taught Spanish
culture courses there.
Dr. Murphy-Judy was instrumental in the creation of a
summer program for middle school students of foreign
languages, which is based on the model of the
Governor's School for high school students.
The recently introduced FLEX Program with area foreign
language teachers has been particularly successful.
Having been initiated by Drs. Murphy-Judy and White,
it is now also being supported by the efforts of Drs.
Cummins and Godwin-Jones. It is building strong lines
of communication among foreign language teachers and
strengthening and enriching foreign language
instruction on all levels.
Dr. Cummins organized a series of visits by members of
the Department to area schools for recruiting purposes
and also to inform students of the value of foreign
language studies. Drs. Brown, Dvorak, Kirkpatrick,
Marechal, Munoz, and Peischl participated in these
day-long sessions with students in Chesterfield and
Henrico schools.
Dr. Munoz spoke to students in the Spanish Immersion
Program at Tucker High School and gave a talk on
Hispanic immigrants to students of Spanish at James
River High School. She also conducted a workshop on
literature and poetry for Spanish students in
Chesterfield Schools. Dr. Munoz also holds monthly
articulation meetings with Spanish teachers in
Chesterfield.
Dr. Murphy-Judy conducted a workshop for foreign
language teachers in the
Richmond
City schools on pedagogical strategies, and also
organized one for Henrico County teachers on their
newly networked classrooms. Dr. Murphy-Judy is also a
member of the Clover Hill French Immersion Program.
Dr. Cummins gave the keynote address to the Honor
Society for local foreign language students. She also
spoke to students in the Spanish Immersion Program at
Manchester High School.
Dr. Overvold gave a talk to French students at the
Collegiate School on Francophone
The Department is very much involved in providing
interpreting and translating services to the
community. Through the Language Bank, speakers of
approximately thirty languages, some of which are
otherwise not readily available, can be called upon
for their expertise. Dr. Marechal has translated for
the Chesterfield County Library, and Dr. White has
assisted MCV's Department of Biostatistics with the
translation of documents for patient care surveys. She
has also aided the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional
Jail and the Greater Richmond Legal Aid Services with
her expertise in Spanish. She is a member of the
Community Outreach Fellow Program. Dr. Navarro
delivered a lecture for the VCU Department of
Preventive Medicine and Community Health and does
medical translation work for the MCV Hospitals.
Other community services in which the
Department engages include Dr. Masullo's consulting
work for McGuire, Woods, and Battle International
Legal Firm, Mrs. Mustafa's church-related volunteer
work such as reading for the blind, and Dr. Martinez-Gongora's
work for the Campaign for Cancer Prevention for the
American Institute for Cancer research.
Poetry
Dr.
Navarro held a seminar on Theatre in Education with
Jose Raymundo at Tucker High
School.
For the
sixth consecutive year Dr. Munoz has held her monthly
Poetry Club meetings for students, teachers, and the
community at large.
Objectives for the 2002-2003 Academic Year
Dr. Paul F. Dvorak, the newly elected Chair of the
Department of Foreign Languages, has proposed the
following goals for the Department:
- The
acquisition of computerized foreign language
placement tests through the departmental budget
and the use of funds which the Admissions Office
normally makes available for faculty
administration of the tests. The possibility of
receiving a development grant will also be
explored.
- Application
for at least one major grant to initiate credit
courses in ESL (English as a Second Language) for
foreign students. In addition, the acquisition of
funds for the development of distance learning
materials for ESL.
- Establishment
of a departmental database and creation of a
newsletter. The updating of the Department's
website and the development of homepages for all
full-time faculty in an effort to increase the
visibility of the Department.
- The
development of individual faculty performance
plans, including class scheduling and weighting of
teaching, research, and service activities. The
establishment of a rating plan for measuring
individual faculty contributions to the
Department's efforts to recruit new students and
to foster study abroad for students.
- Articulation
with all department chairs in the College and
appropriate administrators to define the
Department's role and program within the context
of the University. The establishment often
curricular plans for lessons or components within
non-major language courses in order to establish
the relevance of foreign languages for other
disciplines.
- Investigation
of the possibility of alternative scheduling of
elementary- and intermediate-level classes so that
pilot studies can be made in Fall 2003.
- The
improvement of recruitment efforts in area schools
and full use of the FLEX Program to enhance
relationships with area schools.
Publications
Books
Gonzalez, Gaspar Pedro. The Dry Season: Q'aniob'al
Maya Poems. Trans. R. McKenna Brown. Cleveland:
Cleveland State University Poetry Center, 2001.
Modem Austrian Prose: Interpretations and
Insights. Ed. and Introduced by Paul F. Dvorak.
Riverside, CA: Ariadne Press, 2001.
Gruber,
Marianne:~
Trans. and Afterword by Margaret T. Peischl.
Riverside, CA: Ariadne Press, 2001.
Articles
and other Publications
Dvorak,
Paul F.
"Individualism and Indoctrination in Alfred
Kolleritsch's Allemann" in Modem
Austrian Prose: Interpretations and Insights. Ed.
and Introduced by Paul F. Dvorak. Riverside, CA:
Ariadne Press, 2001): 286-299.
Godwin-Jones, R. "Tools and Trends
in Corpora Use for Teaching and Learning." Language
Learning and Technology. 5:3 (2001): 7-12.
Godwin-Jones,
R.
"Language Testing Tools and Technologies." Language
Learning and Technology. 5:2 (2001): 8-12.
Martinez-Gongora, M. "Mujeres,
Erasmo y la 'feminizacion' del ciudadano en los
dialogos de Alonso de Valdes." Revista de
Estudios Hispanicos. 25.2 (2001): 223-240.
Martinez-Gongora,
M.
"El discurso humanista de educacion masculina:
fonnas de autocontrol en El scholastico de
Cristobal de Villalon." Neophilologus. 85
(2001): 203-223.
Martinez-Gongora, M.
"Entre el rigor humanista y la estetica cortesano:
el ideal de conducta masculina en la "Respuesta
de Boscan a Don Diego de Mendoza." Bulletin of
Hispanic Studies. 78. (2001 ): 421-438.
Munoz, Eugenia. "Mas alla de la frontera
Sandra Cisneros y Margarita Tavera: Conflictos entre
una raza y dos culturas." Memoria XVII
ColoQuio de las Literaturas Mexicanas. Ed. Gabrial
Osuna. (Mexico: University of Sonora Press, 2001):
309-329.
Peischl, Margaret T. "Marianne Gruber's Die
glaeseme Kugel: Humanity in the Future?" Modem
Austrian Prose: Interpretations and Insights, Ed.
Paul F. Dvorak, (Riverside, CA: Ariadne Press, 2001):
200-217.
