Alcorn concludes its annual Summer Russian Language Institute
For sophomore and agriculture education major Iesha Jackson, exploring new languages is like entering into a new dimension.
“Learning a foreign language is like opening a door to another world,” said Jackson who completed a course of Russian language at the University’s 2014 Summer Language Institute. “I’ve always had an interest in foreign languages and other countries and gladly took an opportunity offered by Alcorn to learn Russian for free. It is a challenging language but I enjoyed my classes so much and learned a lot.”
The Institute, held from July 7 to August 8, was sponsored by the Title III project Center for Undergraduate Experiential Learning. The Offices of Global Programs and Pre-professional and Honors Curriculum Program spearheaded the project. For the seventh year in a row, Alcorn has provided a free opportunity to its students, faculty and staff to broaden their horizons and acquire international experiences by learning the basics of Russian language and culture. Liudmila Dobrynina, a visiting instructor from Voronezh State University in Voronezh, Russia, taught the class.
“This is an important initiative in Alcorn’s internationalization efforts,” stated Dr. Dovi Alipoe, Global Programs director. “Russian language is one of the U.S. Department of State’s critical need languages and we are elated to offer this opportunity to our students to prepare for study abroad and to faculty — for travel and research abroad.”
Dr. LaShawn Thompson, assistant professor of psychology in the Department of Education and Psychology, said, “We are thankful to Alcorn for providing such a great experience not only for its students but to the employees as well. For me, it was very important to broaden my knowledge of other cultures to become a more effective teacher and mentor.”
Alicia Graves, a first-year graduate student in the computer science program, shared, “I made a lot of progress and I am determined to continue studying the language. I hope that the Summer Language Institute continues next year. I would like to speak the language fluently and get a study abroad experience under my belt, as I am interested in entering a Ph.D. program in international development and they require foreign languages and international experience.”
The five-week Institute concluded with a closing program where the students demonstrated their skills acquired during the course of study. They also sampled Russian home cooking.
For more information on the Institute and study abroad program, call (601) 877-6533 or email [email protected].
