Mission Statement for the Trinity Language Council
approved October 3, 2018
The study of other languages and cultures is essential to a liberal arts education, opening doors to new perspectives into and fostering deeper understanding of all academic disciplines and domains of human inquiry. As the main advisory council on language study to Trinity College, the Trinity Language Council (TLC) is an interdepartmental collaborative that advances the study of languages and cultures across campus units at Duke. The Council aims to foster multilingualism and intercultural understanding among students and faculty and raise the awareness of the foundational role of language study for personal, academic, and professional development.
The TLC is committed to preparing students for a world that requires a sophisticated understanding of and respect for multiple perspectives accessible only through engagement with different languages and cultures. To this end, the Council seeks to identify needs for continued improvement of language study, both in pedagogy and scholarship. Importantly, the TLC provides a forum in which language scholars and practitioners exchange ideas and learn from each other about best practices in the field.
The TLC promotes innovation and excellence in language education informed by current research and supports:
- Professional development
- Language program enhancement
- Curricular and co-curricular innovations
- Collaborative research and scholarship
- Language-centered events
- Tools and strategy development for lifelong learning across the disciplines
