Arts and Sciences Building Facade

Intercultural Learning

for Faculty & Staff

Valpo University Students

Explore Intercultural Learning

The Language and Intercultural Learning Center facilities intercultural learning opportunities and curates resources specifically for Valpo faculty and staff. LINC initiatives that support intercultural development include an online assessment that measures intercultural competence, short-term and occasional discussion groups, and an IDI planning group for those who’ve committed to further developing their intercultural competence, coming in 25-26.

Below, explore opportunities and resources designed for Valpo faculty and staff. Contact LINC Director Carol Goss for more details.

Pictured above are faculty and staff who participated in the inaugural 2024 LINC Summer Reading Group. Here, members meet for their final discussion of Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson. After enjoying a light meal, the group watched the film Origin, a creative and powerful adaptation that depicts Wilkerson’s path while researching and writing her book.

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Faculty and Staff Groups Overview

  • SUMMER 2025 READING GROUP: Join other faculty and staff members to progressively read and discuss Patrick Radden Keefe’s Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland. For summer discussion dates, visit LINC Reading Groups.
  • PODCAST PARLOR (25-26) : Join other faculty and staff for Podcast Parlor, a monthly group for faculty and staff interested in discussing language matters and intercultural perspectives. The group generally meets five times each semester. Find information about upcoming discussion dates and other details at Podcast Parlor.
  • IDI PLANNING GROUP (Fall 2025): If you’re a faculty or staff member who has completed the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), you are invited to join a Community of Practice to help you work on your individual IDI Plan. The IDI planning group begins this fall. I’m interested. Please contact me.
  • LANGUAGE GROUPS: Put yourself in the role of learner and try a new language by participating in a student-led language group. Though these informal groups are created for students, based on their interests, Valpo faculty and staff are also welcome to participate. Language Groups
  • SPRING 2025 READING GROUP: After the spring recess, faculty and staff members discussed Michelle Zauer’s memoir Crying in H Mart.
  • WINTER 2025 READING GROUP Over winter break 2024, faculty and staff members read the novel Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, returning to campus for a two-part discussion in late January.
  • SUMMER 2024 READING GROUP (May – August): A small group of faculty and staff met on five occasions over the summer to progressively read and discuss the book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson. This short-term group gathered for the last time in early August to view the companion film Origin. Future short-term reading groups will be developed in the coming year.

Please contact LINC Director Carol Goss if you know of other helpful online resources.