More than 50 students, faculty and friends gathered at the Karl Anatol Center on Thursday for an afternoon of translation in memory of Cal State Long Beach professor Claudia Gosselin.
The five-hour memorial featured several presentations conducted by students as part of a translation studies program offered by the romance, German, Russian languages and literature departments.
Gosselin, who passed away in January 2011, was a French and Francophone studies lecturer and mentor at CSULB for 18 years. She was also heavily involved in translation studies, in which she compiled and edited student works to be published in The Translators French Quarter series.
Presentations included in-depth analyses of multi-lingual translations in French, Spanish, Italian and English. Students also explored theories and the translators’ cultural backgrounds and how this can affect the result of their translation.
They also explained inaccuracies and misconceptions in translated works when compared with original source text.
Former CSULB French lecturer, Laurence Moscato, described Gosselin as a super friend and veracious reader that cared about her students as if they were her own. Moscato met Gosselin when she began her career as a lecturer at CSULB. They formed a friendship and became good friends.
When Moscato relocated to New York, the women would regularly speak on the phone for hours. The two had met for coffee only two weeks before Gosselin’s passing.
A portion of the program was dedicated to remembering Gosselin.
CSULB Chair of RGRLL, Lisa Vollendorf, gave the opening statement.
“Her high expectations drove all of us to have higher expectations, and in that way, she was very much an inspirational presence in the department,” Vollendorf said. “She pushed all of us to do our very best and in particular, she pushed her students to do the very best that they could do.”
Gosselin was a breast cancer survivor and had battled the illness for 20 years.
“Tonight, we remember Claudia for her commitment to her students and to our department and to the field,” Vollendorf said. “And we also remember her, because she was ill for a very long time, for her amazing strength in the face of adversity and her commitment to lifelong learning that was an inspiration to all of us.”
Guests shared stories during the memorial, painting Gosselin as caring, funny, intelligent, and a Jewish mother to all.
Chair of Italian Studies, Clorinda Donato, hosted the event.
Donato and Spanish Professor Claire Martin are in charge of the translations program at the university.
Gosselin was originally slated to head up the program with Donato, until her condition worsened, forcing her to resign.
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