For the past twenty-six years Sonia has worked to promote Cuban and Latin American Culture in the United States, as well as establishing cultural links between Latin America and the United States. At  present she is the president of Latino Artists Round Table (LART), collaborates with the Tertulia de Escritoras Dominicanas in New York, and is a member of the Board of Directors of Dominican Studies Association.

• prepare students to understand, read, speak and write a second language;
• give them an understanding and appreciation of the literature and civilization particular to that language;
• provide them with a comparative element that will enable them to improve communication skills in their own language.

The department offers courses in a variety of languages, interdisciplinary courses in the Humanities, courses in English as a Second Language and in Puerto Rican Studies, with majors in French and Spanish and minors in French, Italian Studies, Latin American Studies, Puerto Rican Studies, Spanish, Women's Studies and World Literature. The instructional program is enhanced by a state of the art digital Language Laboratory and web supported materials. Annual events sponsored by the department helping to reinforce the instructional program are poetry contests, student journals, international film festivals, conferences and colloquia,designed not only to enhance the academic program but also to involve high school of the Queens area and the Jamaica community.

Note:  If it is determined that a student is too advanced for a specific language course after observation in the classroom by the instructor, the student may be requested to change to a higher level course.

Surveys indicate that graduates who can demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language expand their career opportunities. To help students prove achievement in their foreign language studies, the Department grants a Citation of Achievement in French, Italian or Spanish, which can be presented to prospective employers. An intermediate proficiency citation will be offered to students completing 10-14 credits in foreign language with a B average in those courses. Intermediate Proficiency (Credits 10-14)
Required Courses to be chosen from the following:

• French — French 101*, 102, 105, 106 or 213.
• Italian — Italian 101*, 102, 105, 106 or 230.
• Spanish — Spanish 101*, 102, 105, 106

*This course may be waived if the student is qualified to pass an exemption examination.

Foreign Language Literature Courses Offered in English

These courses also are open to all students.

• French 221 (French Literature from the Middle Ages to the Revolution in Translation),
• World Literature 201: The Literature of the Western World through The Renaissance
• World Literature 210 (Modern French Literature in Translation),
• Humanities 204 (Ibsen and Strindberg),
• World Literature 211 (Italian Theatre in Translation),
• Italian 353 (Italian Culture and Civilization), Italian 356 (A Major Italian Author in Translation),
• World Literature 212 (Masterpieces of Spanish Literature in Translation),
• World Literature 206 (Introduction to the Literature of the Caribbean),
• World Literature 205 (Introduction to Francophone Literature),
• World Literature 207 (Introduction to the Literature of Latin America)

Rivera-Valdés will discuss her writing about human sexuality, how she constructs her plots, what narrative techniques she applies to her writing, and how her stories connect to real life. The talk will be followed by a question and answer session and refreshments. Rivera-Valdés is a writer, literary and film critic and professor of Spanish language and literature at York College, CUNY. She was born in Cuba and resides in New York. Her articles and stories have been extensively published in anthologies and literary magazines in the United States and other countries. Organized by Latin American Studies, and co-sponsored by the Spanish Section of Modern Languages and Literatures.

The conference aims to bring together language teachers, educators, administrators and other stakeholders to discuss, and share research, theory, and best practices on the current state and future of the LCTL as well as initiate a meaningful professional dialogue on this topic amongst those who are interested in sustaining the teaching and learning of LCTL at US institutions.

PLENARY SPEAKER: Scott McGinnis, Academic Advisor and Associate Professor, Defense Language Institute, Washington Office.

Speakers will include among others:

• Dan Davidson - Professor of Russian and Second Language Acquisition at Bryn Mawr College
• Maria Carreira - Professor of Spanish at California State University, Long Beach
• Nancy Ruther - Associate Director, The MacMillan Center, Yale University
• Alan Timberlake - Professor of Russian and Chair, Slavic Department, Columbia University
• Jean Francois - Associate Professor of French and Francophone Studies, York College, CUNY
• Taoufiq Ben Amor - Senior lecturer in Arabic Studies, Columbia University
• Nelleke Van Deusen-Scholl - Director of the Center for Language Study, Yale University

Some of the topics that will be addressed by the speakers will include:

• How do we conjugate the national priority in LCTL with the overall neglect for LCTL at many of our institutions?
• How do we address the systemic lack of funding for LCTL within our academic institutions?
• What structures should we put in place in order to better develop and sustain LCTL?
• What role do heritage learners and bilingual speakers play in reinforcing LCTL programs?
• How can technology help us overcome some of the barriers that prohibit us from achieving critical mass in some LCTL?
• Is the rise of some LCTL (Chinese, Arabic, etc) accomplished at the detriment of other LCTL in terms of institutional support?
• Is the emergence of lingua franca among the LCTL synonymous with diminishing support for other LCTL in the same geographic area?
• How can we better coordinate our efforts to promote the teaching and learning of LCTL regionally as well as nationally?

All are welcome to attend. No registration required but please RSVP.

RSVP: sghelli@york.cuny.edu

RSVP: sghelli@york.cuny.edu