The School of Modern Languages Welcomes New GLACT Fellows

Posted September 19, 2017

The School of Modern Languages is excited to introduce its first cohort of Global Languages, Cultures, and Technologies (GLACT) Post-Doctoral Fellows: Dr. Adele Douglin (Spanish), Dr. Viola Green (French), and Dr. Wei Wang (Chinese).

According to Michael Wiedorn, associate professor of French and GLACT program coordinator, “the main goal for us as a School is to round out our team’s capabilities as we work with colleagues who complement our existing strengths.”

The current group of Fellows bring experience and research interests in second language acquisition and pedagogy, linguistics, psycholinguistics, and the effects of study abroad on language acquisition. It was the intersection of their interests and the work being done at the School of Modern Languages that attracted them to the GLACT program.

“The focus of my dissertation was short-term study abroad, and I was excited to get the opportunity to see how study abroad programs successfully work in other languages and countries,” said Douglin. The interest of Green was sparked by “the opportunity to contribute to the further enhancement of [the School’s] Linguistics program.”

The GLACT Program seeks to foster collaboration across languages, technologies, and global cultures, by encouraging and providing opportunities for GLACT Fellows to build relationships with faculty and researchers across the Institute, as they contribute to new and innovative academic programming, and continue and expand their scholarly work.

Being at Georgia Tech presents several exciting possibilities, including the opportunity “to develop collaboration with speech recognition experts in the School of Engineering,” said Wang.

GLACT positions are full-time and renewable for up to three years. Fellows have teaching responsibilities across a range of undergraduate courses, and are given wide-ranging support in achieving their professional development goals. Wiedorn expressed that the “program’s emphasis on professionalization is of particular interest to me, and I look forward to doing my best to connect our new colleagues with people who can help them along their career path.”

The GLACT program is a tremendous growth opportunity for both the School of Modern Languages and its new Fellows.