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Students in the News: Fall 2009
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Adjunct Professor Mercedes Stephenson with her beginning Spanish class, The class saw "Hooked," shown during the 2009
St. Louis International Film Festival. |
Dinner at El Maguey followed the movie. The class outing received support from Webster's Academic Affairs office. |
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 Arts & Sciences congratulates German and pre-architecture major Brijhette Farmer, who has been awarded a $5,000 Gilman Scholarship for study in Germany in spring 2010. The Department of State-directed program offers scholarships for students who have traditionally been underserved in education abroad.
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| Student volunteers Zach Otte, Lucy Doughtery, and Olive Mukabalisa |
It was a beautiful Sunday in October and homecoming weekend to boot. But that didn’t stop student volunteers from spending the afternoon in the Emerson Library computer room. Their mission: to complete research requested by UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women Rashida Manjoo, Webster’s 2009 Des Lee Visiting Professor for Global Awareness.
Students reviewed individual country reports and researched and analyzed actions taken by individual governments and the international community.
Phyllis Hamilton, special assistant to A&S Dean David Carl Wilson, supervised the activity as well as the pizza party that followed.
Although individual countries sometimes do not respond to charges made by the UN Special Rapporteur, Hamilton said the International Criminal Court has opened up several investigations concerning violence against women. For example, she said two generals involved in the conflict in the Congo were indicted by the ICC and are now awaiting trial in The Hague.
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| Amelia Shekar, left, and teacher Jessika Miekeley with a young German student |
German majors Monika Hasanbasic and Amelia Shekar are sharing their German expertise this semester with children attending the German School Association of St. Louis’ Saturday classes at Abiding Savior Lutheran School. Both students say helping youngsters learn German has been rewarding.
“It makes me less nervous to speak German,” said Amelia. “It’s fun. We play games and crafts, and they really like learning German.
“I’ve never really worked with children before,” Monika added, “and this is giving me experience for my student teaching and practicum.”
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| Teacher Gisela Baner supervises Monika Hasanbasic as she explains German pronouns. |
Carmen Freeman, the school’s principal, praised the partnership. “For the last three years, we have had interns from Webster University in our classrooms, and our teachers have enjoyed working with them. We appreciate the interns’ participation and enthusiasm in the classroom, and we are very happy with this mutually beneficial relationship.”
Paula Hanssen, assistant professor of German and chair of the Department of International Languages and Cultures, said the internship program is an excellent fit with Webster's mission to promote lifelong learning.
According to Hanssen, "The internship at the German Saturday School provides the opportunity for our students to use what they've learned about the German language, to connect with the community, and to reflect on their experiences with German and the community in a meaningful way."
-------------------------------------------------------------------- To the delight of those sampling the results, Culinary Art of Thailand (ILC 2150.03/ISTL 2550.03) students demonstrated Thai cooking in Sunnen Lounge on three Fridays in November.
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| Tom Cline, right, serves food at a recent Thai cooking demonstration. |
Instructor Yupa Saisanan Na Ayudhya said the event was well-received.
“People to whom I spoke thought it was a smart, experiential learning activity for cross-cultural understanding,” she said. Ayudhya said others commented that it was a great way “to create awareness of food alternatives that are fresh, tasty, and healthy.”
Student Tom Cline said the class has helped make him more conscientious about food choices. "Rather than an actual cooking class, this was more about the issues of the food we eat and differences in Thai and American culture," he said.
Cline added that he'd like to delve more deeply into Thai cooking. "I definitely need more practice with the cuisine aspect," he said.
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| A student from the Vienna campus samples food from ancient Rome. |
The Multicultural Center/International student Association co-sponsored the demonstration, which is being dubbed the November Thai Food Fest.
In like fashion, students of GNST 2004 (European Culinary History) invited the whole Webster Vienna campus to a Roman Banquet earlier in the semester. All recipes dated back to the Roman empire.
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“Mother, should I trust the government?” and “Be the change you want to see in the world” were two of the many messages scrawled on a Berlin Wall replica in the University Center in November.
A project initiated by Assistant Professor of German Paula Hanssen and students, the replica commemorated the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
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| Madeline Brenner's award-winning photo |
A photograph by Madeline Brenner, a sophomore majoring in art with a Spanish minor, has received a first place award in the 2009 St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s 100 Neediest Cases campaign. Madeline's winning photo appeared in the Nov. 18 issue of the Post.
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