MIC Related Research | Dr. Nancy Squires

Stony Brook’s new Center for Multilingual and Intercultural Communication (MIC) will be transformative for the University.  Under the skilled and enthusiastic leadership of Dr. Agnes He, the Center promises to forge cross-departmental, cross-disciplinary collaborations at Stony Brook University that will revitalize and modernize how we teach languages and how we do research on language learning.  For too long our faculty members with interests and expertise in these areas have been scattered across departments, and I’m thrilled to see their energies brought together under a single tent.  The benefits will accrue not only to the faculty and the research effort, but to undergraduates and graduate students who will now have access to a group of faculty who understand multilingualism from multiple perspectives.  One of the most exciting aspects of the vision of this center is the inclusion of studies of the role of culture in the language process. It is increasingly clear that the cultural context in which communication occurs is a vital factor in all aspects of language learning and language use. This perspective will be an invaluable contribution to our new curricula in Global Studies.