Getting to Know Joseph Garcia

As LCAL’s new undergraduate academic advisor and lecturer in Arabic studies, Joseph Garcia brings together his passions for language teaching, student mentorship and community building. Learn more about Joseph's approach to advising, creating engaging classrooms and helping students connect across LCAL's undergraduate courses and programs.

What drew you to a role that combines academic advising and teaching?

As an undergraduate, I recognized the important role advisors play in students’ lives. Through my work in higher education, I discovered how much I enjoy mentoring students, while teaching gave me opportunities to engage with diverse student groups. This position uniquely combines those interests. I’m excited to support students in their language and cultural learning and help develop more opportunities for them at Carnegie Mellon.

What do you hope students gain from working with you as an advisor?

I hope students become more confident in their ability to succeed academically and more interested in learning languages and cultures. As an undergraduate, I double-majored in linguistics and Middle Eastern languages and cultures, and those experiences transformed my life.

As an advisor, I want to help students discover new interests, recognize their potential and understand how language and cultural learning can enrich their lives.

How do you encourage students to engage with different languages, cultures and perspectives in the classroom?

This is actually one of the most important things for me as a teacher. I often feel that as the world has grown more interconnected through social media and technology generally, it has also become very isolating. Language and culture classes provide a unique opportunity to discuss and actually interact with different topics and perspectives, which provides an environment where students develop critical thinking and cultural awareness.

I do this by connecting course material to real-life experiences, whether through discussions of minority communities in the Arabic-speaking world, current events or cultural activities on campus. I also encourage students to connect what they learn to their own interests and experiences. My goal is to foster curiosity and meaningful engagement with perspectives different from their own.

What opportunities are you excited to develop within the LCAL community?

I’m really excited about the opportunity to form connections and collaborations between the department and the campus as a whole. I’d love to organize an annual culture festival where students can showcase their work, language learning and cultural interests. I’m also interested in creating opportunities for students studying different languages to connect through social and language mixers. As an Arabic instructor, I’ve previously facilitated “Dardasha,” LCAL’s Arabic conversation table, and hope to help bring it back. I also think food, coffee and tea are wonderful ways to bring people together and build community.

What are you looking forward to most in your first year?

I look forward to connecting with students, developing my skills as an advisor and instructor and contributing to initiatives that have a lasting impact on LCAL. I hope my work encourages more students to fall in love with language and cultural learning and take advantage of opportunities such as study abroad. I’m also looking forward to collaborating with colleagues across CMU and helping the department continue to evolve.

And what do you enjoy outside the classroom?

I love exploring Pittsburgh, from coffee shops and restaurants to parks and arts events. Discovering new places helps me recharge, stay connected to the city and find experiences I might share with students.