A groundbreaking new Bachelor of Science program developed by the School of Modern Languages has been approved this month by the University System of Georgia Board of Regents (USG BOR) and will be offered in Fall 2010.

The Bachelor of Science in Applied Languages and Intercultural Studies represents a new model for the U.S. foreign language major. Its focus on high level foreign languages proficiency and a multi-application perspective is specifically designed to meet critical 21st century language requirements of government agencies, multi-national industries, and social organizations. With this degree in hand Georgia Tech students will have a competitive advantage as they enter a world in which a thorough global perspective is needed to succeed.

Traditional U.S. language programs have emphasized literature and language study as ends in themselves. Such an approach leaves language students with limited career options, mainly in the field of education. It has also contributed to an extreme shortage in the U.S of qualified foreign language speakers who can operate in a wide variety of disciplines. At least four nationally commissioned studies since 2006 have documented urgent regional and national needs for applied language and cultural competency combined with strong skills in key disciplines.

"As bilateral and multilateral relations expand across countries, it is a virtual certainty that tomorrow's top graduates will be called upon to work in foreign countries or significantly interact with their counterparts in other countries. Therefore, competency in a foreign language and culture is becoming essential," explained School of Modern Languages Chair Phil McKnight. "Georgia and the entire Southeast, for example, have become part of a global, interdependent and multicultural community. Georgia's ports and the Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport are hubs of international trade entering and exiting the U.S., and the economic impact of foreign trade on the Georgia economy is tremendous. These entities need students who are prepared to negotiate within and between the social, technological and political contexts of other cultures and to understand the local impact of globalization, environmental issues, and other current and future change factors."

Strategic goals formulated by the USG BOR, Georgia Tech, and the Ivan Allen College call for preparing students to work as part of an international team that collaborates globally and, as President Peterson has expressed it, to conceive the "study of languages as such an important factor for helping to create global citizens." The School of Modern Languages designed the new degree to fulfill those goals, while at the same time responding to and extending an extraordinary call for change by the Modern Language Association which has challenged institutions to conceive a framework of study that guides students to reflect on the world and themselves through the lens of another language and culture.

The new Applied Languages and Intercultural Studies degree emphasizes a unique content-based approach. The approach combines acquiring a high standard of foreign language proficiency developed and delivered in targeted contexts of societies and cultures, industry and technology, arts and media, and intercultural communication. Students will complete a cluster or an interdisciplinary minor of a minimum of 15 hours in another major discipline or interdisciplinary minor and earn at least 12 credits from an approved study abroad program through coursework in either the major language discipline or in the cluster discipline. Students are encouraged to complete a second term abroad as well. The degree program will begin with Japanese and Spanish tracts, with plans for Chinese, French and German to be added in the near future.

"The degree brings to the forefront the unique curricular approach we've developed during the past eight or nine years," says McKnight. "As a foreign language program seeking to create new standards in how we deliver a skill-set grounded in interdisciplinary content, we believe the degree has the potential to attract local and out-of-state students who cannot find such a model elsewhere. Employment opportunities should be much broader for foreign language graduates, who, of course will have the quality of a Georgia Tech degree on their resume. Moreover, these students will graduate with the added advantage of Tech's core curriculum which ensures a stronger grounding in science and technology than at other schools."