Goals & Outcomes
The WLAIS program is intended to give students academic and linguistic instruction coupled with practical experience in the diverse communities of metro Atlanta. Students will have the opportunities to leverage these resources and their skills to construct their own emphasis within and outside the standard curriculum. WLAIS students might choose one of the following pathways:
- Entrepreneur: whether this be working with or within a local community based on language or region, or with one or more nations in a region, WLAIS students can use their language and cultural skills to establish, expand or diversify their business interests.
- Corporate Strategist: the same applies to those working within an established business framework: developing linguistic and cultural skills can enhance their firm’s footprint and also their own position within that firm.
- Curator or Event Planner: WLAIS will provide the instruction and skills necessary for students to create authentic and relevant events or displays that will speak to both the language/culture in question and the larger metro Atlanta community.
- Teacher: an established language, history or literature teacher in the K-12 school system will be able to leverage instruction, skills, and opportunities to enhance their students’ success as well as their own career prospects.
- Artistic Creator: by using their WLAIS experience to develop their cultural awareness, grow their language and networking skills, creators in all media will have the opportunity to reach wider and deeper audiences.
- Social Worker: WLAIS graduates will gain the skills and knowledge necessary to help clients in need through appropriate linguistic and cultural awareness, while providing opportunities for them to develop their own careers in social work.
- Activist: whether this be cultural or political, or both, WLAIS graduates will be able to reach a broader audience with more appropriate and persuasive material to advance their cause.
- Translator: WLAIS graduates will gain expertise in the field of translation through linguistic and cultural training as well as cross-cultural and cross-linguistic knowledge they get from the program.
- Teaching Abroad Profession: Those working on language teaching and developing pedagogical knowledge can use their skills from WLAIS to teach a language (FL/ESL) in transnational contexts.
