Across Ohio State's campus, you will find three art installations that the Center for Languages, Literatures and Cultures helped create to foster inclusivity and celebrate diversity. These include: University Square at 15th Avenue and High Street, the Atrium at Longaberger Alumni House, and the Ohio Union's Southwest Stairwell.
University Square: A Global Gateway to OSU Campus
The installation features “friendship” — a prominent word from the final line of “Carmen Ohio” — translated into 141 different languages and carved into granite stones. The heading of the line "How Firm Thy Friendship" is at the top of the installation.
The research and knowledge for the translations were provided by the Center for Languages, Literatures and Cultures, which is made up of Ohio State faculty dedicated to giving students the intellectual, linguistic and cultural tools they need to succeed.
Read the linked articles to find out more about the project.
The Atrium at Longaberger Alumni House
'Friendship' spreads across campus to Alumni House
From the article:
Thanks to meticulous translation and information gathering work previously done by the CLLC, the alumni house now features 141 translations of the word “friendship” in its lobby. “Friendship,” a key word in the final line of Carmen Ohio’s first verse, is patterned in French, Italian, Spanish as well as more rare languages spoken on the Ohio State campus.
“People are able to see themselves in those languages,” Ranz Calhoun said.
Rebecca Bias, CLLC’s assistant director, was part of a CLLC team that was vital in completing the University Square project on 15th Avenue and High Street. Her group shared its results with the alumni house, allowing a third area of campus to share the emotions of Carmen Ohio in multiple languages.
“It has evolved into three projects that involve Carmen Ohio and friendship across the campus,” Bias said. “It’s absolutely beautiful.”
The Ohio Union, Southwest Stairwell
"Global Carmeny" was created out of the hopes to represent the multicultural presence on campus in a singular art installation, reminding us that this university is for all. Carmen Ohio embodies the dedication and pride that bonds the Buckeye community at all events. Buckeyes of all backgrounds should have the honor and pleasure to experience it in their mother tongue.
Thirteen translations were written and chosen by the Buckeye community, for the Buckeye community. The art installation can be viewed in the southwest stairwell of the Ohio Union, next to Sloopy's Diner.
This art installation was a project completed by Ohio Staters, Incorporated in the efforts of promoting the welfare and traditions of The Ohio State University. Neither could have been done without the collaboration and encouragement of the Office of Student Life and the Center for Languages, Literatures and Cultures.
