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CFP: Edited Volume: Authenticity across Languages and Cultures – Transcultural and Philosophical Motives in Foreign Language Teaching & Learning

Deadline: January 31, 2020

Aim of the book

In the research literature on foreign-language teaching and learning (FLTL), ‘authenticity’ emerges as an important issue (for a list of relevant publications, see the file ‘References’). The term, due to its strong connotation and its colloquial ubiquity, has been used to denote a multitude of concepts. This volume is conceptually grounded in the writings of Will (2018) and Pinner (2016), who have recently contributed to an increased level of discursive clarity (Will) on the one hand, and a promising reconceptualization (Pinner) on the other. One of the main aims of this interdisciplinary volume is a new conceptual cohesion in accordance with seminal works in FLTL (e.g. van Lier, Widdowson, Breen), literary and cultural studies (e.g. Delanoy, Kramsch, Butler) as well as in existentialist philosophy (e.g. Sartre, Heidegger). In this book, ‘authenticity’ will be investigated as an educational construct apt to enrich (the modern) foreign language classrooms  and university lecture halls in an age of globalisation, digitalisation, mobility and transculturality. With the contributors to this book coming from different countries and continents, the WHO, WHAT and HOW of ‘authenticity’ shall be investigated, overcoming widespread notions of native-speakerism, essentialism and stereotype. We encourage both theoretical and conceptual as well as empirical papers.

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Lang. Training: Summer Programs in Kazakh, Tajik, Uyghur, Uzbek (University of Wisconsin)

Deadline: February 1, 2020

The Central Eurasian Studies Summer Institute (CESSI) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison is now accepting applications! We offer courses in intensive elementary and intermediate Kazakh, Tajik, Uyghur, and Uzbek. Additional levels and languages (such as Kyrgyz) may be added with sufficient student interest.

Graduate students, researchers, and professionals who are US citizens are especially encouraged to apply for the Title VIII fellowship, which covers full tuition plus a stipend of $2,500 for the summer. FLAS fellowships are also available for eligible undergraduate and graduate students, and all applicants (including international students) are eligible for the Wisconsin Intensive Summer Language Institutes (WISLI) tuition scholarship or for tuition remission scholarships.

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Grad. Program: Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures (Indiana University)

Deadline: December 1, 2019 (international); January 15, 2019 (domestic)

The Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures at Indiana University invites applications to its MA and PhD programs.

With fifteen faculty in the core unit, the Indiana Slavic department is one of the largest in the country. We support PhD level work in Russian, Polish, and Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian (BCS), as well as in Slavic linguistics and language pedagogy. Home to a Russian Flagship Program, we have seen recent growth in Russian enrollments and maintain programs in BCS, Czech, Polish, and Ukrainian.

Our core faculty offers mentorship in diverse areas including the theory and practice of translation, memory studies, economic criticism, cultural studies, and critical theory; research strengths in linguistics include pragmatics, phonology, second language acquisition, and pedagogy. Our extensive and engaged network of adjunct faculty adds expertise in fields such as documentary film, computational linguistics, and religious thought. Graduate students also have the opportunity for apprenticeships at our in-house press, Slavica, which puts out academic books in Slavic studies and, under the imprint Three String Books, literary translations.

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Conference/CFP: Midwest Slavic Conference “Science & Fiction(s)” (Ohio State University)

Event Date: April 3-5, 2020
Deadline for Papers: January 13, 2020

The Midwest Slavic Association and The Ohio State University (OSU) Center for Slavic and East European Studies (CSEES) are pleased to announce the 2020 Midwest Slavic Conference Science & Fiction(s) to be held at OSU in Columbus, Ohio on April 3-5, 2020. The conference committee invites proposals for papers on all topics related to the Slavic, East European, and Eurasian world, particularly those that explore science and the history of science, science fiction in film, cartoons, art, music, and literary works, information science and disinformation. In a world where truth is often stranger than fiction—and harder to find—science fiction can be revelatory. As society grapples to answer questions about climate change, ecological justice, and environmental disasters, does the function and ethical responsibility of science fiction change? What is the relationship between science, fiction, and the arts? How do they illuminate, reinforce, and change each other? 

The conference will open at 5:30PM with a keynote address by Dr. Anindita Banerjee (Cornell U.). Building on the keynote address, a plenary panel will follow on Saturday morning. Panels by conference participants will then be held on Saturday from 10:30AM-4:45PM and Sunday from 8:30AM-11:45AM. 

Please send a one-paragraph abstract and a brief C.V. in a single PDF format file to csees@osu.edu by January 13th. Undergraduate and graduate students are encouraged to participate. Interdisciplinary work and pre-formed panels are encouraged. Proposals for individual papers will be accepted. 

More information is available at the Conference website. 

DEADLINES

Abstract and C.V. Deadline: January 13
Notification of Acceptance: February 7
Scheduling Conflicts Due: February 11
Panels Announced: February 21
Final Papers to Chair: March 20
Presenter Registration Deadline: March 20

PRESENTER FEES
Students: $35
Faculty/Public: $50

ATTENDEE FEES
General Attendees: $25

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Resource: Czech-Language Interview re: Fall of Communism

On the occasion of the thirty years’ anniversary of the fall of
communism, we have broadcast, on the Czech cable TV station
Regionalnitelevize.cz, exclusive interviews with Petr Pithart, the first
Prime Minister of the post-communist Czech Republic and a close
collaborator of Czechoslovak President Václav Havel:

(The interviews are in Czech with English subtitles)

https://youtu.be/eP7b0Jhzlnk
Britské listy Interview 232: Petr Pithart: 1968 was the only time when
I believed that the world might be better

https://youtu.be/QRm6tYbPFg4
Britské listy Interview 233: Petr Pithart: Why were the Prague Spring
politicians such cowards?

https://youtu.be/D6WSHQ1Wjwo
Britské listy Interview 234: Petr Pithart: Post-invasion decades in
Czechoslovkia: An era of timelessness

See also:

Britské listy Interview 220: Petr Pithart about current threats to
democracy: ” I never thought that the past was so powerful”.

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Funding/Study Abroad: Academic Fellowships in Russia (Carnegie Corp, American Councils)

Deadline: December 2, 2019

New Opportunity for On-Site Research Support in Russia from the Carnegie Corporation

American Councils is pleased to announce the opening of a new competition cycle for the funded Academic Fellowships in Russia. Provided by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York, the American Councils Academic Fellowships in Russia program (AFR) will support U.S. graduate students, faculty, and independent scholars as they conduct research for three to nine consecutive months on topics within the social sciences disciplines in Russia.

The total value of each fellowship ranges from $10,000 – $45,000, with actual level of support depending on the duration of the overseas research period and the academic rank of the awardee. Typical awards include:

  • International airfare
  • Academic affiliation with a leading local university or educational institution
  • Visa(s) arranged by American Councils in collaboration with host institutions
  • Housing and living stipends
  • Health insurance
  • Ongoing logistical support from American Councils
  • 24-hour emergency assistance

Research conducted on AFR must strengthen and broaden current scholarship in the social sciences related to Russia and U.S.-Russian relations. AFR fellows will be expected to share their research findings through presentations at conferences, briefings, or other means.

The application deadline is December 2, 2019. All AFR fellowships must take place between June 1, 2020 and December 31, 2021. For further details and to apply, please visit the program website. Questions? Contact us at outbound@americancouncils.org.

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Funding: Language Teaching and Learning Research Grants (University of Pittsburgh)

Deadline: February 3, 2020

The University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies will award up to two Language Teaching and Learning Research (LTLR) Grants for scholars to conduct research projects on-site at the Summer Language Institute in June – July 2020. Funded projects must focus on the teaching and learning of one or more of the following priority languages: Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, Polish, Russian, Turkish, and Ukrainian. Other languages that are taught at the SLI may be included in a project proposal in addition to these priority languages; see www.sli.pitt.edu for the complete list of language courses offered. Applicants may propose to be in residence in Pittsburgh for either all or a portion of the two-month duration of the SLI, according to the needs of their projects.

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Webinar: A Russian Bridge Course: Navigating the Transition from Language-Driven to Content-Driven Courses

Event Date: November 19, 2019

Led by Lynne deBenedette
November 19 at 5:30pm EST

Register now

In this webinar, Lynne deBenedette will discuss how to create a course for learners who are roughly at the ACTFL Intermediate Mid proficiency level that focuses both on content learning and language learning in a balanced way.  In the more commonly taught languages these courses are sometimes referred to as “bridge courses” –when students transition from lower-level language courses (organized around a textbook) to upper-level courses that primarily focus on content materials (films and / or readings). deBenedette will consider how much content material is practical at this level, how to choose it, and how to assess student learning of that content.  Drawing on the content materials selected, she will discuss how to choose language forms to focus on. The webinar will examine in detail examples of classroom materials to see how the content-learning is counterbalanced with focused work on language form, and how classroom tasks are sequenced to guide learners from input to output.  The webinar will conclude with a list of principles for implementing this approach with a range of content topics.

Lynne deBenedette is Senior Lecturer in Russian at Brown University, where she has taught since 1995. She is a co-author, with William J. Comer, Alla Smyslova and Jonathan Perkins, of the first-year Russian language textbook Между нами (http://www.mezhdunami.org). At Brown she coordinates the Russian language program and teaches Russian and (occasionally) Czech.

https://actr.wildapricot.org/event-3624560

  • The webinar is free for current ACTR members ($15 fee for non-members)
  • All registered participants will receive access to the webinar recording. Register even if you cannot attend the webinar live. 
  • Certificate of participation will be emailed upon request
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Conference: Scholarly World of Vyacheslav Vsevolodovich Ivanov (UCLA)

Event Date: November 15, 2019

The UCLA Dept. of Slavic, East European and Eurasian Languages and Cultures and UCLA’s Program in Indo-European Studies are pleased to announce an international conference, “The Scholarly World of Vyacheslav Vsevolodovich Ivanov: Assessments, Reassessments, Reflections,” on the occasion of the 90th year of his birth and the second anniversary of his passing. The conference will take place November 15, 2019 at the Faculty Center, UCLA Campus. Morning sessions will be devoted to Vyacheslav Ivanov’s contributions to Indo-European studies and general linguistics, and afternoon sessions – his contributions to semiotics of culture and poetics. Guest speakers include:

•       H. Craig Melchert (UCLA),
•       Nikolai Kazansky (St. Petersburg University)
•       Anna Dybo (Moscow State University)
•       Ilya Yakubovich (Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences)
•       Georges-Jean Pinault (Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Paris Sciences et Lettres)

•       Tatiana Tsivian (Moscow State University; Institute for Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences)
•       Nataliya Zlydneva (Moscow State University; Institute for Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences)
•       Mihhail Lotman (Tallinn University; University of Tartu)
•       Henryk Baran (SUNY Albany)
•       Yuri Tsivian (University of Chicago)
•       Barry P. Scherr (Dartmouth College)
•       Willem Weststeijn (University of Amsterdam)
•       Igor Pilshchikov (UCLA)

The full program may be accessed at:
https://slavic.ucla.edu/event/the-scholarly-world-of-vyacheslav-ivanov-assessments-reassessments-reflections/

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Lang. Training: Translation and Interpreting Courses (UMass Amherst)

University of Massachusetts at Amherst has a line-up of online translation and interpreting courses in spring 2020, with well-known and experienced faculty members. Students can complete a 15-credit Certificate in Professional Translation and Interpreting in one year or take as long as they want based on their individual needs. Courses can also be taken independent of the certificate to meet students’ needs for continuing education.  

When filling out the application form, students are required to demonstrate high proficiency in English and at least one LOTE (Language Other than English), via proficiency exams, university-level coursework in the language, and living/work experience in country where LOTE is spoken.

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