LCAL is pleased to announce the establishment of the Lena Foo InnoGen Seed Fund, made possible through a generous gift from alumna Lena Foo (DC 1988), managing principal of the CETIC Foundation. The fund is designed to advance interdisciplinary education, innovation and experiential learning opportunities for both college and pre-college students.The InnoGen Seed Fund will support interdisciplinary student projects, outreach programs, scholarships and early-stage innovation initiatives. Read more.

LCAL is delighted to welcome Nicole Winston, who joined us on Oct. 31 as our new director of operations. Nicole comes to us from the Ontario Ministry of Education in Toronto, Canada, bringing a wealth of experience in organizational leadership and educational administration. Now happily settled in Pittsburgh, Nicole is especially glad to be part of the CMU community — her daughter is a CMU student, and her husband is a professor in the School of Drama. She's excited to bring her expertise to LCAL and contribute to our mission. Please join us in welcoming Nicole to the team!

Mathieu Berbiguier published "French Influencers and the Construction of Korea's Superiority: Social Media Content Analysis and Follower Responses" in Asian Communications Research. doi.org/10.20879/acr.2025.22.018

During fall break, Uju Anya traveled to Lagos, Nigeria, to deliver the keynote address at the 20th anniversary gala of The Initiative for Equal Rights (TIERs), Nigeria’s oldest and most influential queer human rights organization, and attend the annual TIERs Board of Trustees meeting.

On Nov. 6, Mame-Fatou Niang was a panelist at the Carnegie Museum of Art concerning the exhibition Fault Lines: Art, Imperialism and the Atlantic World. In mid-Nov., Dr. Niang also delivered the keynote address at the Université de La Réunion's conference From the Black Atlantic to the Indian Ocean, where she explored the new perspectives on Blackness that emerge when the extension of Blackness' conceptual map.

Dr. Anya also delivered two invited talks on Nov. 14: “Black Placemaking to Connect Cultures, Shape Futures in the Metaverse” at CMU's Dietrich College Spark Conversations, Spark Change! symposium and “Black Language and Culture Journeys from West Africa to Brazil, the Americas and Back” at the University of Pittsburgh’s Brazilian Black Consciousness Day celebration.

On Nov. 22, Yoshihiro Yasuhara organized the panel "Intersection of Advertising and New Media Conditions in Japan's 1980s" at the 33rd Annual Meeting of the Association of Japanese Literary Studies at the University of Chicago. As part of the panel, he presented his paper "The Temporality of Tanikaway Shuntarō's Poetry and Its Interplay with the Language of Ad Copy."

In 85-255 Beyond the Korean Wave, students had the opportunity to attend a K-pop dance workshop facilitated by Roy Park, a professional dancer and student at CMU. After learning the moves of the trendy K-pop song GO! by CORTIS, he shared his path and thoughts on the evolution of K-pop dance choreography over the years.

Haixia Wang's Chinese calligraphy students completed their final showcase in The Kenner Room. This year's theme was Autumn, nature and inner peace.

Students in Italian classes enjoyed an end-of-semester Christmas party playing 'Tombola' and eating panettone. They also said goodbye to Language Assistant Niccolò Bitetto, who is graduating soon. It was an amazing way to discover Italian traditions surrounded by fun and laughter.

Students in 82-185 Global Food Cultures presented some excellent collaborative projects that encompassed cross-cultural examination of geography, economy, agriculture, identity and more through the lens of food. 

Our Nov. 20, CMU–Q's French Club dinner was a wonderful success, bringing community members together for a degustation of traditional dishes. Participants learned about French dining etiquette and key ingredients like truffles and bouillabaisse. The interactive evening deepened everyone’s appreciation of French cuisine while offering a fun chance to practice language skills.

Our Nov. 27, CMU–Q elementary Arabic students visited Souq Waqif, which offered non-native speakers an immersive opportunity to practice Arabic beyond the classroom. Participants explored culinary traditions, artistic expressions and the vibrant atmosphere of the market.

For the second year, CBESA co-curated the international portion of the FLUP Literary Festival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This year's edition took place in Madureira, Rio's heart of Black culture. The festival brought together 280 writers and artists of the Black Diaspora and was attended by 45,000+ people in six days.

Two students in LCAL general education courses were featured in the 7th edition of WOVEN. In 82-241 Intermediate Spanish I, Mirren Hibert examined how the legend of Don Pelayo and the Battle of Covadonga shaped Asturian identity, producing a thoughtful Spanish-language paper enriched by a primary interview and her prior experiences studying in Spain and completing the Washington Semester Program. In 82-273 Introduction to Japanese Language and Culture, Pranav Srinivas (DC 2025) analyzed family relationships in "High and Low" and "Like Father, Like Son," offering a clear look at the evolution of Japanese cinema and deepening connections to recent related films; now a graduate student at Columbia University, he continues to build on the strong analytical skills demonstrated in this project.

Thank you to everyone who generously contributed during this year's Giving Day campaign, and if you missed the chance, you can still make a meaningful impact by donating to any of our many available funds. Make a gift to LCAL today!

Studying abroad can be one of the most rewarding experiences of your college career, but the cost can be stressful. LCAL is firmly committed to supporting students' goals to study abroad. Apply today for an LCAL study abroad scholarship; it only takes a few minutes!  

LCAL majors and Arabic studies minors are guaranteed scholarships for any approved program. Additionally, any student attending one of LCAL's seven summer study abroad programs, regardless of major or minor, is eligible for an LCAL scholarship.

Additionally, LCAL is pleased to announce that it will cover the tuition costs for the first 10 students who apply for the Nantes, France program!

LCAL's LPA professional certificate is a one-year, online program. Courses are designed for current educators and graduate students who are seeking to advance in their careers through language teaching, language supervision, language program administration and/or curriculum development. 

Learn more at our upcoming Open House on Tuesday, December 2 at 7 p.m. Register today!

• Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics & Second Language Acquisition
• Deadline: January 11, 2026
• M.A. in Applied Linguistics & Second Language Acquisition
• Deadline: March 1, 2026
• M.A. in Applied Linguistics & Second Language Acquisition — Advanced Study
• Deadline: March 1, 2026
• M.A. in Global Communication & Applied Translation
• Priority deadline: January 7, 2026

Visit our website for more details!