A primary motive for many early study-abroad programs was language learning, but as study abroad and U.S. higher education institutions have grown and diversified, the link between international education and language learning has weakened. At the same time, language instruction has become more intertwined with intercultural, interdisciplinary, and community-based learning; and the linguistic diversity on U.S. campuses has expanded dramatically thanks to increasing numbers of international students, faculty, and staff as well as domestic heritage speakers. Taken together, these trends suggest it is timely to re-examine the benefits and challenges which multilingualism (of any degree and any form) pose to questions of identity and practices of global engagement.

This day-and-a-half conference will be organized around several themes:

1. Study abroad and current best-practices related to language, culture, and identity
2. Multilingualism in the on-campus curriculum
3. Community-based language learning
4. Working with on-campus diversity of linguistic and cultural backgrounds 

For more information please visit the GELA website.