Cultures and Languages Across the Curriculum:

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Cultures and Languages Across the Curriculum

• Responding to a National Need
• 5-6 November 2005
• University of Iowa

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Dr. Diana Davies

• International Programs
• University of Iowa

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Dr. Suronda González

• Languages Across the Curriculum
• Binghamton University

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Basic Philosophy of C/LAC(Language)

• Modern languages are alive in the world, not
  simply within the confines of the FL classroom.
• Every discipline has scholarly traditions in
  multiple languages that are frequently neglected.

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Basic Philosophy of C/LAC(Culture)

• Culture is alive in the world, within/across the
  disciplines, not just the arts, business, and
  other applied fields.
• Disciplines are also culturally specific. They
  are not universal.

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Basic Philosophy of C/LAC(Culture)

• Content is as important as the process of
  learning to learn.
• The relationship between mastery of content and
  the process of learning is dialectical.

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Mission of C/LAC(Curriculum)

• C/LAC is a movement pushing us beyond creating
  requirements to fulfill our goals of
  internationalization, and toward embedding
  internationalization into the curriculum.

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Across The Curriculum?

• What does this mean given that LAC has been more
  popular among (arguably) faculty in the applied
  fields?
• How can C/LAC promote more engagement in terms
  of service and experiential learning? How can
  C/LAC be at the forefront of this
  transformational movement?

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Whats the Real Goal?

• Culture and language?
• Cultures and languages?

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Whats the Real Goal?
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C/LAC The Challenges

• Friend or foe of traditional FL programs? What
  are the implications of C/LAC success? For
  Spanish? For LOTS?
• An aid or an impediment to professional
  preparation? Can it ever address the expert
  mission? The globalized professional or
  metropolitan migrant mission?

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Challenges (Continued)

• Another unfunded teaching mandate?
• The C in C/LAC? Arent we already doing this?
• Promoting importance of the C to administrators,
  funders, teachers, students?
• Evaluating effectiveness of C/LAC programs? How
  do we recognize life-long impact?

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Challenges (Continued)

• How does C/LAC relate to the disciplines?
• How does C/LAC relate to diversity and
  multicultural initiatives?

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Challenges (Continued)

• How can C/LAC help to articulate K-12, college,
  study abroad, and post-graduation experiences?

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Goals for C/LAC Conference 05

• Introduce LAC and C/LAC to those interested in
  role of language culture in classroom
• Inspire those who have been doing LAC for decades
  to think creatively
• Create a forum for continued questioning about
  the role of culture and language initiatives