Power of Language Week seeks to bring together multilingual students with students of foreign languages in an attempt to knit together the multilingual community on Wesleyan’s campus in order to recognize their efforts in and outside of the classroom, in curricular and co-curricular activities.
This year, we are thrilled to be launching Power of Language a week of events in honor of the Bengali Language Movement, and this year’s themes for POL are: self determination to preserve one’s mother tongue and the protection of critical languages. The Fries Center for Global Studies strives to make Power of Language an opportunity to celebrate multilingualism and embrace the language community that already exists on campus, and we welcome you to take part with us in doing so! Taking place from February 20th to February 25th, 2023, join us in celebrating the Bengali Language Movement and International Mother Language Day (February 21st) by showing us what language means to YOU!
Listed below is the lineup for all events taking place as part of POL!
Monday, February 20th, 2023
Language Tables:
Spanish | 12:00-1:00pm | Usdan 1st floor
ASL Chat Time |12:00-12:30pm | Fisk 201
Russian | 4:30-5:40pm | Fisk 403
Arabic FLTA Event
1:00-3:00pm | 209 Fisk Hall
Author in Conversation with Rebecca F. Kuang
4:30pm | Daniel Family Commons (3rd Floor of Usdan)
Rebecca F. Kuang is the award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Poppy War trilogy and Babel: An Arcane History, as well as the forthcoming Yellowface. She has an MPhil in Chinese Studies from Cambridge and an MSc in Contemporary Chinese Studies from Oxford; she is now pursuing a PhD in East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale.
This event will consist of a conversation between Rebecca and Prof. Stephen Angle about the inter-relations between languages, translation, and colonialism—as developed in Babel and more generally—and then opening to questions from the audience (moderated by Prof. Angle), concluded by a book signing (books will be available for purchase courtesy of RJ Julia).
Click the Facebook link for more details!
Multilingual Letter Write-In
7:00-9:00pm | 115 Boger Hall
Take some time to practice your language skills and send a hand-written letter to your family or friends! Whether you’re reconnecting with an old buddy or updating your parents, decorate your letter and we’ll mail it off for you.
Soirée jeux de société
6:00-7:30pm | Fries Center for Global Studies, 201 Fisk Hall
Venez vous amuser en jouant des jeux de société en français! Come have fun and play some board games in French!
Tuesday, February 21st, 2023
Language Tables:
Spanish | 12:00-1:00pm | Usdan 1st floor
Deaf in America and/et Sourd(e) en France
12:00pm | Fries Center for Global Studies, 201 Fisk Hall
Pedro Pascual, Assistant Professor of the practice in American Sign Language and Catherine Poisson, Associate Professor of French Studies will discuss some of the cultural différences between the French film La Famille Bélier and its American remake CODA. This event will have an ASL Interpreter.
To watch La famille Bélier, click here. CODA is only available via Apple TV.
Rangoli Workshop
12:00-1:30pm | 209 Fisk Hall
Rangoli is an art form originating from the Indian Subcontinent. Priyanka Chakraborty, our Foreign Language Teaching Assistant from India, would like to invite students to come and participate in making Rangolis with various colours on tracing sheets as an attempt to spread the cultural art of the Indian Subcontinent across campus.
Italian Game Night
4:30-7:00pm | 164 Mt. Vernon St.
Come and practice your Italian by playing board games and having fun! All levels welcome.
Hindi-Urdu Film Series
6:30pm | Fries Center for Global Studies, 201 Fisk Hall
Wednesday, February 22nd, 2023
Language Tables
Spanish | 12-1:00pm | Usdan 1st floor
Italian | 12-1:00pm | Usdan Quiet Side
Hindi-Urdu |12-1:00pm | Usdan Quiet Side
German | 12-1:15pm | Usdan Quiet Side
Peace Corps Info Session
12pm |Fries Center for Global Studies, 201 Fisk Hall
How will you engage with the world after graduation?
Join us as we focus on service with the Peace Corps (and related careers) during Power of Language Week! The Peace Corps was started by John F. Kennedy in 1960 and is “rooted in a shared vision for what is possible by working with, living alongside, and celebrating the diversity of cultures around the world.” We’ll hear from two outstanding alumni, Ameen Beydoun ’11, Sofía Navarrete Zur ’19, and Andrea Weires ’19, who are currently serving, or have completed service, and who each have compelling stories about their global engagement journeys. Learn about these alumni’s decision-making processes and journeys through the Peace Corps and beyond as globally engaged citizens!
Japanese Language Lunch Lecture
12pm | 209 Fisk Hall
Pasapalabra
4:30pm | 305 Fisk Hall
Event inspired by a Spanish television program where the participants have to guess the words from a definition. The words would be from all over the spanish speaking countries. Finalists will win a small prize!
ADIVINA ADIVINANZA
6:00-7:00pm | 210 Fisk Hall
The event will be focused on riddles and tongue twisters in Spanish. Come laugh, test your Spanish oral skills, and compete for a winning prize!
Screening of 2 TV episodes of “Fire Dance”
8:00-10:00pm| Goldsmith Family Cinema
The TV show explores the relationship between language and religious practice in the ultra religious sector of the Israeli society.
Thursday, February 23rd, 2023
Language Tables
French | 11:30am-12:00pm | Usdan Quiet Side
Spanish | 12:00-1:00pm | Usdan 1st floor
Japanese | 12:00-1:00pm | Fisk 209
Chinese | 12:00-1:00pm | Boger 113
Korean | 12:00-1:00pm | Usdan 1st floor
Eurovision: Is Music a Universal Language?
6pm | Fries Center for Global Studies, 201 Fisk Hall
Long before American Idol and The Voice, an earlier singing contest has been captivating the spirits of tens of millions of Viewers: The Eurovision, the international song competition organized annually by the European Broadcasting Union.
The Eurovision launched the international careers of ABBA and Celine Dion, among others, empowered radical, progressive, and groundbreaking acts, and unfortunately, also created political conflicts and tension. In the spirit of the voting system of the event, in which 12 is the highest number of points, we will discuss 12 fascinating stories from the history of Eurovision. As part of Power of Language Week, we will also discuss how this global competition exposed songs in different languages – English, French, Portuguese, Italian, Hebrew, and more.
Mahjong Club
4pm | 209 Fisk
Want to learn Mahjong but haven’t got the chance? Think Mahjong is difficult to learn? Come to our Mahjong Workshop! We will learn the basics, and you will be able to play it with other people.
Spanish Game Night
6:00pm | 305 Fisk
We will play spanish and colombian board games and cards, meeting people from different cultures and different countries while speaking Spanish!
Friday, February 24th, 2023
Japanese Culture Celebration
12:30-1:30pm | 209 Fisk Hall
Explore Japanese culture though toys like “Kendama” and “Koma”. Get to know your japanese name, learn pronunciation and characters of simple words.
Envisioning an English Teaching Journey in a Colonized World
4:00-5:00pm | Room 014, Olin Memorial Library
In this panel, Teresa Speciale (Education Studies), Beth Hepford (Shapiro Center for Writing and Ed. Studies) and Morgan Keller (Office of International Student Affairs) discuss their experiences teaching English abroad and the career paths that experience led them to. The panel will be organized around the journey – choosing how and where to go, our experiences in-country, coming home and career paths. While we agree that teaching English abroad is an amazing experience, we will encourage you to think deeply about your identity, the responsibilities that come with US privilege, and your expectations while teaching abroad.