
IMPACT
The Center for Urban Language Teaching and Research is a national language resource center empowering urban environments, establishing language opportunities and enhancing our communities through access, advocacy, outreach and research. The meaningful work of this center focuses on empowering all world language learners and educators toward successful pathways into rewarding careers. Below is a snapshot of this impact.

years of professional development workshops for K-16 language educators
Through interactive, dynamic and effective workshops geared toward developing proven practices in the classroom, CULTR supports a new generation of highly effective world language educators.
partnerships with diverse industry leaders from business, non-profit, government, and education
By committing resources towards equipping students with global skills, these organizations converge to help lower the unemployment rate, reduce unfilled jobs and provide future employees with the training they need.


students connected to organizations that emphasize language proficiency and cultural competency
Through real-world experiences, open dialogue about industry needs and a push for globally-minded talent across potential employees, World Languages Day students are empowered to create a “map” from language success to a future professional career.
Raising Our Community’s Profile
University Organizations
Leveraging the talent and resources of Georgia State alongside:
Atlanta Global Studies Center, Center for Excellence in Teaching Learning & Online Education, Center for International Business Education & Research, Department of World Languages and Cultures, J. Mack Robinson College of Business, Latinx Student Service and Outreach, Office of International Initiatives and many more.
Local and Regional Employers
Developing collaborations alongside employers such as:
American Red Cross, CDC, Coca-Cola, Delta, Goodwill, Mercedes-Benz, Peace Corps, Pearson, Porsche, Telemundo, UPS, YMCA and many more.
Government and National Security Agencies
Establishing alliances alongside government agencies such as:
CIA, Dept. of Economic Development, FBI, Georgia Dept. of Education, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Mayor’s Office of International Affairs, NSA and many more.
Advisory Board Representatives
Building a national and regional leadership network alongside:
ACTFL, Georgia Dept. of Education, Georgetown University Gwinnett County schools and local affiliates, Modern Language Association, Rutgers University, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and many more.
Achieving Together
At CULTR, we believe the ability to achieve solutions to the issues facing our country’s language education programs requires understanding and comprehensively meeting the national needs of educators and students.
Wide-ranging partnerships, together with the complementary ideals of the partner institutions, foster ideal conditions for the development of competence and interdisciplinary centers of progress. By joining forces, partners can gain efficient access to specific competences and to broader outreach. CULTR applies this principle in an exemplary fashion by means of close collaboration with other establishments of higher education, world language organizations and assemblies, minority-serving institutions, sister LRCs, other Title VI programs and language educators throughout the country.
Through collaboration with these groups, CULTR acts to promote and improve access to language learning opportunities and global awareness for all learners and educators. Fundamental as one of the Department of Education’s Title VI LRCs, CULTR’s scope necessitates partnerships across the national, state and local levels. Moreover, since organizations often have mutual or complementary goals, our LRC endeavors to become familiar with related groups in and beyond our community. After all, collaboration allows organizations to achieve more together than they would be able to achieve alone. By actively developing and utilizing an extensive network of resources, CULTR understands that the most successful collaborations are built on knowledge, trust and relationships that are mutually beneficial.
With this in mind, these collaborations include regular meetings, joint activities, sharing of information and consistent support on projects related to urban education, teacher retention, assessment and other language-related topics. Although CULTR continues to build new relationships across its initiatives, please explore our key national, state and local level organization partnerships below.

The U.S. Department of Education’s mission is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access. Created in 1980, The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has over 4,400 employees and a $68 billion budget dedicated to various initiatives including establishing policies on financial aid, gathering data on America’s schools, ensuring equal access to educational issues and focusing national attention on key educational issues. Adhering to its mission, the U.S. Department of Education, in 1990, established the first Language Resource Centers (LRCs) at US universities in response to the growing national need for expertise and competence in foreign languages. CULTR, representing one of the sixteen LRCs across the U.S. today, is supported by grants under Title VI of the Higher Education Act, creating a national network of resources to promote the teaching and learning of foreign languages.
National Foreign Language Resource Centers (LRCs)
First established in 1990, the Department of Education’s Language Resource Centers (LRCs) were created to promote the teaching and learning of foreign languages in the United States. With support from grants under Title VI of the Higher Education Act, sixteen LRCs today aim to alleviate the increasing U.S. need for proficiency and expertise in foreign languages. Among the LRCs, some centers focus upon specific areas of language while others focus upon a broader scope of foreign languages overall. Regardless, nationally and internationally recognized language professionals lead these centers to create language learning and teaching materials, offer professional development opportunities for educators and conduct research on foreign language learning. As one of the sixteen LRCs, CULTR often works with the other centers to complete various projects, implement widespread initiatives and further the mission of improving foreign language learning in the United States. To learn more about the LRCs, please visit the LRC Portal and explore the individual LRCs below.
American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL)
ACTFL, the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, is dedicated to the improvement and expansion of the teaching and learning of all languages at all levels of instruction. ACTFL is an individual membership organization of more than 12,500 language educators and administrators from elementary through graduate education, as well as government and industry. The ACTFL Annual Convention and World Languages Expo, ACTFL’s largest event, is an annual international event bringing together more than 6,000 language educators from all languages, levels and assignments. This stage represents one of CULTR’s key platforms to disseminate resources, advocate and meet the people we serve. Meeting the changing needs of language educators and students across the country, CULTR and ACTFL also work in partnership on a variety of initiatives pushing the growth of the individual teacher and the profession as a whole.
Georgia’s Dual Language Immersion (DLI) Program Initiative
Utilizing one of the most effective types of learning to nurture bilingual students, Georgia’s Dual Language Immersion programs provide students a learning environment where at least half of their school day is taught in a target language and the other half-day in English. Supported by the Georgia Department of Education, some schools may choose to even increase the percentage of the day spent in the target language based on the particular program’s goals. The benefits of DLI includes the ability for students to develop second language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) and intercultural competency. CULTR works closely with the Georgia Department of Education and these schools through various workshops and conferences to develop relevant and multi-faceted resources for foreign language education.
Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE)
The Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) oversees public education throughout the state of Georgia, ensuring that laws and regulations pertaining to education are followed and that state and federal money appropriated for education is properly allocated to local school systems. With a mission to offer a holistic education for each and every child in the state, the Department is managed by the State Superintendent of Schools, a publicly elected position currently held by Richard Woods. The following offices and divisions comprise the Georgia Department of Education: Finance and Business Operations, Assessment and Accountability, School Improvement, Technology Services, Curriculum and Instruction and External Affairs and Policy. Located in downtown Atlanta near Georgia State University, the Georgia Department of Education and CULTR collaborate on a variety of initiatives to ensure Georgia’s graduating students are ready to learn, ready to live, and ready to lead.
Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce (MAC)
Founded in 1859, the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce (MAC) works in metro Atlanta to promote prosperity and development for the business community. Focused on recruiting corporate headquarters and global business, MAC attracts companies in supply chain and advanced manufacturing, bioscience and health IT, technology and service sectors. Within the past 10 years, MAC’s project managers have recruited more than 500 companies and created 55,000 jobs. Today, the Metro Atlanta Chamber is made up of a unique mixture of 3,000 businesses, including world-renowned Fortune 500 in Atlanta companies and smaller start-up firms. Believing a healthy business community derives from a well-balanced community, MAC also works on issues related to transportation, water, public health and education. MAC’s current plan for success defines four key activities for growth: grow and recruit companies, drive higher education and business collaboration, advance the quality of life and tell Atlanta’s story. CULTR works with the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce through endeavors such as the Global Languages Leadership Meeting to assemble stakeholders and develop strategies to further globalize Atlanta.
Center for International Business Education & Research (CIBER)
While it earned the national resource designation in 2010, Georgia State University and the Institute of International Business at the Robinson College of Business have been serving the academic and business communities with international business expertise since the 1970s. Georgia State recognizes the critical importance for the United States to sustain its leadership as a globally competitive economy. CIBER’s mission is to fully deploy its rich assets of faculty talent, programs and educational offerings, as well as its vast network of regional, national and international partnerships to serve its various stakeholder groups. Coinciding with its mission, CIBER has kindly donated to CULTR’s foreign language workshops. CULTR will continue its partnership with CIBER to further facilitate the initiatives of each center.
Office of International Initiatives (OII)
The Office of International Initiatives (OII) is responsible for the strategic integration and coordination of the University’s international initiatives, partnerships, grants, program development and management, events and activities and study abroad programs. OII lead the formation of a global consortium of universities, expands interdisciplinary faculty teams and focuses on leveraging faculty research strengths on issues facing emerging nations. They also are supporting the important work of the five faculty task forces on Brazil, China, Korea, South Africa and Turkey. In addition, OII established the university’s International Center in 2015, which serves as the nucleus for international activities on campus and supports creation of programs and services that enhance the global competency of students, faculty, staff and the Atlanta community. OII will assist CULTR in the planning and implementation of World Language Day.
Alonzo A. Crim Center for Urban Excellence
The Alonzo A. Crim Center for Urban Excellence was established in 1996 to provide a “city-wide laboratory for the development of excellence in urban education”. Beginning with their founding, their mission is to optimize the life opportunities of children and families in urban communities by ensuring the availability of a prosperous and equitable school environment through community engagement, research and educational development and support. A central goal of the Crim Center is to “bring together faculty who are interested in conducting research and provide services to schools in urban school systems”. In May of 2015, the Crim Center facilitated The Sources of Urban Educational Excellence Conference where CULTR had the opportunity to present, interact, and network with stakeholders across the Southeast’s universities.