Mission

Inclusivity is often a hard concept to define and, harder still, to enact. At the Language Resource Center, we strive for instruction and resources to be inclusive with respect to the student body, the content, the languages and communities represented, and the contexts and histories that inform language.

Through our mission, we seek to support the language learning journeys of all learners in the U-M community and the myriad identities represented by this community. This work includes supporting the learning of as many languages as possible and doing our best to provide resources to those who seek to learn languages that we are not yet able to support. Additionally, we understand the nuances of identity expression and representation in language and seek to encourage and foster conversations around these nuances. Finally, we acknowledge that language is never apolitical nor is language acquisition and endeavor to provide resources that recognize and grapple with this reality.
 

At the LRC, we strive to be equitable when approaching the resources we provide and to whom. We believe that all language learners at the university and worldwide should be given the opportunity to learn and explore language without fear of discrimination or hate. Additionally, we aspire to support all language programs according to their need, while also recognizing that value or impact can never be assessed solely through the number of students served or the size of the program. In addition to equity in the manner with which we allocate resources, the Language Resource Center advocates for equity in the classroom. This goes beyond the absence of discrimination and includes ensuring equal access such as the provision of accommodations for students with disabilities and the work to make educational materials more affordable.

We also recognize that equity is an ideal rather than a destination and should be approached as a moving target. Without concentrated and ongoing discussion on how better to exemplify this ideal, we run the risk of stagnating, or acquiescing to a “good enough” system. No system of education is without its faults and this is especially true within a system that has its roots in colonization, white supremacy, and classism (Stein, 2022). We aspire to look critically at many aspects of higher education often taken for granted such as assessment strategies and the division of power between students and teachers. Our goal is not to be perfect, but rather to constantly look for ways to improve. As such, the LRC is always open to criticism from the community it serves and we sincerely hope that our community can trust us enough to honor these criticisms and take action.

Stein, Sharon. (2022). Unsettling the University: Confronting the Colonial Foundations of US Higher Education.

A core part of the LRC’s mission is to consult with instructors in the world languages & cultures courses at U-M on the integration of technology in their teaching and pedagogy. To this end, our approach is always to assess the impact of a technology on learning, learners, and instructors in a holistic manner. The LRC makes considerations regarding inclusivity, equity, diversity, and accessibility a high priority for our understanding of these impacts. As such, we are very conscious of the multiple ways that technologies can both enable and complicate student learning. We believe we have a responsibility to carefully consider the impacts of technology with respect to these issues, and strive to understand technologies based not just on what benefits they may afford, but also on the basis of their socioeconomic considerations. Whom do they advantage? What effect on classroom climate might they have? What are their implications for power, community, trust, and safety?

Many newly emerging technologies have posed challenges for disrupting the previous modes of instruction and learning. The internet, mobile devices, social media, and artificial intelligence/machine learning have offered interesting new affordances for students to facilitate their understanding of languages, connect with people from different cultures, and take more ownership and active roles in their knowledge journeys. They have also raised some new concerns about knowledge access, privacy and the right to be forgotten, mental health, civic discourse, and in the case of some of these technologies, have severe implications for our conception of literacy in a digital age, trust in institutional sources of knowledge, and how our democratic institutions might respond to them. The LRC believes that in light of these disruptions, it is now more important than ever to cultivate nuanced and critical perspectives regarding our uses and the possible abuses of technology, and actively work toward prosocial modes of integrating them in instruction.

For these reasons, the LRC considers it a core part of our mission to support instructors and faculty in navigating these issues. By taking into account current research, practical experience, student input, and community stakeholder feedback, we endeavor to provide informed and responsible input to our constituents.

Many of the principles outlined in this statement are underpinned by the recognition that language is always political; however, the LRC wants to bring attention specifically to the University’s complicated history with the Indigenous peoples of Michigan as well as the legacies of violence against, and forced assimilation of, the communities native to this continent. We believe that the original stewards of this land as well as our own history of violence against these communities should be acknowledged. A detailed land acknowledgement pertaining to the University of Michigan’s seizure of Anishinaabek land can be found below both in English and Ojibwe.

From Alphonse Pitawanakwat, U-M instructor of Nishnaabe:

Anishinaabek gaa bi-dinakiiwaad temigad manda Michigan Kichi-Kinoomaagegamig. Mdaaswi-nshwaaswaak-shi-mdaaswi-shi-niizhawaaswi gii-sababoonagag, Ojibwe, Odawa, minwaa Bodwewaadami Anishinaabek wiiba gii-miigwenaa’aa dakimowaa maamoojiniibina Kichi-Kinoomaagegamgoong wi pii gaa noozwin kaadeg Waawiindamaagewin Waakaa’iiganing Meigs, nji niijaansiwaan ji kinoomaagaasinid. N’debowendaanaa gii-gijoowepshkowindwaa Anishinaabek da-kiimowaang wii-zhiseg Kichi-Kinoomaagegamig ji maajiishkaamigag. Nangwa mishkowendaanaa megwaa minwaa gaa bi-aankosejig wi gii-kichi-mina-bigidnigewaad Kinoomaagegamigoong.

The University of Michigan is located on the territory of the Anishinaabe people. In 1817, the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Bodwewaadami Nations made the largest single land transfer to the University of Michigan, ceded in the Treaty of Fort Meigs, so that their children could be educated. We acknowledge the history of native displacement that allowed the University of Michigan to be founded. Today we affirm contemporary and ancestral Anishinaabek ties and their profound contributions to this institution.

We recognize the forced erasure of indigenous languages globally and find interventions that challenge linguistic imperialism wherever it may arise. We believe that, when approached ethically, with a focus on reciprocity and an active avoidance of extractionary practices, learning indigenous languages can function as a direct rebuke of colonialist notions of linguistic hierarchy and students should be encouraged and empowered to embark on such learning journeys. We also understand that language is sacred and indigenous communities should have the right to withhold knowledge from outsiders. The Language Resource Center will continue to defer to the expertise of community leaders when disseminating resources or creating programming around indigenous languages.

At the LRC, we believe there are inherent benefits to learning languages and cultures that transcend state or economic interests. The act of learning a language can also be a humanistic pursuit, and is an act of communion with others. Being able to communicate actively with speakers from other geographical, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds builds empathy and understanding of worldviews and experiences outside of one’s own, and neurological research has even suggested learning another language has beneficial physical and cognitive effects on your brain.

For many this can be a joyous, profound, and enlightening experience. By learning a new language, you are taking an active step to connect with and experience an increasingly complex and globalized world filled with people and ideas from countless perspectives. This approach to learning, we believe, is a key component for citizens navigating a world that often requires more understanding of context, nuance, critical thought, and literacy in a growing number of mediums and knowledge domains than ever before in order to truly gain deep understanding of issues and subjects. Cultivating an understanding of the world that is informed by direct experience, with people outside of one’s native linguistic realm is beneficial for any field of study, whether it be science, humanities, medicine, technology, or the arts, as there is no aspect of humanity that does not find some measure of variability across cultures and linguistic landscapes.