Modern Languages and Literatures 2009-2010
Overview
Union College pioneered the study of modern languages 200 years ago, when other American colleges and universities offered only the ancient languages of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. Today, Union continues in this tradition, recognizing the essential importance of the past, but acutely aware that because students live in an increasingly interdependent world, their need for a global education, including more than one culture and language, is greater than ever.
Union offers a comprehensive program in the study of modern languages, literatures, and cultures. We teach courses in the original languages, as well as in translation. There are full programs leading to a major in French, Spanish, and German; an interdepartmental major in Russian; and minors in Chinese and Japanese (students can count courses from these programs toward a major in East Asian Studies). Union also offers a year of Hebrew; a course in Italian for students preparing for the term abroad in Florence, Italy; a course in Portuguese for students preparing for the term in Brazil; and the possibility of study in Arabic.
The Department of Modern Languages and Literatures also supports many Term Abroad programs, in which students may participate even at an early stage of their language study. The French Term Abroad takes place in Rennes, France, every fall; the German Term combines study in Berlin and Freiburg, each spring; and the Spanish Term alternates between Seville, Spain, and Cuernavaca, Mexico, in the winter. Every fall, there are Terms Abroad in China and Japan, and there are year-long exchange programs with Germany, Japan, Switzerland, and Russia.
To develop and maintain their skills, students have the option of living in language-oriented theme houses on campus, participating in language club activities and language tables, and attending throughout the academic year presentations by renowned speakers, poets, artists, and performers. Students may also participate in a range of exciting mini-term programs that include Martinique, the Louvre, a pilgrimage tour or combined Engineering/Liberal Arts term in Spain, and environmental studies in Brazil.
Union students who pursue language study have immediate access to a dynamic and committed faculty. An extensive library collection and a state-of-the-art language laboratory offer media-interactive language learning, satellite reception of foreign news broadcasts, and a rich collection of foreign film in video and DVD format, all of which are incorporated in lively and creative ways into a widely varying course curriculum. These courses are teacher-student interactive, often interdisciplinary in nature, and frequently taught in electronic classrooms, allowing faculty to combine their teaching styles with the latest developments in technology-assisted language learning.
Students can easily combine a language major or minor with virtually any discipline offered at Union College, thus enhancing their potential to flourish in an international job market that is placing increasing value on the knowledge of other languages and cultures.
The Modern Languages Web site gives a broad description of the department, including recent student research and honors.
The Faculty
Our faculty and their areas of specialization include:
Charles Arndt
Visiting Assistant Professor of Russian
Ph.D., Brown University
Russian Studies, Folklore
Charles Batson
Chair and Associate Professor of French and Francophone Studies
Ph.D., University of Illinois
French and Francophone Theatre, Dance and Literature, Gender Studies
Kristin Bidoshi
Associate Professor of Russian
Ph.D., Ohio State University
Russian Literature (19th and 20th centuries)
Michelle Chilcoat
Associate Professor of French and Francophone Studies
Ph.D., University of Michigan
French and Francophone Colonial Literature, Women’s Studies, History of Science, Film Studies
Megan Ferry
Associate Professor of Chinese, Director of East Asian Studies
Ph.D., Washington University
Comparative Literature, Modern Chinese Literature and Culture, Film, Gender, Asian-American Literature and Arts
William Garcia
Associate Professor of Spanish
Ph.D., Rutgers University
Latin American and Spanish Theater, Latin American Cinema, Caribbean Literature
Christine Henseler
Associate Professor of Spanish
Ph.D., Cornell University
Contemporary Spanish Narrative, Women’s Studies, Visual Culture, Cultural Studies
Graham Ignizio
Visiting Assistant Professor of Spanish
Ph.D., University of North Carolina
Spanish-American Literatures, Cuban-American Studies
Hui-Ju Lin
Visiting Assistant Professor of Chinese
Ph.D., Georgetown University
Chinese Linguistics, Second/Third Language Acquisition, and Bilingualism
Victoria Martinez
Associate Professor of Spanish
Ph.D., Arizona State University
Contemporary Latin-American Narrative, Border Studies, Literature of the Southern Cone
Daniel Mosquera
Associate Professor of Spanish
Ph.D., Washington University
Spanish and Comparative Literature
Pilar Moyano
Professor of Spanish
Ph.D., SUNY Albany
19th- and 20th-Century Peninsular Literature, Central American Literature, Women’s Studies
Cheikh Ndiaye
Associate Professor of French and Francophone Studies
Ph.D., University of Connecticut
French, Post-Colonial Literature
Erika M. Nelson
Assistant Professor of German
Ph.D., University of Texas, Austin
German Literature, Cultural and Film Studies
Maritza Osuna
Senior Lecturer of Spanish
Ph.D., State University of New York at Albany
Spanish Literature, Language in Education, Culture and Technology in Foreign Languages
Ashley Passmore
Visiting Assistant Professor of German
Ph.D., University of Chicago
Austrian and German Cultural Studies, Films, German Jewish Literature
Michele Ricci Bell
John D. MacArthur Assistant Professor of German
Ph.D., Stanford University
20th Century German Literature, Visual Arts and Performing Arts
Audrey Sartiaux
Director of the Language Center
Ph.D., University of Connecticut
French, Multimedia Pedagogy
William Thomas
Professor of French and Francophone Studies
Ph.D., SUNY Buffalo
19th-Century French Novel
Stacey Triplette
Visiting Assistant Professor of Spanish
Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley
Early Modern Spanish Literature and Culture
Junko Ueno
Associate Professor of Japanese
Ph.D., Indiana University
Japanese Linguistics, Second Language Acquisition
Zhen Zhang
Visiting Assistant Professor of Chinese
Ph.D., University of California, Irvine
Chinese Literature, Cultural Studies