Modern Languages & Cultures is happy to host a celebration of our Minor students, especially those graduating this Spring and Summer 2024 with a minor in French, German or Spanish. We will gather on Wednesday, April 10th, 6-7.30PM in Walker, 134.
Mingle with us, play games, sing karaoke songs in the four languages, meet people and have fun! Taste a snippet of our foods.
Stephanie Rowe, German professor in the Humanities Department, is hosting an Alumni Student event on Friday, May 10, 2024 during the faculty-led study abroad program Topics in Germany. Event details and RSVP can be found on the alumni event page Dresden, Germany Alumni Student event, organized by Stephanie Rowe (’95), Associate Teaching Professor, MTU.
Alumni are invited to join the students for an evening on their study abroad, including a leisurely stroll through the Zwinger grounds, where students and alumni will have an opportunity to get to know each other, dinner at the Sophienkeller, and a walk past the porcelain Fürstenzug to Neumarkt, where we will cap of the evening with a concert in the Frauenkirche.
Congratulations to Victor Wiesen on a successful proposal for the SURF scholarship!
Victor is interested in examining the environmental impact of traditional practices of preparation and disposition of remains and comparing those impacts with “green” or “natural” burial practices. In this initial stage of research, Victor will utilize ethnographic research methodology to reveal attitudes and compare social and cultural practices and beliefs surrounding end-of-life disposition practices in Germany and the United States. When we understand the impediments to reducing the environmental impact of these cultural practices, we can more effectively map a pathway to preferable funereal practices. This research reflects a critical aspect of sustainability, especially when one considers that within one lifetime, 8 billion dispositions will take place. Through this type of research, we can potentially accomplish this with minimal impact on the planet.
Stephanie Rowe, Associate Teaching Professor in Humanities, is the faculty mentor for this research. Victor Wiesen is a first year ME student.
The annual film series sponsored by Modern Languages returns this week for spring 2024! Each of the languages offered, French, Spanish, and German, will be represented by one of the films, which all screen at 7pm in Fisher Hall and are free and open to the public!
Here is the lineup for this year:
Thursday March 21
Québexit
Demers 2020, Canada
When a transnational pipeline leads to a successful Québec sovereignty referendum, a small border road becomes a lightning rod of conflict between the new Québec military, the Canadian Armed Forces and two indigenous women who traverse the border frequently.
Wednesday, March 27
Argentina, 1985
Mitre 2022, Argentina
A team of lawyers takes on the heads of Argentina’s bloody military dictatorship during the 1980s in a battle against odds and a race against time in order to bring justice to victims of the junta.
Thursday, March 28
The Silent Revolution
Kraume 2018, Germany
Based on the true story of a group of twelfth-grade students in East Germany who decide to show their solidarity with the victims of the 1956 Hungarian uprising by staging two minutes of silence during lessons.
For more information on Modern Language minors at Michigan Tech, visit https://www.mtu.edu/humanities/undergraduate/modern-languages/
There will be an open house for the modern languages program on Monday, August 21st from 2:30-4:00pm in Walker 120A. Students are invited to come with any questions they may have about modern language minors and courses, as well as meet faculty members and fellow students.
Those who have not already taken placement tests may do so at this time as well.
The 2022 Modern Languages Film Series kicks off Thursday, January 27th, with the German film, I’m Your Man (Ich Bin Dein Mensch, Shrader, 2021). Scientist Alma (Maren Eggert) has reluctantly agreed to live for three weeks with humanoid robot Tom (Dan Stevens), who has been created solely to make her happy. This contemplative comedy about love, longing, and what makes us human will screen at 7:00 PM in Fisher 135.
Other films presented in the series include Unbalanced (Desequilibrados, Balanda, 2021), screening February 24th, and Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Portrait de le Jeune Fille en Feu, Sciamma, 2019), screening March 24th. All films in the series will screen in Fisher 135 and are free and open to the public.
This film series is sponsored by the Modern Languages program in the Department of Humanities.
The Modern Languages Placement test will take place on Monday, August 23rd, from 2:30–4:30 pm in the Walker Building HDMZ, 120A (first floor). This will be a great opportunity to also ask any questions related to the Modern Languages minors, courses, as well as to meet faculty.
Modern Languages is holding a scavenger hunt from Monday, August 23rd, until Friday, August 27th. Participate on Instagram, by following @mtumodernlanguages and #MTUML_hunt
Due to the current situation, all activities organized by the Modern Languages program in the Humanities Department have been put on hold until further notice. This includes Café Francais as well as the Modern Languages Spring Film Series.
The Modern Languages program in the Humanities Department has the honor to present this year’s Spring Film Series with the theme of “New Classics”. The first screening will be the French film La Vie en Rose (in French La Mome) at 7 p.m. tonight (Feb. 27) in Walker 134.
In this film, Marion Cotillard portrays Edith Piaf, the legendary French singer who was raised by her grandmother in a Normandy bordello and then discovered on a French street corner by cabaret proprietor Louis Leplée (Gérard Depardieu). Despite her success, Piaf’s life was filled with tragedy.
This event is free and open to the public.
Our next two films on March 19 (Spanish) and April 2 (German) are cancelled.