Celebrating Languages and Cakes from Around the Globe sliddell@colgate.edu Fri, 11/15/2024 - 14:51 On Oct. 28, Colgate University’s W. M. Keck Center for Language Study was standing room only as students and faculty gathered for the “Double Your World” and “Cake Night” mixer, an event designed to encourage students to explore the connections between language studies and other academic fields. Co-hosted with Colgate’s Division of Arts and Humanities, the event attracted students from all majors and class years. Hovering around the cake table, students had the opportunity to share their academic passions while also sampling cakes from around the world — each baked and presented by one of Colgate’s eight international language interns. The mixer showcased how students at Colgate are “doubling their world” by embracing double majors that combine language studies with disciplines like natural sciences, math, and social sciences. In addition to helping students consider the range of language courses offered for the spring semester, faculty members spoke about the transformative role of language in broadening perspectives and professional opportunities. Senior Lecturer in University Studies Aleksandr Sklyar ’10 shared how a simple calendar problem during his sophomore year at Colgate sparked his lifelong passion for language. “As a student here, I was dead set on studying Hebrew but settled on Japanese due to a scheduling conflict with a history course I wanted to take,” Sklyar explained. “That choice, by chance, changed my path, and now I teach courses in both Japanese and Russian here at Colgate. Serendipitous moments like these can lead to new paths, and I hope you meet others tonight who inspire and open up new worlds for you as they did for me.” Similarly, Ben Horner ’25 and Anneliese Coleman ’27 shared how Japanese and Russian, respectively, have enriched their studies in physics, allowing them to approach scientific ideas through a cross-cultural lens. Horner reflected on the impact language has on collaboration in STEM. “In the sciences,” he said, “you can be a great researcher, but in the end, it’s all about effectively communicating with others and understanding what they want to communicate back to you.” Since beginning Japanese during his sophomore year, Horner credits the language with helping him to connect with other researchers on a deeper level. The annual “Cake Center” event, held for the first time alongside the mixer, added an extra layer of excitement — and sweetness — to the evening. International language interns prepared cakes from their home countries, each one a distinctive culinary introduction to a different culture. Laughter and conversation filled the room as attendees tried treats from Venezuela, Japan, Egypt, and more. Interns took turns introducing their cakes, sharing stories of family recipes and favorite cultural flavors, and, in some cases, acknowledging their culinary mishaps. “It seems making a traditional Chinese cake is just as difficult as learning Chinese,” joked Chinese language intern Joanna Qiao. Whether it was Kotomi Shimizu’s traditional Japanese daifuku or Alessandro Muzzi’s Italian apple cake that “didn’t turn out as planned,” the event offered a taste of international language, cuisine, and camaraderie to all. Academics Arts and Humanities Alumni News and Updates Faculty & Staff Student Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures Romance Languages and Literatures Russian and Eurasian Studies Program Department of the Classics Department of German Jewish Studies Program Program in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies

Levine Concludes Road to the White House Series omiller1@colgate.edu Tue, 11/12/2024 - 14:53 On Monday, Nov. 4 — the night before the U.S. Presidential Election — Colgate welcomed Peter Levine to close the 2024 Road to the White House Series, which featured various political voices to encourage civic engagement and civil discussion among Colgate community members during the 2024 presidential campaign. Levine is associate dean of academic affairs and Lincoln Filene Professor of citizenship and public affairs at Tufts University’s Jonathan Tisch College of Civic Life. Despite the timeliness of his visit, Levine took a step back from the gravity of the current election. Instead, he chose to focus on a new framework for understanding political motivations and identities based on what he calls “idea networks.” His model of political beliefs is a more comprehensive alternative to the most common mechanism, the left-right spectrum. Rather than fitting an individual onto a political map, every individual personifies their own unique and complex political map — that is to say, an elaborate web of ideas, in which beliefs are connected and backed by explanation. Levine claimed that complexity of ideas, independent of content, is generally a positive sign; individuals with less developed idea networks may be more difficult to engage with in productive conversation. “Structures indicate how interesting or easy it is to talk to and connect with someone about issues, regardless of whether or not you agree with them,” Levine said. Levine drew five key conclusions from his proposed framework: “People are more capable of democracy than standard models suggest.” Mapping our idea networks may lead to much-needed introspection. We can evaluate and improve discussions by modeling them as networks. Large groups may be able to develop shared models.  We can use idea network models to improve understanding of public and moral opinions. As a professor, Levine is particularly interested in applying these improvements to education systems. He believes that this more comprehensive framework will open doors to improve discussion and discourse in the classroom. Students at Colgate might consider how to navigate the recent election results through Levine’s spectrum-rejecting, idea-centric approach to political identity and discourse. As polarization contributes to national disarray, Levine believes, it may be time to adopt a new attitude: one that embraces disagreement, understanding, and empathy. Levine argued that the spectrum model leads to polarization and enmity. “When we understand people as being a point in space, it leads to disappointing results.” The current political climate — in which polarization prevails — promotes disunity and prevents productive conversation. Yet the political mapping metaphor persists because it is easy, according to Levine. It allows people to say that, since their political adversaries have different views, then “they must be coming from a different place.” Although the metaphor is not completely false, it has custom validity and is reductive. As an example, Levine pointed out that Kamala Harris and J.D. Vance “actually agree about a lot of things,” yet they sit on opposite sides of the left-right spectrum. Levine considers the polarized perspective to be borderline offensive because it implies that “people are stupid and they hate each other.” Levine’s alternative suggests that political opinions are based on dialogues, communication, and relationships. Individuals have sincere reasons for their beliefs, not just rationalizations.  This lecture was co-sponsored by the Department of Political Science Kella Lecture Fund. Campus Life News and Updates Faculty & Staff Student Debate and Discourse

In honor of Colgate’s Bicentennial year, the Picker Art Gallery is hosting a special traveling exhibition, Koolanga Boodja Neh Nidjuuk (Children Looking and Listening on Country), through June 30. The post Repatriation and Reconciliation: The Carrolup Artworks Return to Colgate first appeared on Colgate University News.

Grafters X Change: Branches and Networks brought together Colgate and local community members, eco-artists, and activists to foster creative community resiliency. The post Grafters X Change Builds Community Resiliency first appeared on Colgate University News.