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.
Join us! Learn Spanish quicker through interaction with other Spanish speakers. Join us in a relaxed environment to practice and improve your conversation skills. Speak Spanish, play games, have a snack, and make new friends! Bring a friend!
To receive reminders, email Leyre Alegre at lalegref@mtu.edu
Tuesday, February 25 at 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Tuesday, March 3 at 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm
Walker Arts and Humanities Center, 120A (HDMZ)
1400 Townsend Drive, Houghton, MI 49931
It is with great pleasure that Café Français resumes its activities this at the usual time and place, 5 to 6 p.m. Thursday (Jan. 30) in Walker 120C.
Join us for an hour in a laid-back francophone setting. As usual, snacks and light refreshments will be served. Open to all. Any level of French is welcome. For more information, email danyj@mtu.edu
Hope to see you there.
Join Modern Languages faculty and students from 5 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, December 4th, in Walker 134 for a unique celebration of French, German, and Spanish holiday traditions. Appearing live will be the French Canadian group, Maple Sugar Folk, as well as Sue Ellen Kingsley and Friends.
Learn holiday songs in each language for the sing-along and listen to traditional holiday music. Play Christmas Bingo and enjoy a variety of holiday treats from different cultures. No prior language experience required. Families are welcome.
For more information, contact Karin Schlenker.
Understanding how French-speaking people migrated throughout North America from the 1600s to 1940 means tracking them at work, school and home spatially and archivally.
Michigan Technological University is a partner in the $2.4 million “Trois siècles de migrations francophones en Amérique du Nord (1640-1940) (Three centuries of migrations by French-speakers to North America)” funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Sarah Scarlett, assistant professor of history, and Don Lafrenière, associate professor of geography, in the Social Sciences department, will use the Keweenaw Time Traveler and a combination of spatial and archival datasets to focus specifically on whether French-Canadians were socially mobile as they migrated from Canada to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula during the period of 1860 to 1940.
Read the full story on Unscripted.
Modern Languages held their annual Spring Celebration on April 3rd. The French-Canadian group, Maple Sugar Folk, performed and helped teach songs in French, German and Spanish. There was also a guest performer, Sue Ellen Kingsley and Friends. Food and refreshments were served.
Dr. Thomas Werner, Associate Professor, Biological Sciences, presented his story to about growing up in East Germany and living a political double life in a socialist country at an event hosted by Modern Languages on April 10th. Werner talked about what it was like for him to have a personal spy who tried to send his parents to prison, and how his home country dropped out of existence overnight.
After the Berlin wall fell, Thomas studied Biology in Jena, Germany, and then moved to Umeå, Sweden, where he did his PhD in cell and molecular biology. He moved to Madison, Wisconsin as a postdoctoral fellow studying the evolution and development of color patterns in fruit flies. Thomas is now a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Michigan Tech. He lives in Houghton with his wife Megan, daughter Natalia, and sons Oliver and Oscar