A new term is beginning – for the new arrivals as well as for the returning students and staff. New acquaintances will be made, new faces will become familiar, and old faces will gain new features. There are many new teachers in the staff, who will inevitably bring new ideas with them. We look forward to that, too.
New courses will start, and new types of collaboration between departments will grow during the term. This is instigated especially by the introduction of a new type of syllabus in the Master’s studies, consisting of four study paths: Language Learning and Teaching Path, Translation and Interpreting Path, Language Specialist Path and Researcher Path (see the blog text of 7 March 2014). Nobody knows for sure what lies in future but I am confident that the result is something good and beneficial, worth all the while that was spent in creating the system.
With all these new aspects and people, at least one thing remains the same. That is the warm, lackadaisical yet academic atmosphere of the English Department. While we aim high in teaching and research, we do not forget the light side of life. And that is brought on board by all of you.
“It’s a very good thing, really. I’ll be seeing lots of new things, a lot of new creatures.” (Kurt Vonnegut, The Sirens of Titan, 1959)
Joel Kuortti
Professor, Head of English Department
Head of School of Languages and Translation studies
Turku humanists.
Photo by Joel Kuortti