Language Diversity & Cultural Identity

Course Number: 82-283

Fulfills Intercultural and Global Inquiry Gen Ed requirement

Culture, language, and identity are intimately tied together. Individuals, families, communities, and nations identify themselves in relation to the language or languages they speak. Local, national, and international governmental organizations make choices about the language or languages they recognize and use for political and economic affairs. The United Nations even recognizes language as integral to maintaining the cultural heritage of communities and peoples around the world, and the freedom to choose ones language of expression as a universal human right. This course is organized around four modules that examine a variety of topics centered around language diversity and cultural identity and a final project in which you will have the opportunity to revise and expand on the assignments submitted for each module. The overarching goal of the course is to introduce students to the linkages between language, culture, and identity in intercultural and global contexts, and how researchers in applied linguistics and multilingual studies conduct their work by taking an activist stance towards praxisthat is, the unity of theory and practice with an eye toward improving the lives of the people and communities we work with.

The course is taught in English. Students who wish to take the course as a Modern Languages major or minor elective will need to complete their final project on a topic relevant to the language they study.

VIEW THE SCHEDULE OF CLASSES FOR MORE DETAILS

Units: 9
Prerequisite(s): None