It is my pleasure to introduce 2016-18 LTS student Sean Brennan. Sean is one of the many students who have pursued concurrent MA degrees in LTS and East Asian Languages and Literatures (EALL).
Hi Sean! Please tell the world a little bit about yourself.
Sean at one of his art gallery shows.
I’m a Kentucky native, but my interest in Chinese carried me away from there to spend a good chunk of my twenties studying in China, and eventually here in Oregon. I remember when I was a kid, I was fascinated by the idea that different people had different ways of speaking and writing, and longed to study foreign language. In high school, I was finally able to study my first foreign language which happened to be German. I enjoyed studying German, but it was only once I was able to study Chinese as an undergraduate that I truly fell in love with another language, and I’ve never looked back. Outside of school, art and in particular, painting, has been one of my life-long passions and I’ve been fortunate to have a couple gallery shows since I moved to Eugene.
You are quite the jack of all trades! So how did you end up in the LTS program?
I believe I first heard about it from the instructor for my Chinese linguistics course here at UO.
What has been your focus in the program?
In participating in this program, my aim has been to gain the tools and knowledge to effectively utilize my experiences learning Chinese as a second language to inform my teaching of the language. I believe my project represents a culmination of this effort, as it addresses a specific need of Chinese learners that’s not accounted for in current curriculum—bridging the gap between English reading and Chinese reading—which I recognized as a problem from my own experiences.
Sounds like a great project! And you mentioned you are a GE (graduate employee) for Japanese literature, how’s that experience been?
It’s been going great. While I’m normally a GE for the Chinese department, teaching in the Japanese department is always a refreshing change of pace, and through the works we read, I get to see the cultural and linguistic exchanges between the two countries throughout history.
Sean presenting at the LTS poster session.
Are you excited to start working on your MA project?
Yes, I really feel good about my project. I’ve received some really positive feedback from Chinese department faculty about the idea, and I think it’s possible it may lead to some serious consideration for adding a Chinese extensive reading course to the curriculum.
Thanks so much for taking the time for this interview! Best of luck in the completion of the program!