CHaSS charters a new building

On Oct. 11 at 2 p.m., the Mehdi Heravi Global Teaching and Learning Center will open at

Utah State University’s Logan Campus, on the Quad. After its opening, a party will occur.

The festivities includes multiple speakers, a blessing ceremony, food and music, as well as thanking the various donors of the building.

The building is planned to house the Department of World Languages and Cultures.

Among its amenities and resources, are what are dubbed cultural hubs, areas that are associated with the different languages offered at USU.

 “These cultural hubs are rooms that have lots of different resources to support students in engaging in their languages and learning about their culture associated with this language,” said Rebecca Walton, the executive associate dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. “Each of the cultural hubs will have a mini fridge, because food is such an important part of culture. They’ll have big monitors that can be used for lots of different things, like for example, watching movies or other sorts of media in that language. Perhaps for Zooming with groups of other students who are heritage speakers in a country that speaks the language that students here are studying.”

These hubs are also designed to be comfortable settings, where the aim is for students to be able to practice with fellow students in the language they are studying, as well as for being storage areas for a variety of resources for those learning that hub’s language. In addition, the language clubs are also strongly encouraged to use these hubs as well according to Walton.

“They’re designed to support several different kinds of engagement amongst students,” said Walton. However, the cultural hubs aren’t the only amenity offered. “Along with this is going to be a translation center, and interpretation,” said assistant professor Elsa Perez, who also works as a translator and interpreter for the department of World Languages and cultures. “The purpose of this translation center will be to be a place for students to practice their translation skills. The interpretation lab will serve to reinforce the skills as far as medical interpreting and court interpreting.”

A specialized area for translating and interpreting is being created as well, complete with a translation booth. Here, translation and interpreting services are offered to students and faculty At the moment now, the only language being providedis Spanish, but there are plans to expand to other languages.

Furthermore, proficiency certificates can be acquired through the translation center. At the moment, there are two certificates available, medical interpreting and translation, and business and legal translation and interpretation. Both certificates are 16 credits.These certificates are also open for the broader Logan community.

“We are offering those classes to the community for free, which is usually a certificate that willcost around $700,” Perez said. “Right now, we have around 100 individuals that have been trained.”

This program already has plans for expansion to other campuses, as well as offering courses in other areas. These include Navajo at Blanding, Spanish at Moab, and a Russian course in the Salt Lake Area due to Ukrainian immigration. “With these two certificates, we believe it’s going to better equip the students to have a more practical way of using the language to just to have a minor,” Perez said.

In addition, there are plans in motion for the creation of a degree in translation and interpreting, which at the time of writing is in the final stages of getting approval. This decision was made in part because there has been a demand for translators and interpreters. “The Bachelor’s itself kind of has two different tracks,” said Jared Colton, the associate dean of the CHaSS. “You can either go down the legal route or you could go down the healthcare route.”

A reflection room, a quiet place for meditation, prayer or just for reduced stimulation, will also be available. This reflection room will be open for all.

A major reason for the new building is to give better opportunities for students learning foreign languages. “Utah is a major leader in our nation in language study,” Walton said. “So it’s really important for the land-grant university of the state to offer top- quality resources to students who want to study other languages and cultures.”