The Shared Course Initiative uses high-definition videoconferencing to connect language classrooms at Cornell, Columbia, and Yale. By sharing instruction across three sites, the SCI increases the number of languages available at each university. Listen to the language center directors of these three universities (Columbia’s Stephane Charitos, Yale’s Nelleke Van Deusen-Scholl, and your host, Angelika Kraemer) discuss the SCI and what it takes to make this cross-institutional collaboration work.
Tag: Columbia
S1E8 – Adeolu Ademoyo – Storytelling Across Sites
Last week, Dick Feldman and Chris Kaiser talked about the benefits of a distance-learning program that can unite learners of a less-commonly taught language across locations. Today, Dick speaks with Adeolu Ademoyo, who is approaching fifteen years of teaching Yoruba at Cornell University, as well as to students at Columbia and Brown via videoconference. An experienced and adventurous instructor in the distance-learning environment, Adeolu discusses his creative methods for unifying his multi-site classes, as well as his philosophy on using storytelling and narrative to teach language.
Adeolu Ademoyo is a senior lecturer in Yoruba language and culture at Cornell. His research interests include: African Philosophy: Ethics, Epistemology and Aesthetics, the locus of African Languages in delineating met-ethical concepts in African moral discourse, gender issues, and family and social structures.
S1E7 – Christopher Kaiser – Distance Learning for Less Commonly Taught Languages
In this episode, Cornell LRC director Dick Feldman speaks with Christopher Kaiser of Columbia University. Chris is the Program Manager of the Shared Course Initiative, which connects less commonly taught language classrooms at Columbia, Cornell, and Yale using high-definition videoconferencing. The two discuss the challenges and advantages of offering these classes, and reflect on lessons learned over more than half a decade of building a collaborative distance-learning program for less-commonly taught languages.
The Shared Course Initiative (SCI) was established through the generous support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The SCI is a collaborative framework that uses innovative technology to share academic resources across institutional boundaries, enabling strategic partners to enrich existing curricula while respecting local institutional cultures.
Chris Kaiser’s areas of interest include second language pedagogy, distance learning, presence in the distance environment, inter-institutional collaboration, and language-learning advocacy.
For more information on Chris and the SCI, visit sharedcourseinitiative.org.
Speaking of Language 