CLIC hosts first poster presentation colloquium — in Spanish

Spanish @ Rice Colloquium asks and answers important questions en Español

The first-floor corridor of Rayzor Hall was filled with posters, presentations and preguntas April 4 as the Center for Languages and Intercultural Communication (CLIC) hosted its first Spanish @ Rice Colloquium.

Third-year Spanish students gave their poster presentations on a variety of issues, including the hunger crisis in Venezuela.

Throughout their courses this semester, third-year Spanish students identified a range of problems — from hyperinflation in Venezuela to the health consequences of sleeplessness in college student populations — and researched potential solutions. Students then presented their findings entirely in Spanish to crowds of their CLIC classmates and other students and faculty from across other departments in the School of Humanities.

“I think the idea of helping students to talk about their field of study or their academic interests in the foreign language is really an amazing opportunity for the students,” said Hélade Scutti Santos, director of language instruction for CLIC.

The students felt the same way, reported CLIC associate director Luziris Pineda Turi, who formulated the idea for an all-Español poster presentation with colleague Charla Bennaji, a CLIC lecturer in Spanish.

“At the end, some students came up to me and said that having a special event for final presentations was much better than just spending two or three days in class watching their classmates present,” Turi said.

The poster presentations packed over 50 students into Rayzor Hall’s first floor corridor.

Baker College sophomore Ali Beardslee was one of those students.

“I really enjoyed participating in the event because it allowed me to expand my Spanish skills by applying them to topics that we don’t often talk about in class, both through my own presentation and in listening to the other students’ presentations,” said Beardslee, who’s studying political science.

Wiess College sophomore Christian Hulkow, who’s studying engineering, credited the colloquium with bringing something entirely new to the foreign language classroom.

“It was an opportunity to experience a side of the Spanish language that many don’t get to experience even in their own language: the academic side.”

More than 50 students turned out for this year’s colloquium, a number Turi and Bennaji hope to increase as they grow the event and incorporate even more Spanish classes in the future, especially specialized courses such as Spanish for Medical Professionals.

“I think we can safely say that (the) idea has potential,” Turi said.