Language and Intercultural Learning Center

LINC

Explore languages and discover intercultural perspectives at the Language and Intercultural Learning Center. LINC is a gathering, learning, and study space for the entire Valpo campus community. The center provides essential support to language learners and also facilitates intercultural learning for students, staff, and faculty.

First Things First

Let’s Explore

Intercultural Learning

Placement

World Languages & Cultures Dept.

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You are welcome here

Overview

Seven smiling students from different language groups sit around a table playing a card game in a colorful classroom setting.

Visit LINC

CURRENT HOURS
Mon-Fri • 9 am to 4 pm
Closed on Labor Day

SEMESTER HOURS
Mon-Thur • 9 am to 8:30 pm
Fri • 9 am to 4 pm
Semester hours begin Sept 2.

LOCATION – ASB 240
Arts & Sciences Building, main level

DIRECTOR: Carol Goss, M.A.
Office within LINC, ASB 240

contact LINC

LINC Supports

Intercultural Learning

LINC facilitates intercultural learning to help students, faculty, and staff develop intercultural competence. If you are curious about intercultural perspectives, or are already committed to developing your intercultural competence, we invite you to explore!

For Students

A group of women sit at a table, listening and smiling during a meeting in the brightly lit Language and Intercultural Learning Center.

Language groups, programming, and engaging activities for reflection.

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For Faculty & Staff

Professional development opportunities include IDI Planners Groups, seasonal reading groups, and monthly Podcast Parlor.

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IDI Intercultural Assessment

The Intercultural Development Inventory®, or IDI®, is a cross-culturally valid instrument for measuring intercultural competence. The IDI is a launchpad for students, faculty, and staff to explore intercultural perspectives. At LINC, intercultural competence refers to a person’s capacity to effectively and appropriately experience cultures and with people across cultural, reflecting a person’s capacity to:

shift perspective and behavior
based on commonalities and differences
by experiencing cultures and individuals
with greater levels of complexity.

Intercultural competence is relevant in a variety of settings – both global and local, personal and professional – and can be developed over time and with focused effort. Intercultural learning refers to the actions an individual explicitly takes in order to build their own intercultural competence. Intercultural learning is purposeful, developmental, and challenging. This learning process is unique to each individual who intentionally commits to furthering their intercultural competence.

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Get to know US

LINC Staff

LINC is powered by a passionate team of professional and student staff dedicated to language study and intercultural exploration. Meet the individuals who make LINC a vibrant welcoming space for the Valpo community.

Tutoring begins September 2.

tutoring appointments

German Tutor — Abbi is in her senior year and is majoring in German with minors in Secondary Education and Humanities. She spent last year in Germany.

Spanish Tutor — Alondra is in her senior year and is majoring in in Spanish and Health Care Leadership

French Tutor — Mary is minoring in French to complement her major in Digital Media Arts.

Spanish Tutor — Rebecca is pursuing a degree in Education and Spanish. She is in her second year tutoring at LINC.

LINC Director — Carol Goss ’92, MA is in her 28th year working at Valpo and is also an alumna. She is deeply passionate about serving students in their language learning and intercultural development.

News & Giving

Newsletters

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Plans for
2025-2026

LINC will broadly support the Valpo campus by:

Facilitating impactful opportunities supporting the intercultural development of Valpo students, faculty, and staff (see below),
Providing engaging resources and spaces for individual reflection about intercultural development,
Promoting campus conversations and healthy dialogue about intercultural topics, and
Strengthening robust support for language learners including tutoring, student-led language groups, and programming

LINC will offer unique intercultural learning opportunities including:

An intercultural inventory called the IDI, an assessment that measures intercultural competence. The IDI serves as a tool for individual development and as a springboard to advance campus conversations surrounding intercultural practices.
Professional development opportunities for faculty and staff such as the monthly Podcast Parlor and seasonal reading groups. New this fall is the IDI Planning Group for faculty and staff who have completed the IDI and want to grow their intercultural competence within a community of practice.
Programming with an intercultural focus, such as CIRCLE STUDIO, Matters of Language, and other ways of engaging students with intercultural topics. Engaging displays are integrated into the LINC’s space, prompting small moments of individual reflection that aim lead to informal conversation and healthy dialogue.