French and Italian Professor John Rassias will be instructing French professors and faculty members from Historically Black Colleges and Universities about his acclaimed method for teaching about language and culture in a 12-day seminar this summer.
The seminar, which is titled, "The Pedagogy of Language and Francophone Literature and Culture," will be held at Dartmouth from July 9 to 21. CitiCorp will completely fund the program on behalf of Citibank.
Rassias said he will invite 117 faculty members from across the country to the program, and he hopes that at least 12 schools from the Historically Black Colleges and Universities will participate.
The Historically Black Colleges and Universities include 117 schools founded before 1964 which have historically aimed to educate black Americans.
The program will consist of an orientation phase and then day-long class sessions. During the orientation phase, Rassias will explain the educational theories behind the Rassias Method, philosophical concepts of education and dramatic techniques for improving teaching.
Rassias said his method involves immersion in the language and culture in a dramatic, involving, yet relaxed environment. It calls for a student's full participation in an "error-free" atmosphere "where no one is ever wrong," he said.
Each morning, this summer's seminar attendees will study methods for teaching the French language. Professors will learn how language and culture instruction can blend in the classroom, how to pace a class and make comparisons with different instructional styles.
Afternoon classes are set aside for the study of Francophone novels, drama, essays, poetry, films and cultures like North Africa, West Africa, Southeast Asia, the Caribbean and Canada.
Rassias said he has been planning the seminar for several years and is happy to finally host it this summer.
Rassias said he chose to hold the seminar for Historically Black Colleges and Universities so that a more diverse set of schools can be exposed to his language-teaching method.
Rassias said over 600 colleges and universities across the world currently use his method, and he has trained thousands of teachers in this method.
Citibank will provide a currently unspecified grant that will cover all of the seminar's expenses including travel, room and board, instructional material and fees.
Peter Thorp, who coordinates corporate university relations and educational programs for Citibank, said Citibank agreed to sponsor this program because of its uniqueness.
"Had this been a standard kind of approach, the odds are that we would not have paid attention to it," he said, since Citibank receives about 15 such ideas a day.
"Citibank knows that what John Rassias does is nothing short of outstanding," he said.
Thorp said Citibank worked with Rassias a few years ago when it sponsored Spanish and Portuguese speakers at Dartmouth, and Citibank found the Rassias Method's effectiveness "absolutely outstanding."
Faculty from Historically Black Colleges and Universities must apply to attend the seminar. The application process is rolling, but May 15 is the last day on which Rassias and a board will consider application submissions.
A faculty review board will select the candidates on the basis of who will benefit most from the experience.
The seminar is a project of the Rassias Foundation, a networking organization which seeks to revitalize foreign language education beyond Dartmouth.
