COUNCIL ON LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION

2014 - 2015 Yearly Overview

COUNCIL BUSINESS MEETINGS

WORKSHOPS AND PRESENTATIONS

One Village – One Northwestern: Working Together for Our Students
“An Orientation to NU Resources for Instructors“
Friday, 12 September 2014 | 8:30 am – 12:00 pm |Harris Hall 107

Organizers: the Council on Language Instruction, the WCAS College Advising Office, the Dean of Students Office, Athletic Academic Services and One Book – One Northwestern

Council on Language Instruction Fall Orientation Workshop
Friday, 19 September 2014 | 8:30 am – 12:00 pm | Annenberg Hall G15
Featured Speaker: Steven Thorne (Portland State University)

Council on Language Instruction Fall 2014 Breakfast Meeting
“Exploring NU’s Library Resources for Language Teaching”
Wednesday, 3 December 2014 | 8:30 am – 12:00 pm | Northwestern Library

Council on Language Instruction Winter 2015 Breakfast Meeting
Wednesday, 11 March 2015 | 8:30 am – 12:00 pm | Harris 107

Year-End Reception and Teaching Award Ceremony
Thursday, 4 June 2015 | 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm | Ver Steeg Faculty Lounge (Main Library)

SPEAKER SERIES

Council on Language Instruction Speaker Series
“The Future of Language Departments: Shaping Curricular Goals for a Transnational and Multilingual World”
Friday, 14 October 2014 | 5:00 pm 6:30 pm | Location: Harris 107

Speaker: Claire Kramsch, Director of the Berkeley Language Center, Professor of German Language and Literature (University of California, Berkeley)
Presentation: “The Multilingual Challenge in Foreign Language Education“

Language departments have long been committed to educating students to succeed in a multilingual world. For the 2014-2015 academic year, the CLI is planning a series of events that will explore what it really means to help our students become “global citizens.” As Claire Kramsch has shown in her work, language teaching has to negotiate offering language as a “usable skill” while preparing students for ever-shifting cultural and transnational contexts. How should language curricula develop in light of these complexities? With this year-long theme, we want to encourage both language and literature faculty to take a close look at our curricular goals, share best practices, and envision new directions.

Council on Language Instruction Speaker Series
“The Future of Language Departments: Shaping Curricular Goals for a Transnational and Multilingual World”
Monday, 4 May 2015 | 4:00 pm 6:00 pm |Ver Steeg Faculty Lounge (Main Library)

Speaker: Dr. Glenn Levine, Professor of German (University of California, Irvine)
Presentation: “The Multilingual Student: Global Citizenship and Engagement through Language Learning.“

Issues of language and globalization are presented and described, ranging from (aspects of) the international geopolitics of language, the steadfastly provincial place of the U.S. in a multilingual world, the educational and institutional hegemony of English around the world relative to the status of national languages other than English, the role of digital media and the Internet in the teaching and learning of languages, among other considerations. It is argued that in order for language teaching to meet the needs of students today in the coming years, our pedagogy must expand beyond the largely interactive-functional and grammar-driven curricula that determine a good deal of what happens in two or four semesters of university instruction. In light of the pressing need for international and cross-cultural communication for conflict mediation and resolution, and for pedagogies that are geared toward more expansive ideas of language and language learning, proposals are made for bottom-up curricular considerations, as well as for longer-term systemic changes in university language programs.

SPECIAL EVENT

Pulitzer Prize winner, Nicholas Kristof 
Monday, 13 October 2014 |   7:30 pm (8:30 pm book signing) | Cahn Auditorium

Speaker: Nicholas Kristof (New York Times)
Presentation: “Why Students Should Care About the World & Change It“

Author and New York Times Columnist Nicholas Kristof will address how educational and intellectual experiences shape and contribute to meaningful global engagement. He will draw on recent columns about the importance of language learning and humanistic thinking as well as give concrete examples of real-life global change makers and their paths to carry out their work. (Featured also in his new book “A Path Appears: Transforming Lives, Creating Opportunity, co-authored with Sheryl WuDunn.)
A two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The New York Times, Nicholas Kristof is an extraordinary thinker, human rights advocate, and chronicler of humanity. He also co-authored the best-selling book “Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide” with Sheryl WuDunn.

Facebook page for the Kristof talk: https://www.facebook.com/events/342288019271557/

 Co-sponsors: Buffett Center for International and Comparative Studies, Global Language Initiative, Medill School of Journalism, Office of International Program Development, Study Abroad Office

SYMPOSIUM

Chicago Language Symposium 2015
Friday, April 17 – Saturday, April 18, 2015 | DePaul University