This semester, George Mason University is giving its students another set of tools to use in their pursuit for a global education: new foreign languages. The Department of Modern and Classical Languages is offering introductory classes in Persian, Turkish and Portuguese, presenting students with the opportunity to learn languages never before offered at Mason.
As part of Mason’s Quality Enhancement Plan, an initiative aimed at improving student scholarship, research and coursework, the Department of Modern and Classical Languages decided to add more languages to the curriculum. The three selected languages are central to research that students and faculty are conducting at the university.
All three courses are offered on a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule from 9:30-11:20 a.m.
Golnesa Asheghali, earning her MA in interdisciplinary studies (concentrating on Shi’ite studies) at Mason, is the instructor for PERS 110: Elementary Persian. Asheghali is the program coordinator for the Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies at Mason. She also received a BA in history (’07) and a BA in religious studies (’08). Her primary research language, studying Shi’ism and Sufism as a graduate student, is Persian.
“Learning the Persian language is a key part of understanding Iranian culture and we live in a time where this kind of understanding is more critical than ever,” Asheghali said. “Studying Persian language can be a method of reducing or bridging the gap that has been created between cultures and peoples. And of course it goes without saying, Persian is the language of some of the greatest poets and mystics of all time.”
Veliye Ay, working toward her MA in world history at Mason, is the instructor for TURK 110: Elementary Turkish. Ay was born and raised in Turkey, and earned a BA in Turkish language and literature from Mimar Sinan University and an MA in classical Turkish literature from Marmara University, both in Istanbul. She taught Turkish before coming to the United States for graduate studies. Her research interests include the history of the Turkish language, classical poetry and women’s education during the reign of the Ottoman Empire.
“The Turkish language is spoken in a wide range of areas stretching from Eastern Europe to the Middle East and Asia,” Ay said. “Learning Turkish will not only enrich students’ intellectual life by having a depth of understanding in Turkish culture, art, music, and Muslim religion, it will also open a different dimension of career opportunities.”
New instructor Tatiana Queenan is teaching PORT 110: Elementary Portuguese. After graduating with her bachelor’s degree in Brazil, she taught Portuguese language and Portuguese/Brazilian literature in high school there. She received language-teaching certification in the United States, and is currently working on a second bachelor’s degree in linguistics. She is earning her master’s degree in adult education at Strayer University, and she teaches Portuguese for both the Fairfax County adult education program, ACE, and the International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C.
“More and more, the Portuguese language is becoming a desirable learning experience,” she said. “Some want to learn the language to explore Brazilian culture, others may have investment ideas, while still others raised outside of Brazil want to keep in touch with family roots. Portuguese has also become an important language in the last decade due to the unprecedented boom in Brazil’s economy. International business recognizes this and investments have flooded the country.”
Brazil’s economy will receive a major jolt in a few years, as the country is set to host the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Julie Christensen, chair of the Department of Modern and Classical Languages, said the three new languages could provide students with very strong resumes.
“There is great interest in and demand for students with foreign language skills,” she said.
September 14, 2011
