Orfeo/Orpheus is an online bilingual journal dedicated to the promotion of language, culture, literature, music, and the visual arts. Open to students, faculty, staff, of the NWLC, and also the general public, Orfeo/Orpheus is, as its title proclaims, a collective of expression.

This is the pilot version of  Orfeo/Orpheus.  A great part of thee work showcased here took place during the spring semester of 1998. Students in Spanish 202D at the University of Puget Sound received training in Claris Home Page and WS FTP to prepare them for a final web-based project. They were asked to become "information providers" in Spanish and they lived up to this challenge.. The idea behind this exercise was to demonstrate in practice the extent to which their language skills at the intermediate level can already lead them to practical applications in this realm. Foreign language skills, personal interests, and web-based technologies came together in this publishing effort. The rest of the work in this pilot version is composed of a previously unpublished collection of poems entitled Pestiféré, written in 1986 by the senior editor of Orfeo/Orpheus, Harry Vélez Quiñones.

Submissions to Orfeo/Orpheus are eagerly awaited.  Poetry and prose, the visual arts, music, experimental work... all are welcome.  We publish works in Spanish and English and especially look forward to bilingual submissions.  We encourage digitized submissions, but will gladly work with authors & artists who do not have access to the technology.  Specific questions regarding format will be answered promptly.  Work carried out over the summer of 1998 and the upcoming fall semester will make possible a launching of this on-line bilingual journal the spring semester of 1999. 

We hope that Orfeo/Orpheus will play several roles as a Mellon funded project. Some of these are:

1) Forum for creative projects carried out by students of Spanish language, culture, and/or literature in any of the NWLC schools. The lessons learned during  the Spanish 202D pilot program are encouraging. It is our hope that other NWLC faculty and students will carry out similar projects.

2) Point of entry into multimedia educational technology for interested non-language faculty at the NWLC. Professors will be invited to submit samples of their work (essays, creative writing, visual arts, music, etc.) for presentation in Orfeo/Orpheus. As a "friendly" face in the realm of multimedia ventures, it is our hope that Orfeo/Orpheus will attract the attention of faculty members who may be technophobes but drawn to a more traditional medium such as a journal.

3) Vehicle for contacts between the NWLC and special communities. Orfeo/Orpheus may serve as a way to develop collaborative projects with high school students in the NWLC areas in the spirit of the Mellon Foundation.

4) In addition, Orfeo/Orpheus can be a visible, attractive, and compelling example of the achievements of the NWLC. Alumni, donors, interested foundations will have yet one more example of the benefits of multimedia technology in higher education. 

Harry Vélez Quiñones, Editor
Tatjana Pavlovic, Editor
Steve Leith, Graphic Designer and Editor
Mark Otis, Multimedia Consultant
Shelley Owen, Instructional Technology Consultant