Photo essays: U.S. Capitol and the U.S. Botanic Garden

Students in the National Capital Region recently toured the U.S. Capitol and the Botanic Garden. Talah AlSecait and Shahad Nagoor, two students in professor Christine Bobal's RW500 class, took photos during the trip and later added captions.
 

A cacao tree with its suspended fruits. It seems that some are more mature than the others. I thought it was a lemon tree when I saw it first. However, it is a wonderful thing that these fruits are the beans from which chocolate is created.

One of America’s symbols of freedom. It seems to be a perfect dome structure. I wish we were able to see some of the parts that need restoration. I wonder if there is any relation between the words freedom and dome?

All scenes in the Botanic Garden are amazing and make you feel comfortable and relaxed. While I was walking, I stopped suddenly when I smelled a special smell -- a scent that is different from the smell of flowers and plants. When I saw this picture, I recognized the source. It came from the homeland!

The crypt room in the Capitol is full of columns. It was built for burying the remains of George Washington. He isn't buried there because he preferred to be buried at his home, according to his will. The crypt room has 13 statues representing the 13 original states.

Out of Many, One: The United States Capitol Building is a place where laws are made, taxes are gathered, and war is declared (if needed). It’s the place where American citizens can find a common ground. The Capitol was designed by Dr. William Thornton in 1793 and was supposed to be completed by 1800, yet it went through three stages: 1800, 1807, and by 1826 all of its wings were completed.

The Beginning: This hall is the where the tour actually begins at the Capitol. In this room, there are many columns to support the dome and the Statue of Freedom, which has been on the top of the Capitol since 1863, while the citizens of United States were struggling from the Civil War. It was also meant to be a resting area for the president back in the 1800s.

The Rotunda: The Rotunda is a very specious hall at the center of the Capitol where most of the funeral/honoring ceremonies have been held since Abraham Lincoln’s presidency. The funeral for Daniel Inouye, a senator from Ohio, and Rosa Parks honoring ceremony were the last two ceremonies held at this hall. In the Rotunda, there are eight different paintings. One of them is about the time when the Americans requested independence from the British.

National Statuary Hall: This hall has a large number of statues of America’s most extraordinary citizens. All statues were contributed by state governments. This big number of statues makes the visitor wonder about the reason behind the statues' colors – brown or white. We were told those colors are determined by a specific committee at the Capitol and can’t be changed. This hall also has the “Whisper Spot,” where you can hear someone’s voice from the other end of the hall but not the middle or anywhere else.

LCI partners with Radford University to open new center

Virginia Tech has partnered with Radford University to establish the Language and Culture Institute at Radford University.

The collaboration combines the 40 years of experience the Virginia Tech Language and Culture Institute has in providing English language programs and the unique academic opportunities available at Radford.

Operated by the Virginia Tech Language and Culture Institute, the new center will provide instruction in English language and academic study skills geared toward international students while also facilitating intercultural understanding and offering support and guidance on nonacademic issues. The institute is scheduled to open in March.

Read more here.

A visit to the Castle of Portraits

 

Generations of remarkable Americans are kept in the company of their fellow citizens at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.

 The following is a guest post by Hanaa Ashqar, a 550 student from Northern Virginia.

Since I arrived in the U.S. last year, museums have become my passion. I appreciate the generosity of the Smithsonian Institution to offer us, art lovers, this unique opportunity to enjoy our time and enthusiasm for art. It was not my first visit to the art wonder palace -- that is, the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. I have visited the gallery many times, but this time differed in many ways. Previously, as Virginia Tech students, we had visited so many beautiful places in the nation’s capital in which we both expanded our knowledge and enjoyed ourselves.

As usual, the visit to the National Portrait Gallery was organized by Virginia Tech instructors who were kind enough to assist us in many educational field trips. When we first reached the huge white Greek Revival building, we were astonished by its wide porch and boardwalks. Inside the building, we were charmed by the enormous arched galleries and white marble corridors. After we were grouped in the grand sunshade courtyard café, we were escorted by three curators who explained the details of some of the portraits and paintings. The curators were knowledgeable enough to answer all of our questions and interests about certain artists and works.

During our tour of the museum, we tried to cover the most distinguishable galleries. First, we stopped at the Twentieth-Century American Art gallery which was on the third floor. In this gallery, we saw more than 50 portraits of the most acknowledged American figures of the 20th century in major fields such as politics, science and culture. Then, we descended to the second floor where the Struggle for Justice Gallery is located. This exhibition features several artworks including paintings, photographs, posters and sculptures of civil rights leaders.

In a separate hall, there was a recognizable exhibit named One Life, which is dedicated to the civil right leader Martin Luther King Jr. We were attracted by a particular portrait of the African-American leader as a cover page for the well-known Time magazine. The portrait displayed a painting of MLK as an important icon of the modern civil rights movement in America. Inspired by his movement, a shadow represents Rosa Parks, the trigger of the Montgomery bus boycott, shown in the back of the portrait. This particular portrait had a unique influence on me because it represents three most recognizable icons of the American culture.

Finally, we reached the heart of the museum where the America’s Presidents Portrait Gallery is located. This exhibit is the only complete collection of presidential portraits outside of the White House. Additionally, there are portraits of important people who contributed to the establishment of the country and influenced its history. The main portrait at the entrance of the hall is a painting of George Washington, also called the Father of the Nation.

The National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., is an exceptional place where visitors can enhance their knowledge and spend remarkable moments within its valuable collections. At the end of our tour, we thanked the amazing curators who mentored us during this trip with a promise to revisit the gallery to explore its noteworthy possessions of individuals’ portraits who formed the American culture.

Read more about the LCI's new assistant director

Daniel Gerbatch has been named assistant director for admissions and recruitment at the Language and Culture Institute.

In the newly created position, Daniel will be responsible for administering and coordinating the conditional admission program for the institute. Through this program, students who otherwise meet Virginia Tech admission requirements but do not meet the minimum English language requirements and may not yet have taken the SAT are offered conditional admission status at the university pending their successful completion of English and test requirements.

Find out more about Daniel on the VT News site.

LCI hosts director of the British Council in the U.S.

Paul Smith (center) talks with Virginia Tech graduate students Chris Price (left) and Sabith Khan (right).

Paul Smith, the director of the British Council in the United States, met with Virginia Tech students and faculty on Tuesday during a daylong tour of the campus. His visit was hosted by the Language and Culture Institute and the Institute for Policy and Governance.

Smith, who has served with the British Council since 1983, was director of the organization’s operations in Egypt from 2005 to 2010. From 2010 to 2012, he was director in Afghanistan and cultural counselor at the British Embassy in Kabul.

“Paul Smith has more than three decades’ experience with the British Council, with postings everywhere from Afghanistan and Egypt to India New Zealand,” said Don Back, director of the Language and Culture Institute. “I was honored to introduce him to some of our brilliant students and faculty at Virginia Tech and to give them the chance to meet and talk with someone of Paul’s stature.”

The British Council was founded in 1934 and incorporated by Royal Charter in 1940. It is the United Kingdom's international organization for educational opportunities and cultural relations. The organization works in more than 100 countries to promote the exchange of knowledge and ideas, and to strengthen links that result in mutual benefits between the United Kingdom and other countries. Its mission is to create opportunities to improve cultural relations between the people of Great Britain and other nations.

LCI Director Don Back (right) walks with Smith (center) and Scott Weimer, director of Virginia Tech Continuing and Professional Education. Photo by Chris Price.

Smith’s visit to Virginia Tech included a tour of the campus and Ware Lab, a radio interview for Community Voices, a graduate student forum at the Institute for Policy and Governance, lunch with University Honors faculty and students, and a visit to an undergraduate political science class taught by Charles Taylor during which Smith spoke on the current state of the U.K. parliament. He also met with Carol Mullen, director of the School of Education, professor Joan Hirt, and professor emeritus Josiah Tlou, representing the Center for Research and Development in International Education.

"This exemplary activist on the world stage is bringing illumination to international education and interdisciplinary work by pursuing new multidisciplinary initiatives that forge deeper relations between the USA and UK and with other countries," Mullen said. "One of his aspirations is to give the arts and humanities a platform for contributing to the real-world problems of the day and through the hard sciences. He is a very eloquent speaker whose breadth of knowledge and depth of experience is a marvel. We are interested in working with him on any initiatives for which Virginia Tech, known for its multidisciplinary integration of the arts and sciences, can be a keen player."

Sabith Khan, a graduate student in planning, governance and globalization, said he enjoyed learning from Smith's rich experiences.

“His experiences in the Arab world and South Asia spoke to me, as these regions are at the heart of much cultural relations taking place and my own research," Khan said. "He seems to be an astute observer of human nature and also a kind person and therefore had many interesting anecdotes to share. Overall, I came away with a much better understanding of the work that British Council does.”

“He had a wonderful visit,” Back said. “He was so impressed with all the students and faculty members he met – so much so that he invited a number of us to attend the British Council’s conference for leaders of international education next spring in Miami. We’ll definitely be keeping in touch.”

See photos from the summer graduation ceremony

Click below to see a slide show from the summer 2013 graduation ceremony, held Aug. 16.

2013 Humphrey Fellowship graduation photos