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SILC This Week Newsletter: SILC This Week is the school's weekly newsletter of upcoming SILC and SILC-related news. Submit news/events for publication in the newsletter to silcnews@asu.edu no later than Noon, Fridays for distribution the following Monday. Access past issues of the newsletter here.

 

News and Events

Feb 13-17: 2012 World and Comparative Literature Conference - "Literary Imaginary and the Poetics of Truth

Assorted times and locations, see below
This conference, presented by SILC's Romanian Language and Culture program, will explore different approaches to the specific competences of comparatism (world and comparative literature) today.  For more information, including the full list of event sponsors, visit the event web pages after each of the following lectures:

Monday, Feb 13, 12-2 p.m., LL 316  Corin Braga,  Ernest Sabato, The Blindness Complex (event webpage)
Tuesday, Feb 14, 12-1:15 p.m., Discovery 150  Ruxandra Cesereanu, "Saint" Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov and "the Demons" of his Time: Bulgakov's Diary vis-a-vis the Master and Margarita (event webpage)
Wednesday, Feb 15, 12-2 p.m., LL 316  Stefan Borbely, The Literary Pursuits of a Historian of Religions: The Case of Ioan Petru Culianu (event webpage)
Thursday, Feb 16, 12-1:15 p.m., Coor 199  Doru Pop, Reading Literature through Cinematic Devices: Peter Esterhazy's "She Loves Me" (event webpage)
Friday, Feb 17, 12-2 p.m., LL 316  Horea Poenar, The Life of Fiction: Hemingway's Literary Continuity (event webpage)
Friday, Feb 17, 3:30-5 p.m., LL 316  Cornel Vilcu, Thomas Mann: Reflections of Time (event webpage)

Thu, Feb 16: Negotiating the Nimble Leninist State: Vietnam and China's Fragile Nongovermental Organizations and the Governments They Face

7 p.m., Wrigley Hall (GIOS) 101, ASU Tempe campus
This year's Robert C. Staley Distinguished Visiting Professor in East Asian Studies features Mark Sidel, Doyle-Bascom Professor of law and public policy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His teaching, writing and research interests focus on Asian law, comparative law, law and development, human trafficking and the nonprofit sector, and philanthropy in Asia and in the United States. For more information, download the event flyer. [event webpage]

Wed, Feb 22: Italian Reception

2:30-4 p.m., LL 165
Would you like to become proficient in Italian? Live in Italy? Study or work in Italy? Then join the School of International Letters & Cultures Italian faculty for a cup of espresso, dolci (sweets) and information about SILC's Italian language and culture program, ASU's summer Study Abroad program in Florence, Italy, student activities, and much more! [event webpage] [download flyer]

Thu, Feb  23: High School Language Fair

9 a.m. - 2 p.m., Memorial Union 2nd Floor, Arizona State University Tempe campus
That buzz coming from the Memorial Union will undoubtedly be the 2,000 Arizona high school foreign language students attending the School of International Letters and Culture's annual High School Language Fair! The fair offers high schoolers an opportunity to visit the ASU campus for a lively day of language competitions, readings, games, dances, films, exhibits, entertainment and even a cross-cultural scavenger hunt. For complete information about the day's activities, visit the Language Fair website.

Fri-Sat, Feb 24-25: 2012 Women in French Conference - "Crossing Boundaries - French and Francophone Women in Literature & Science, Culture & the Arts"

8 a.m.-6 p.m., Memorial Union, 2nd floor
The School of International Letters & Cultures French language program will host the 2012 Women in French conference. The conference theme is intended to showcase the influence, representation, presence and achievement of French and Francophone women from the Middle Ages through the 21st Century. The keynote speaker will be Martine Reid, Professor of French at the Universite de Lille 3. For complete conference information, please visit the 2012 Women in French conference website.

Wed, Feb 29: Blaxploitation Italian Style: Exhuming and Consuming the Colonial Black Venus in 1970s Cinema in Italy

3 p.m., WGHL 201
Guest speaker Rosetta Giuliani Caponetto will discuss how director Luigi Scattini's 1970s Blaxploitation trilogy - which established model Zeudi Araya as an erotic icon in Italian culture - taps into the social and political crises of 1970s Italy. Caponetto will also explore how the notion of cannibalism applies to the movie trilogy in terms of the associations between black femininity and anthropophagy, as well as the scopophilic relationship between Italian male spectators and the female black body. Caponetto is an assistant professor of Italian at Auburn University. This talk is sponsored by the School of International Letters & Cultures Italian language program, African and African-American Studies, Women and Gender Studies, and Film and Media Studies. [event webpage]  [download flyer]

Jun 13-Aug 8: Intensive Chinese Language Program at Sichuan University

Sichuan University, Chendu, China
The School of International Letters and Cultures (SILC) will offer an intensive 8-week summer Chinese language program at Sichuan University. Contact Jenny Fisher in ASU's Center for Global Education Services for information about the application process and the program deadline, or visit the Study Abroad web page for this program. ASU students can apply for summer fellowships from the ASU Confucius Institute; click here for the application. Information about travel grants and other scholarships can be found on the Study Abroad website.

 

Can I study abroad?

As a student of ASU you have the opportunity to join fellow students in studying the richness of the world’s languages and cultures while earning ASU course credit. ASU offers more than 300 study abroad programs in over 60 countries around the world. For more information, visit the ASU Study Abroad Office website.

SILC Summer Programs: SILC is offering over 20 study abroad programs for summer, 2011. For example, the Florence, Italy Summer Program was founded in 1981 and is the longest-running study abroad program at ASU. The Spanish Language, Literature and Culture in Seville, Spain program combines features of a traditional study abroad program and a traveling seminar, with guided visits to outstanding centers of Spanish cultural heritage. Likewise, the Leon, Spain program is a four-week program that focuses on Spanish language, literature and culture in the cities of Leon and Barcelona.

New for 2012, a summer program in Brazil is being developed that will focus on urban planning. This will be an exciting learning experience in one of the most energetic and fascinating countries in the world. During this intensive program the student will learn about the culture, geography, history and language of Brazil, visiting three interesting and very relevant locations in Southern Brazil: Sao Paulo, the economic locomotive of Brazil; Curitiba, a dynamic community regarded as one of the most livable cities in the world and a model for urban planning; and the Pantanal in Mato Grosso, one of the most spectacular concentrations of flora and fauna on the planet, as well as a United Nations World Heritage Site.

Ongoing: Study Abroad 101 Sessions Offered Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 3:30 pm at the Study Abroad Office: Attending a Study Abroad 101 information session is your first step toward making your international experience a reality. In this session we will cover the basic information you need to know, including how to choose a program, earning credits on your program, financial aid and scholarships. Study Abroad 101 information sessions are held three times a week year round. For more information, including a map of our location, please visit the Study Abroad 101 website.