Institute of World Languages
Institute of World Languages

Funded Research Groups

Purpose  

IWL Funded Research groups are intended to foster the exchange of ideas and innovations in world language literacy and to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration between language programs and between languages and other disciplines. Groups meet 2-3 times through the semester or academic year to engage on a proposed topic related to world languages. The IWL provides $1500 per year in support of the group, funding which may be used for food for meetings, invited speakers, book purchases, or other materials related to the topic. 

Requirements 

  • Groups must include 4 or more faculty of any rank or position who hold continuing contracts. Groups that include diverse disciplines and ranks are strongly encouraged. 

  • Groups must meet at least 2 times per semester. 

  • Funding must be spent by June 15, 2025. 

  • Groups are asked to provide an informal written reflection on their activities and a summary of how the funding was used by June 30, 2025. 

Priorities 

The IWL prioritizes groups that propose an interdisciplinary topic (including world languages and other disciplines) or that include interdisciplinary group membership (either diverse world language faculty or world language + other disciplines). 

Topic ideas 

  • Retention and growth in world languages 

  • Languages beyond the classroom 

  • AI and world language literacy 

  • The future of [Spanish/German/Arabic/Korean, etc.] 

  • Building bridges: lang, lit, culture & the humanities 

  • GenZ and Education: How can we make languages relevant? 

  • Literature v. Tiktok: How can we engage students in a digital world? 

  • Languages for Specific Purposes courses: comparing and expanding 

  • Book Club (pick a book on an aspect of pedagogy or education to read and discuss) 

  • Or any topic that you would like to spend some time engaging on with like-minded faculty outside of your immediate department or program! 

Submissions 

Please include the following information in your proposal: 

  • List of group members, including name, department, discipline, and rank 

  • Proposed duration of the group (semester or year) 
    Proposed topic or focus 

  • Proposed use of funding 

Submit your proposal as a PDF to Paw Kamjan (wdd2vc@virginia.edu) by January 30 (spring groups) or September 30 (fall groups). Questions may be addressed to the IWL Director, Liz Hall (ebh3f@virginia.edu).