Registration Closed
2016 IWL Fall Symposium
Career Development and Language Competency in the Global Era
9:50-10AM: Opening remarks
Jeffrey Legro, Vice Provost for Global Affairs & Taylor Professor of Politics
Francesca Fiorani, Associate Dean of Arts & Humanities & Professor of Art History
10-10:50AM
Speaker: Dr. William Rivers
Executive Director, Joint National Committee for Languages – National Council for Languages and International Studies
Chair, ASTM F43 Committee on Language Services and Products
Title: Language and Jobs: The Value of Languages to the US Economy, and to You
ABSTRACT: Language, provides at least $15b annually in terms of direct income to the economy of the United States, and provides meaningful, middle-class work for some 350,000 individuals. American and global employers seek individuals with linguistic and cultural human capital for a wide range of jobs. This presentation covers the recent history of the language industry in the US, including the key factors driving its expansion, such as demographic and technological change, civil rights regulations, and national security considerations. It then presents results of the 2014 Global Talent survey, conducted by the Collegiate Employment Research Institute at Michigan State University and the Joint National Committee for Languages. The Global Talent Survey showed that 11% of job openings among a sample of more than 2100 employers, required knowledge of another language. More than 45% of employers gave advantages to candidates with languages and overseas experience. The presentation concludes with data-driven observations about how students can prepare for global talent requirements.
BIO
Dr. Rivers has 20 years of experience in culture and language for economic development and national security, with expertise in research, assessment, program evaluation, and policy development and advocacy. He chairs ASTM Technical Committee F43, Language Services and Products and the U.S. Technical Advisory Group to ISO Technical Committee 232, Training in the Informal Sector.
Before joining JNCL-NCLIS, he served as Chief Scientist at Integrated Training Solutions, Inc., a small business in Arlington, Virginia, where he focused on strategic planning, management, and advanced technologies for language and culture programs in the public sector. While at ITS, he served in a contractor role as the Chief Linguist of the National Language Service Corps. Prior to working at ITS, he was a founding member of the Center for Advanced Study of Language (CASL) at the University of Maryland, and was a staff member of the National Foreign Language Center from 1994 to 2003. During his career, Dr. Rivers has also taught Russian at the University of Maryland, worked as a freelance interpreter and translator, and conducted field work in Kazakhstan, where he regularly returns to teach at several universities. He received his PhD in Russian from Bryn Mawr College and his MA, BA, and BS from the University of Maryland.
11-11:50AM
Speaker: Mohamed Abdel-Kader, Deputy Assistant Secretary in the International and Foreign Language Education Office, U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education
Title: International Education & the 21th Century
Abstract: The 21st century brings with it a multitude of opportunities for people around the world to engage, but they must have the global competency and linguistic ability to understand the challenges ahead and solve the world’s most pressing issues. This engaging talk draws increasing attention to the global landscape and profound language learning experiences in one’s career development across different disciplines through the medium of language.
BIO
Mohamed Abdel-Kader is the Deputy Assistant Secretary in the International and Foreign Language Education (IFLE) Office at the U.S. Department of Education’s (ED) Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE). As Deputy Assistant Secretary of IFLE, Mohamed is responsible for encouraging and promoting the study of foreign languages and the study of the cultures of other countries at the elementary, secondary, and postsecondary levels in the United States; and coordinates with related international and foreign language education programs of other Federal agencies, as established in the 2008 Higher Education Opportunity Act. He leads the work of IFLE in administering the domestic programs authorized under Title VI of the Higher Education Act and those overseas programs under the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange (Fulbright-Hays) Act administered by ED. Prior to joining ED, Mohamed served as the Director of Development for the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and also managed the university’s advancement strategy in the Middle East region, where he focused on major gifts and strategic engagement. Previously, while at George Mason University, Mohamed led donor development efforts for the Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study and set international strategy for partnerships in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Sub-Saharan Africa. He has advised a variety of clients on organizational strategy, doing business in emerging markets, intercultural communication, and cultural competency in international philanthropy. Additionally, he has advised organizations on strengthening fundraising operations domestically and abroad. Mohamed speaks fluent Arabic and basic Spanish. He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Clemson University, a Master’s degree in Higher Education from Vanderbilt University, and an MBA from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.
12-12:50PM: Interactive Sessions (Gallery and Kaleidoscope)
Lunch finger food provided (Main Lounge)
Language programs at UVa set up interactive language stations and celebrate their languages and cultures meanwhile lunch finger food is provided.
1-1:50PM: Panel moderated by Ruth Ferree (TBA)
Title: The Multilingual Edge
Description: A panel of experts from across the University will describe projects and opportunities in which multilingualism is a key to success. They will help us understand why one alumni reported, " …studying Chinese was undoubtedly the best career decision I ever made."
Panelists:
Murielle de Wekker, Assistant Director of Global Student Services, Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy
Matthew Wheelock, Innovation Program Area Director, Curry School of Education
Reid Thompson, Assistant Director of Career Education and Advising, Darden School of Business.
Panel Moderator, Ruth Ferree, Second Language Education Program Adviser, Curry School of Education
2-2:50PM
Speaker: Dr. Richard Brecht, Co-director of American Councils Research Center
Title: A Second Language: More Than You Bargained For!
Abstract: Learning a second language typically represents an adventurous educational choice for students, provoking admiration and/or befuddlement on the part of friends and family. However, this choice means they form international relationships of astounding personal warmth and eye-opening revelation; they have access to the beauty and wisdom of other-world texts with historic and universal significance; and, inevitably, they enjoy a life-long sense of identity with an inherited, or newly adopted, culture. Beyond all of this, there is a Bilingual Bonus for people who use two or more languages in their daily life: They perceive things differently! Cognitive scientists have shown how the bilingual brain can block usual thought processes enough to allow novel and uncommon ones to be entertained, whether this be switching from one language to another, from one problem solution to another, or from one perception to another. In other words, bilingualism enables critical and creative thinking that has lifelong consequences that include better educational achievement, more successful professional accomplishment, and even prolonged mental acuity in one’s mature years. However, these benefits depend on true proficiency in a second language, for it is uninhibited usage of two languages that enables all of the above. Very simply, the more language you learn, the more you use; the more language you use, the more you gain cognitively; the more you gain cognitively, the more you profit educationally and professionally, i.e. the more you exploit the bilingual bonus.
BIO
Having received his M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard University, Dr. Brecht is now Professor Emeritus at the University of Maryland. Brecht is also co-director of the American Councils Research Center, a think tank devoted to evidence for language policy in education and the work place. As an academic entrepreneur, he has founded, built and led over a dozen academic organizations, including the Center for Advanced Study of Language (a Department of Defense University Affiliated Research Center), American Councils for International Education, the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages, and the National Foreign Language Center. Currently, Dr. Brecht is Chief Research Officer and Co-Founder of Global Professional Search (GPS), a for-profit business connecting employers to job applicants with technical expertise, foreign language proficiency, international experience, and multicultural understanding. Dr. Brecht has testified in Congress before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor, the U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the U.S. House Armed Services Committee, and the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. He has made hundreds of presentations and authored and edited dozens of scholarly books, textbooks, manuals, articles and reviews on language policy, second language acquisition, and Slavic and Russian linguistics. Finally, Dr. Brecht has received numerous awards from national and international organizations in the language field.