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At Fuyao Glass factory, students put Chinese language skills into practice
Students posing for a photo inside Fuyao America building

Penn students, senior lecturer Mien-hwa Chiang (fourth from left), and director of the Chinese Language Program Ye Tian (first from left) visited Fuyao America in Moraine, Ohio, in February. Fourth from the right: Lillian Wagner; second from left: Sam Gan, third from left: Ryan Morris. (Image: Penn Chinese Language Program)

At Fuyao Glass factory, students put Chinese language skills into practice

At Fuyao Glass America in Moraine, Ohio, the subject of the Oscar-winning 2019 film “American Factory,” students and faculty were led on a tour and dialogued with the Fuyao America CEO.
People imitate accent features they expect to hear, even without hearing them
An illustration of many different-colored heads with many different-colored talking bubbles.

People imitate accent features they expect to hear, even without hearing them

Research from postdoc Lacey Wade confirmed this idea, what she calls expectation-driven convergence, in a controlled experiment for the first time. The work reveals just how much the subconscious factors into the way people speak.

Michele W. Berger

Latin American and Latinx studies becomes a center
A woman in front of a microphone speaks to groups of seated and standing students

Tulia Falleti addresses the crowd at the Center's fall almuerzo, or lunch. 

Latin American and Latinx studies becomes a center

With over 30 years of Latin American and Latinx Studies at Penn, the academic program was established as a center in July.

Kristina Linnea García

Art from Mexico
professor and two students looking at colorful artwork on table

Patricia Vargas (left), a Penn Spanish language lecturer, took her class to the Penn Museum to see the yarn paintings by the Huichol people, an indigenous group in Northwest Mexico, and to discuss interpretations in Spanish. Juniors Abhi Bhandari (center) and George Adu-Agyare (right) talk about a work titled “Antes de la inundación,” or “Before the flood.” 

Art from Mexico

During visits to the Penn Museum this semester, nearly 200 students in intermediate Spanish classes had the chance to learn about yarn paintings by the Huichol people, an indigenous group in Northwest Mexico.

Louisa Shepard

Centering Black students in language education
professor standing in front of Graduate School of Education building

Flores was a co-organizer of a conference at Penn examining equity for Black students in language education. 

Centering Black students in language education

Ensuring equity for Black students in language education was the focus of a conference co-organized by the Graduate School of Education’s Nelson Flores, an expert in bilingual education.

Louisa Shepard

The new director of La Casa Latina creates ‘a sense of belonging'
Woman stands and points outside the ARCH building

After earning a Ph.D. in Education, Krista Cortes returns to Locust Walk as the new director of La Casa Latina. 

The new director of La Casa Latina creates ‘a sense of belonging'

As the new director of La Casa Latina, Krista Cortes brings a sense of inclusivity to welcome different people, cultures, races, and languages to the cultural resources center.

Kristina Linnea García

Lauder students put language skills into practice
Supplies being handed to someone inside a Chinese language school

Supplies being delivered to the Guanghua Chinese School. Lauder Institute student Angela Huang worked with the school, based in Montgomery County, to translate newsletter materials about wellness. (Image: Courtesy of Angela Huang)

Lauder students put language skills into practice

In lieu of its in-country immersion program, which was canceled because of the pandemic, the Lauder Institute incorporated community engagement projects that connected students with communities in Philadelphia and beyond.
The winners and losers in post-Socialist Europe
Book cover of Taking Stock of Shock: Social Consequences of the 1989 Revolutions.

The winners and losers in post-Socialist Europe

Kristen Ghodsee and Mitchell Orenstein, professors of Russian and East European Studies, discuss their new book, “Taking Stock of Shock.”

From Omnia

Lost and found: The art of translation
Abstract painting of books, writing utensils, flowers, and decorative brush strokes.

Lost and found: The art of translation

For faculty in the School of Arts & Sciences, translation is an art that allows us to communicate across cultural difference.

From Omnia