RUSSIAN LANGUAGE, CULTURE CAMP FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS SCHEDULED FOR JUNE 9-28 AT EAST CENTRAL UNIVERSITY

ECU's mission is to foster a learning environment in which students,
faculty, staff and community interact to educate students for life.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

East Central University Communications and Marketing580-559-5650 or 405-812-1428 (cell)Sarah Morgan (left), of Ada, and Neena Alavicheh, of Oklahoma City, participate in a Russian Cuisine Class, taught by Dr. Diana Watson-Maile, during the 2012 Russian Language, Culture Camp.

A three-week summer institute for high school students will offer free Russian language instruction and sessions about Russian culture, June 9-28, at East Central University.

Startalk 2013 In Search of the Firebird: Connecting Generations through Tradition is designed to improve language skills of students who will be in grades 9-12 this fall by immersing them into the Russian language and culture.

Both beginning students and those with an advanced level of understanding the Russian language are invited to apply. Space is limited and applications are currently being accepted and reviewed. There will be a selection process based on their application that includes a 300-word essay.

“We will explore the past and concentrate on the present,” said Dr. Mara Sukholutskaya, professor of English and languages and director of global education at ECU.

Sukholutskaya is also the project director and lead instructor. She will be joined by Dr. Valentina Iepuri, of the University of Mississippi in Oxford, and Ms. Lyudmila Kolomeychuk, of Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine.

They will provide an intensive focus on teaching the Russian language during morning classes. Afternoon sessions will center on various aspects of Russian culture. Two instructor-led trips will include the Consulate General of the Russian Federation, Russian Newspaper Headquarters and a science museum that has two original Faberge eggs in Houston and sites Russian Culture related sites in Tulsa.

Participants will stay in ECU residence halls. Evening activities will enhance classroom learning and will be monitored and supervised by resident counselors who are ECU students minoring in Russian.

The instruction, room and board and all program-related activities are provided at no charge to the program participants.

The institute will include several follow-up opportunities for the participants through January 2013 to continue the reinforcement of the intensive summer institute.

Students can register online at www.ecok.edu/ce or by calling the Center of Continuing Education & Community Services at 580-559-5456. Information about the course is available from Dr. Mara Sukholutskaya at 580-559-5293.

Qualified applications, on a first-come, first-serve basis, are now being accepted through May 1, 2013. Prospective candidates for the program may go to the following link, http://register.asapconnected.com/EventDetail.aspx?pk=209832 , fill out the application form and email it to Dr. Mara Sukholutskaya at msukholu@ecok.edu . After May 1, the forms can be faxed to the ECU Center of Continuing Education & Community Services at 580-310-9007.  More information about the camp is also available by contacting Sukholutskaya at 580-559-5293 or by calling the Continuing Education and Community Services Office at 580-559-5456.

Students accepted for the institute who will be seniors and have taken the ACT exam also may qualify to enroll in the 2000-level course “Introduction to the Russian Language and Culture” and receive three hours of college credit by the end of the program in June.

A grant from Startalk, one of the programs of the National Security Language Initiative announced by former President George W. Bush in January 2006, allows ECU to provide instruction, materials, recreation, food and housing at no cost to the student.

Startalk’s mission is to increase the number of Americans learning, speaking and teaching strategically important world languages that are not now widely taught in the United States through summer courses such as ECU’s. Russian is one of those critical languages, according to Sukholutskaya.

ECU also hopes to bring alumni of the National Security Language Initiative for Youth program to ECU talk with Startalk students about their experiences living and learning abroad and how they can apply for the program. The NSLI-Y provides full, merit-based scholarships for eligible high school students to learn less commonly taught languages in summer and academic-year overseas immersion programs. The programs include the Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Persian, Russian and Turkish languages.

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New Living Learning Community Will Focus on American Sign Language, Deaf Students

Boasting one of only nine nationally accredited baccalaureate degree programs in American Sign Language and Interpreter Education, Eastern Kentucky University has for many years attracted deaf and hard-of-hearing students as well as those who want to serve and assist them.

Now, students from both groups have another reason to consider the Richmond campus: a residence hall living-learning community devoted to American Sign Language and deaf culture. Beginning this fall, the first two floors of eight-story Walters Hall will house a population comprised largely of deaf students, those who grew up in a deaf culture, and students majoring or minoring in interpreter education, deaf education or deaf studies. It’s the first such living learning community at a Kentucky college or university, according to Nickole Hale, associate director for academic initiatives with University Housing.

“This will give students an inclusive common ground where communication is not an issue,” said Dr. Laurence Hayes, chair of EKU’s Department of American Sign Language and Interpreter Education (ASLIE). “Because one of the outcomes is learning a way of life, it will help build bridges and create strong bonds not only in the residence hall, but all across campus.

“Anytime you can take a language to a larger platform, it’s a great experience for the students, and that experience will generate interest and curiosity about the University, our program and the language.”

The only pre-requisite? Hearing students will need to have completed American Sign Language 102 and demonstrate a basic competency in ASL, as all members of the living learning community will be expected to use ASL in the hallways and other common areas. The new living-learning community will house approximately 40 students on each floor – one floor for males, the other for females. The community will also include computer and language labs and other related services, and will benefit from on-site workshops, seminars and other presentations led by EKU faculty and staff and others.

“It will have a huge impact on recruiting,” Hayes predicted. “It’s a strong selling point.”

Hale noted strong support from ASLIE faculty and staff, half of whom are deaf.

“This living learning community will succeed because they are so interested,” she said. “All our residence hall living learning communities (this will be the University’s 15th) that have strong faculty backing are highly effective.”

EKU’s Interpreter Training Program, established in 1989, is one of approximately 40 such programs nationwide and is one of only nine baccalaureate degree programs nationally accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Interpreter Education. Hayes noted that the program has a 95 percent retention rate, as well as a 95 percent job placement rate.

“There continues to be a growing demand for interpreters,” he said, “so the job market is strong.”

Interpreters find employment in various settings: educational institutions, government, business, and the legal, medical and mental health professions, as well as personal (weddings, funerals, reunions, etc.)

All candidates for national certification as interpreters must hold a bachelor’s degree in the field. Currently, 21 students from a variety of states are pursuing a bachelor’s degree in interpreter education at Eastern, and an additional 275-300 are taking ASL classes, Hayes said.       

EKU’s Department of American Sign Language and Interpreter Education also has an active outreach in-service training program.

For more information about the program, visit www.aslie.eku.edu or call 859-622-4966.

View the original article here

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New Living Learning Community Will Focus on American Sign Language, Deaf Students

Boasting one of only nine nationally accredited baccalaureate degree programs in American Sign Language and Interpreter Education, Eastern Kentucky University has for many years attracted deaf and hard-of-hearing students as well as those who want to serve and assist them.

Now, students from both groups have another reason to consider the Richmond campus: a residence hall living-learning community devoted to American Sign Language and deaf culture. Beginning this fall, the first two floors of eight-story Walters Hall will house a population comprised largely of deaf students, those who grew up in a deaf culture, and students majoring or minoring in interpreter education, deaf education or deaf studies. It’s the first such living learning community at a Kentucky college or university, according to Nickole Hale, associate director for academic initiatives with University Housing.

“This will give students an inclusive common ground where communication is not an issue,” said Dr. Laurence Hayes, chair of EKU’s Department of American Sign Language and Interpreter Education (ASLIE). “Because one of the outcomes is learning a way of life, it will help build bridges and create strong bonds not only in the residence hall, but all across campus.

“Anytime you can take a language to a larger platform, it’s a great experience for the students, and that experience will generate interest and curiosity about the University, our program and the language.”

The only pre-requisite? Hearing students will need to have completed American Sign Language 102 and demonstrate a basic competency in ASL, as all members of the living learning community will be expected to use ASL in the hallways and other common areas. The new living-learning community will house approximately 40 students on each floor – one floor for males, the other for females. The community will also include computer and language labs and other related services, and will benefit from on-site workshops, seminars and other presentations led by EKU faculty and staff and others.

“It will have a huge impact on recruiting,” Hayes predicted. “It’s a strong selling point.”

Hale noted strong support from ASLIE faculty and staff, half of whom are deaf.

“This living learning community will succeed because they are so interested,” she said. “All our residence hall living learning communities (this will be the University’s 15th) that have strong faculty backing are highly effective.”

EKU’s Interpreter Training Program, established in 1989, is one of approximately 40 such programs nationwide and is one of only nine baccalaureate degree programs nationally accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Interpreter Education. Hayes noted that the program has a 95 percent retention rate, as well as a 95 percent job placement rate.

“There continues to be a growing demand for interpreters,” he said, “so the job market is strong.”

Interpreters find employment in various settings: educational institutions, government, business, and the legal, medical and mental health professions, as well as personal (weddings, funerals, reunions, etc.)

All candidates for national certification as interpreters must hold a bachelor’s degree in the field. Currently, 21 students from a variety of states are pursuing a bachelor’s degree in interpreter education at Eastern, and an additional 275-300 are taking ASL classes, Hayes said.       

EKU’s Department of American Sign Language and Interpreter Education also has an active outreach in-service training program.

For more information about the program, visit www.aslie.eku.edu or call 859-622-4966.

View the original article here

Read More

New Living Learning Community Will Focus on American Sign Language, Deaf Students

Boasting one of only nine nationally accredited baccalaureate degree programs in American Sign Language and Interpreter Education, Eastern Kentucky University has for many years attracted deaf and hard-of-hearing students as well as those who want to serve and assist them.

Now, students from both groups have another reason to consider the Richmond campus: a residence hall living-learning community devoted to American Sign Language and deaf culture. Beginning this fall, the first two floors of eight-story Walters Hall will house a population comprised largely of deaf students, those who grew up in a deaf culture, and students majoring or minoring in interpreter education, deaf education or deaf studies. It’s the first such living learning community at a Kentucky college or university, according to Nickole Hale, associate director for academic initiatives with University Housing.

“This will give students an inclusive common ground where communication is not an issue,” said Dr. Laurence Hayes, chair of EKU’s Department of American Sign Language and Interpreter Education (ASLIE). “Because one of the outcomes is learning a way of life, it will help build bridges and create strong bonds not only in the residence hall, but all across campus.

“Anytime you can take a language to a larger platform, it’s a great experience for the students, and that experience will generate interest and curiosity about the University, our program and the language.”

The only pre-requisite? Hearing students will need to have completed American Sign Language 102 and demonstrate a basic competency in ASL, as all members of the living learning community will be expected to use ASL in the hallways and other common areas. The new living-learning community will house approximately 40 students on each floor – one floor for males, the other for females. The community will also include computer and language labs and other related services, and will benefit from on-site workshops, seminars and other presentations led by EKU faculty and staff and others.

“It will have a huge impact on recruiting,” Hayes predicted. “It’s a strong selling point.”

Hale noted strong support from ASLIE faculty and staff, half of whom are deaf.

“This living learning community will succeed because they are so interested,” she said. “All our residence hall living learning communities (this will be the University’s 15th) that have strong faculty backing are highly effective.”

EKU’s Interpreter Training Program, established in 1989, is one of approximately 40 such programs nationwide and is one of only nine baccalaureate degree programs nationally accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Interpreter Education. Hayes noted that the program has a 95 percent retention rate, as well as a 95 percent job placement rate.

“There continues to be a growing demand for interpreters,” he said, “so the job market is strong.”

Interpreters find employment in various settings: educational institutions, government, business, and the legal, medical and mental health professions, as well as personal (weddings, funerals, reunions, etc.)

All candidates for national certification as interpreters must hold a bachelor’s degree in the field. Currently, 21 students from a variety of states are pursuing a bachelor’s degree in interpreter education at Eastern, and an additional 275-300 are taking ASL classes, Hayes said.       

EKU’s Department of American Sign Language and Interpreter Education also has an active outreach in-service training program.

For more information about the program, visit www.aslie.eku.edu or call 859-622-4966.

View the original article here

Read More