Pomona College View Book [pdf]

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Pomona offers international study programs on six continents. (Sorry, nothing in Antarctica...)
FRANCE
Paris, Montpellier
ITALY
Florence, Rome
SPAIN
Madrid, Salamanca
DOMINICAN
REPUBLIC
Santo Domingo
MEXICO
Merida
CUBA
Havana
COSTA RICA
Monteverde (Biology)
ECUADOR
Quito (Culture, Ecology)
BRAZIL
Fortaleza
ARGENTINA
Buenos Aires
IRELAND
Cork
CHILE
Santiago
ENGLAND
Cambridge, London (Drama,
Molecular Biology,
Neuroscience)
SENEGAL
Dakar
SCOTLAND
Edinburgh
MOROCCO
Rabat
GERMANY
Berlin, Freiburg
CAMEROON
Yaoundé
CZECH
REPUBLIC
Prague
SOUTH
AFRICA
Cape Town
www.pomona.edu/admissions
HUNGARY
Budapest
KENYA
Mombasa
RUSSIA
Moscow, St. Petersburg,
Vladimir
GREECE
Athens
CHINA
Beijing, Hangzhou,
Hong Kong
JAPAN
Kyoto, Tokyo
TAIWAN
Taipei
NEPAL
Kathmandu
ISRAEL
Jerusalem
JORDAN
Amman
AUSTRALIA
Townsville (Tropical
Biology), Melbourne
NEW ZEALAND
Auckland, Christchurch
TheBorg
INTERNATIONAL LIVING
Satellite televisions broadcast news from stations around the
world. A poster of Run, Lola, Run (in German), a set of lucky
ceramic kittens from China, Russian magazines and other foreign
books, photos and collectibles line hallway walls and bookcases in
the lounges. And, if it’s Tuesday, it must be Farsi. The Oldenborg
Center for Modern Languages and International Relations not only
has six language halls, but also hosts about 300 activities each
year, including daily language lunch tables, an international
speaker series and a model Arab League. The Center also offers
free language tutoring and travel grants for Pomona students to do
international research for a senior thesis or project.
Each hall has a language resident—a native speaker who
lives with and mentors the students and organizes study breaks,
cultural activities and other programming. “The residents try to
come up with ways to immerse students in the language,” says
Director Rita Bashaw. “It might be making Mexican treats for Day
of the Dead, playing Pictionary in French or going to the Japanese
Museum in Los Angeles.”
Another opportunity for language immersion takes place at
lunch at the language tables, where—depending on demand—
25 to 30 different languages, ranging from Hebrew to Swahili and
Greek, are spoken. No English is allowed, but Wednesdays have
special tables for beginners.
“We don’t ever have hamburgers,” says Bashaw. “There’s
always a little twist. If we have a speaker that day we might try to
serve something related—a Persian dessert or a Korean cucumber
salad. The menu for a lunch during Ramadan was very traditional.
We consulted with a few people and went out to find special spices
and bought 30 cans of mango puree and 50 lbs. of halal chicken.
People lined up for that one.”
With its rambling hallways, Oldenborg—sometimes known
as “the Borg”—is rumored to have been the inspiration for the
maze-like Borg vessels on Star Trek: The Next Generation (it’s not
too far-fetched—one of the producers lived in an Oldenborg
language hall as a sophomore).
A Recent Oldenborg
Language Table Schedule
Mon.
Chinese
French
German
Japanese
Russian
Spanish
Arabic
Armenian
Hungarian
Tues.
Chinese
French
German
Japanese
Russian
Spanish
Hindi/Urdu
Persian
Polish
Wed.
Chinese
French
German
Japanese
Russian
Spanish
Italian
Dutch
Swedish
Beginner
tables
in the
6 main
languages
Thurs.
Chinese
French
German
Japanese
Russian
Spanish
Vietnamese
Italian
Portuguese
Thai
Cantonese
Fri.
Chinese
French
German
Japanese
Russian
Spanish
Korean
Swedish
Indonesian
Intermed.
Chinese
Hebrew
Turkish
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