First-year students in CMU’s Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences are learning to navigate adversity through the power of visual storytelling in the Grand Challenge Seminar “Becoming Resilient in Challenging Times.” Taught by Emma Fries and Felipe Gómez, the course invites students to examine resilience — emotional, relational and collective — through comics, graphic narratives and hands-on intergenerational community engagement. 

Read the full story on our website.

Khaled Al Masaeed and Kiyono Fujinaga-Gordon were nominated to sit on the Scientific Committee of the Global Council on Anthropological Linguistics (GLOCAL).

Nevine Abraham delivered a community workshop in Arabic at CMU-Q titled "Designing Digital Narratives: AI-Enhanced Storytelling and Critical Thinking in Teaching Arabic Pedagogy." The workshop highlighted the two beginner Arabic online curricula she developed, showcasing the integration of AI-enhanced media that combines critical inquiry with language acquisition.

Dr. Abraham also completed the development of LCAL's Online Language Learning program's elementary Arabic II online course materials for language instructors.

On Feb. 9, Uju Anya gave a presentation at Duolingo for their "Roots and Tongues Showcase," highlighting the contributions of Black innovators, builders and problem-solvers who turn insight into action working with Afrodescendants and African diaspora languages.

Mathieu Berbiguier was interviewed by Arirang TV about the song "Golden" — from the Netflix animated film KPop Demon Hunters —claiming K-pop's first Grammy Award, a milestone that critics say highlights the genre's global appeal and signals broader acceptance in the American mainstream.

Michael DeSalvo (DC 2024), French teacher at the Ellis School, invited ALSLA doctoral students Yumiko Adachi, Joseph Garcia and Devon Renfroe to teach mini language lessons at the Ellis School's Heritage Day event. 

Kenya C. Dworkin was invited to contribute a chapter on early-20th century Cuban literature to the volume The Cambridge Companion to Cuban Literature (forthcoming). She is also in the process of translating six children's books by Bob McDuff into Spanish. Originally written in French, the books explore themes of gender and disability in sports.

Valencia Epps published her article "'Korea Can be Fun Depending on What you Look Like': Investigating Marginalization among Expatriate Female English Teachers in East Asia" in the Iranian Journal of Language Teaching Research.

Kiyono Fujinaga-Gordon was invited to review the book Emergent genders: Living otherwise in Tokyo's pink economies by Michelle H.S. Ho, which is now available in the Journal of Affairs.

On Jan. 30, Gang Liu delivered a lecture titled "A Universe in Detail: Exploring Cultural Narratives through Games in Chinese Pedagogy" at an online webinar panel "Chinese Culture in Video Games — Using AI Technology to Develop Online Language and Culture Teaching Materials and Design Courses," organized by Phoenix Tree Publishing.

Michael McEachrane was quoted in the article "Calls for King Charles to formally apologise for slavery after research shows crown's role" published by The Guardian on Jan. 30.

Seth Wiener published the paper "Processing multi-talker speech in a tone language: Dumplings interfere with sleep at a cocktail party" in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America Express Letters. doi.org/10.1121/10.0042461

LCAL's language conversation groups are open to all students at CMU, regardless of field of study or experience level. Our conversation groups offer students the opportunity to practice their language skills in a relaxed environment while engaging in fun cultural activities like playing games, dancing, watching movies/tv shows, eating snacks, etc. All meetings will take place in the LCAL Studio and Humanities Commons (POS 343), unless otherwise noted.

Please note: groups only meet when regular classes are in session.

Monday, February 16 is the deadline for all our summer 2026 study abroad programs and scholarships — Doha, Qatar; Freiburg, Germany; Madrid, Spain; Seoul, South Korea; and Shanghai, China.

Scholarships are available to any student participating in one of our seven programs. Plus, declared LCAL majors are guaranteed a scholarship! We're also pleased to offer additional funding to students participating in the Doha program.

LCAL's Professional Certificate in Language Program Administration 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. 

• Deadline: March 31, 2026

For those interested in learning more, we are hosting a virtual open house on Tuesday, March 24 at 7 p.m. (ET). Register today!

Additionally, we are still accepting applications for our three master's programs for fall 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
• Includes 4+1 option for current CMU undergraduates
• Deadline: March 11, 2026