Peace Corps: Informal Recruiting Event September 22nd

The Russian and East European Institute hosts:

Peace Corps

For an informal information session on:

Wednesday, September 22nd
11 am – 1 pm
Ballantine Hall 565

Stop by and speak to a recruiter and returned volunteer about Peace Corps’ mission, where volunteers serve, what they do, and what opportunities are currently available. This event is open to all area studies students.

Apply now and you could be serving overseas in 2011!

Contact Laura Fonseca with questions:
800.424.8580 or lfonseca2@peacecorps.gov

Arabic Resources - al-hakawati.net

FYI: This website is completely in Arabic

http://www.al-hakawati.net/ is an online resource provided by the Arab Cultural Trust. The Trust works to preserve, promote and make Arabic language, culture, history and modernity accessible to all.

al-hakawati.net is an organized and searchable resource with over 300 Arab heritage books, stories of every level of Arabic proficiency, Arabic and English content on architecture, environment, society, religion, and much more. Best of all, everything on the site - primary resources in Arabic, shared research, biographies, etc - is all FREE.

Imagine a lesson on Egyptian Colloquial paired with an excerpt by Taha Hussein...or a lesson with cultural vocabulary augmented with a piece on Aleppo...

We invite you to explore the site, integrate it into the classroom, and perhaps make a contribution to the content, your suggestions or recent research articles. We look forward to your participation.

Please contact us at editor@al-hakawati.net for more info.

ArEg

 is a private project that aims to be the ultimate online school for standard Arabic and Egyptian dialect. We are providing rich, interactive study environment to help the user reach a level where the student can

• understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of specialisation;
• interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible without strain for either party;
• produce clear, detailed text on a wide range of subjects and explain a viewpoint on a topical issue giving the advantages and disadvantages of various options.

 

What does ArEg mean?

 

ArEg is an acronym for Arabic & Egyptian.

 

How much does it cost to use ArEg?

 

We believe that information and education should be free, this is why all our online products are free for personal use. However, to support the ArEg project, we are selling educational software products which can be used offline.

 

Looking for Real World Language Practice?

Mondokio is an international news website based out of Columbus, Ohio and the Ohio State University. Mondokio addresses the problem that one cannot properly understand an international news story through one culturally-specific perspective. In response to this, the site has introduced an innovative way of presenting international news whereby the same stories are covered by multiple perspectives from all over the world. These news articles—the primary content for the site—are translated from the native language into English. At the moment, these translations are performed by bilingual and/or 3rd - 4th year language students at OSU. The students receive credit from OSU’s Office of International Studies and the Department of Communication. We would like to introduce this internship at Indiana University Bloomington.*

Details of Internship
Students would be assigned a particular country (or countries), which corresponds to their language competency. They would translate ONE article per day, 5 days a week. On average this takes 2-3 hours per day, 10-15 hours per week. This content is then emailed to the site administrators and uploaded on a daily basis. The students’ work, therefore, can take place from anywhere there is an internet connection. That being said, Eric Wittke, the IUB coordinator, would usually hold a meeting once a week to discuss various components to the site such as media analysis, cultural aspects of the countries covered, site growth, etc.** The internship would last the entirety of Fall 2010 Semester. This is an unpaid position. We take great pride in attempting to integrate our interns goals/interests with our own, and considering our size and flexibility, we are usually able to accommodate this. To apply, students should contact Mr. Wittke with proof of their ability to receive internship credit, as well as proof of proficiency in their foreign language.

Execution
Management of the internship would be divided between Brady Calestro, the founder of Mondokio, and Eric Wittke, a Senior at IUB. However, Mr. Calestro would take full responsibility to ensure the quality of the internship experience is comparable to the organization’s successes at OSU. The initial training and introduction of Mondokio would be performed by Mr. Calestro, and Mr. Wittke will then manage the program for the remainder of the Fall 2010 Semester. For the past 3 Quarters at OSU, Mondokio has been student-run in this manner and has not encountered any major difficulties.

We strive to make this internship an enriching experience for all, and look forward to having you on board!


*For legal reasons students must receive internship credit from Indiana University to be eligible for this opportunity.
**Time and location of meetings will be arranged according to students’ schedules.

!!Important Announcement:

New FLAS Fellowships Available!!
For the 2010–11 Academic year
for study of Arabic, Modern Hebrew, Kurmanji Kurdish,
Sorani Kurdish, Turkish, Persian, Urdu, Bengali,
Dari, & Pashto
**Deadline August 18, 2010**

The Center for the Study of the Middle East and the Islamic Studies Program, Indiana University, are pleased to announce that we are now accepting applications for FLAS (Foreign Language and Area Studies) Fellowships for academic year 2010-2011.

Each year the United States Department of Education awards Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowships to universities in order to promote the training of students who intend to make their careers in college or university teaching, government service, or other employment where knowledge of foreign cultures is a prerequisite for success.

Each fellowship is tenable for the academic year and carries an estimated fixed stipend of $10,000 (undergraduate students) or $15,000 (graduate students). The fellowship also exempts graduate students from paying academic fees, and undergraduate students receive a partial tuition award.

U.S. citizens and permanent residents are eligible for FLAS fellowships. Holders of FLAS fellowships must undertake full-time study during the tenure of the award and be enrolled in formal language instruction (in the language of the award) and area or international studies courses. Applications are especially encouraged from professional school students.

Students who are already enrolled, or who have been admitted and intend to enroll, for undergraduate or graduate study at Indiana University are required to send the following materials:

1. One copy of the application for Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships;
2. One complete set of transcripts of college and university credits;
3. Two letters of recommendation (printable FLAS Reference Form); and
4. A completed Statement on Language Training and Proposed Program of Study.

Note: If you applied to another IU Center for FLAS in one of the above languages during the February 2010 competition (Inner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center or Center for the Study of Global Change), it is possible that we can reactivate your existing application without your having to complete a new one. Please let us know by e-mail if you would like us to do this.

The deadline for receipt of materials concerning the application for FLAS Fellowships is August 18, 2010. Because of the short time frame involved for this year’s awards, the committee will temporarily accept unofficial copies of transcripts and recommendations, including recommendations sent by email, for preliminary review purposes. Before any awards are finalized, however, we must receive official transcripts and recommendations (received directly from institutions and recommenders, or delivered in signed/sealed envelopes from the student’s IU home department graduate secretary).

All paper materials should be sent to FLAS Administration c/o NELC, Attn: Zaineb Istrabadi, Goodbody Hall 102, 1011 E Third St., Bloomington, IN 47401. Recommenders may email their letters to zistraba@indiana.edu.

Please visit the NELC Website to download the application and recommendation forms.