Biology major Sonali Kaluri is a STEM expert. Spanish major Sonali Kaluri is a language and culture expert.
Put the two together and you have a sharply educated researcher with a passion for healthcare. Kaluri is headed to Barcelona after graduation this Spring as a Fulbright Scholar to study the health of migrant workers under the digital platform economy. She plans to later embark on a career in medicine.
It’s something she says she couldn’t have done without her experiences at the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.
“You need to have a deep understanding of people and the systems that surround us to be able to effectively and ethically help people as a physician,” said Kaluri, who attended Georgia Tech as a Stamps President's Scholar.
Kaluri’s Applied Languages and Intercultural Studies degree from the School of Modern Languages helped shape that understanding, including through classes studying Spanish literature.
“Literature is such an important window into the lives of people different from you,” Kaluri said. “Studying another language’s great works is an excellent way to understand the experiences of different people and build that empathy, which translates to real life for me in being able to better connect with the people I meet.”
Kaluri, who was fluent in her parents’ languages of Telugu and Kannada before arriving at Georgia Tech, had always wanted to combine language training with her work in healthcare.
“Early in high school and college, I would shadow doctors, and if they had a patient that couldn’t speak English, I’d be able to follow along with the conversation even without an interpreter using my knowledge from high school Spanish classes,” Kaluri said. “I figured that one day as a doctor, it would be cool to be able to talk directly to a larger number of patients without needing an interpreter and to be able to build greater rapport with patients. That was the spark for why I wanted to pursue more rigorous study of Spanish.”
Her interest in medicine derives from seeing how cultural norms around gender and caregiving can shape and even sideline women’s own healthcare needs.
“I realized that was a big part of why I wanted to pursue medicine — to advocate for people on a deeper level, to try to bridge these gaps that I've noticed in research, in the clinic, et cetera,” Kaluri said.
Kelly Comfort, one of Kaluri’s Spanish professors, said Kaluri’s success shows what’s possible with a combined STEM and liberal arts education.
“Sonali is the kind of student who proves that the humanities are not separate from science and medicine — they strengthen them. Her ability to think critically about culture, identity, and social systems through her ALIS major has shaped her into a more thoughtful future healthcare professional,” Comfort said.
“She is not only highly skilled in pre-health and pre-medicine fields, but she is also multilingual, interculturally competent, empathetic, reflective, and prepared to improve the human condition across cultures, languages, and borders,” Comfort said.
Students studying French at Georgia Tech now have another reason to be proud of their hard work. The French program in the School of Modern Languages has been designated a member of the Centers of Excellence University Network by Villa Albertine, the French Institute for Culture and Education.
This prestigious recognition places Georgia Tech’s French program among 28 elite programs in the U.S., including those at Brown, Cornell, Harvard, and MIT. It highlights the program’s distinctive approach to French and Francophone studies, which bridges language, literature, culture, technology, and sustainability.
“We are dedicated to offering Georgia Tech students outstanding instruction and opportunities in French and Francophone studies,” said Stéphanie Boulard, professor and director of the French Program at Georgia Tech who applied for the designation with Villa Albertine. “The Centers of Excellence Network opens up exciting new opportunities for our students.”
Through this new partnership, students can look forward to expanded exchange programs, collaborative projects with French universities, and access to research and cultural events organized by Villa Albertine. “We are eager to collaborate with other Centers of Excellence across the country,” added Boulard, “and to build connections that will enrich our students’ global education.”
Villa Albertine, a division of the French Embassy in the U.S., is dedicated to promoting and supporting French and Francophone studies on American campuses through a multidisciplinary lens that embraces the social sciences, humanities, and arts. With cultural offices in cities such as New York, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, Villa Albertine supports transatlantic research, artistic residencies, and public dialogues that foster cultural exchange and intellectual collaboration.
Villa Albertine’s Centers of Excellence in the United States partner with higher education institutions in France to support joint research, student mobility, and visiting faculty exchanges, as well as seminars, lectures, and festivals. As a new member of this network, Georgia Tech’s French Program will expand its international partnerships and offer students new pathways to engage with French and Francophone culture through study abroad, research, and creative collaboration.
“This designation reflects the incredible energy of our students and faculty,” said Boulard. “It shows that learning French at Georgia Tech is not only about language, it’s about building bridges between cultures, disciplines, and ideas.”
Read the full article on the Georgia Tech News website.
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The Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts attracts some of the best minds in the social sciences and humanities, scholars and practitioners eager to further Georgia Tech's mission of educating leaders who advance technology and improve the human condition. Our newest faculty members are no exception.
This year, we are proud to welcome 13 tenured or tenure-track faculty, 21 non-tenure-track faculty, including Marion L. Brittain Postdoctoral Fellows and new cadre members in our ROTC programs, four research faculty, and 11 visiting faculty.
From swans to sparrows, birds are bridging the humanities and STEM fields in Stéphanie Boulard’s new Vertically Integrated Project (VIP).
“The Birds in Arts and Media VIP is a collaborative space where so many fields come together — ecology, sustainability, web design, literature, language, and art,” said Boulard, a professor of French and director of the French program in the School of Modern Languages.
A VIP is a Vertically Integrated Project, part of an international program in which students earn academic credit while collaborating on long-term multidisciplinary research projects.
Students in Boulard’s VIP create and produce Plumage, a bilingual online and print magazine featuring side-by-side English and French articles.
“In Plumage, students explore the cultural, artistic, and environmental significance of birds — both in French arts and media and in the local context of Atlanta,” Boulard said.
Last year, the VIP team and students in Boulard’s Environmental Literature, Arts, and Media course published three themed issues of Plumage: The Swan, Birds of War and Peace, and Pigeons.
The magazine’s content spans community engagement, cultural analysis, creative expression, and technological innovation. Plumage includes interviews with local experts, ecological research, campus birdwatching guides, original art and writing, literary and artistic analyses — even interactive digital games.
“It’s exciting to see students integrate technical skills with humanistic inquiry,” said Boulard. “Some work on website design and functionality, while others propose topics to explore, design the layout, conduct interviews, and create content.”
The VIP brings together students from a wide variety of majors, each of whom has something to contribute — and to learn — from its central theme.
Natalia Alvarez Rodriguez, a Literature, Media, and Communication major, said the project offered a new way to look at animals and their role in the environment.
“It was eye-opening to be introduced to the concept of decentering the human perspective and instead appreciating [animals] as beings in their own right,” Rodriguez said.
Karen Zheng, a Computer Science major, appreciated the chance to apply and practice her skills in a creative setting.
“The collaborative development process is a great opportunity to learn from other students and develop valuable website-building tools,” said Zhang.
Steve Place, a Modern Languages graduate student and a campus sustainability program manager at Georgia Tech, said the experience brought his fields of work and study together.
“The experience has heightened my awareness of our natural world while immersing me in the French language,” said Place. “I understand the role of birds as sentinels of a healthy environment.”
Computational Media major Jasmine Cobb created an illustrated matching game for the Plumage site that helps players learn the parts of a bird’s anatomy.
“I love how Plumage makes bird facts fun and visually appealing,” said Cobb. “I can’t wait to see how the VIP will continue to develop.”
The Birds in Arts and Media VIP grew out of Boulard’s ongoing research and teaching in the environmental humanities. Last summer, with the help of Emily Wiegel from the School of Biological Sciences, she and colleague Andrea Jonsson installed a device on campus that records birdsong and monitors the species present as part of their joint project, “French Environmental Humanities and/in the Arts.”
“Plumage offers students the opportunity to contribute to scholarship at the intersection of the humanities and STEM,” said Boulard. “At its core, it’s about co-creating knowledge and sharing it beyond the classroom.”
Going forward, Boulard said she is open to the possibility of adding other languages to the VIP.
“I would like to help build Plumage into a regular publication with many contributors, curated and produced by students,” she said.