The Department of World Languages and Culture celebrated the 25th anniversary of its Language, Culture and Professions (LCP) program with events from Monday through Friday.
LCP is an interdisciplinary program that pairs professional backgrounds with language and cultural skills, preparing students for global careers. LCP majors and minors are offered in five language areas: French, German, Spanish, Russian and Chinese.
Megan Myers, world languages and cultures department chair, said LCP pairs language skills with whatever a student’s primary major or disciplinary interest is.
“On top of that, it gives them language and cultural skills to succeed in their global career, or in whatever their global or professional pathway might look like,” Myers said.
The program, which is interdisciplinary and can be combined with degrees at all of Iowa State’s colleges, is designed to prepare students for a global career.
“The idea of using language for business and international relations started in the ’60s or ’70s as an acknowledgment that not everyone who studies language wants to necessarily read literature,” Lindsay Preseau, an assistant professor of world languages and cultures, said.
While practical reasons for the area of study had existed for decades, for example, learning Russian for diplomacy in the Cold War, Preseau said Iowa State was a pioneer in applying language and cultures to professions when introducing the program 25 years ago.
“Until the 2000s, when Iowa State started this program, there were classes in LCP, but there weren’t actual programs and tracks,” Preseau said. “ISU was one of the first universities to have a fully fledged program that concentrated on this.”
Events were hosted throughout the week to celebrate the anniversary, including:
- A kickoff Monday to recruit 25 LCP majors and minors
- A celebration of current LCP majors and minors at a tabling event Tuesday
- A case study competition Wednesday
- An impact and insights panel with alumni Thursday
- Stickers and donut holes in the WLC main office Friday
Myers said the kickoff event on Monday was a start to a campaign called 25 @ 25, which has the purpose of recruiting 25 new majors in minors to mark the anniversary of the program and all within 2025.
“Our college’s strategic plan is in large part to make these community-based and global connections, so that students can see themselves as global citizens that operate in all these different spaces,” Myers said.
Gavin Twohig, a junior in electrical engineering, plans to study engineering in Germany.
“I plan to try and get some internships in Germany for electrical engineering firms,” Twohig said. “I think that the LCP minor will be pretty helpful for that.”
Twohig found an interest in German classes in high school, but has continued to learn new information at Iowa State.
“The most interesting thing that I’ve learned so far would be how each of the work customs that are different in Germany,” Twohig said.
As cultures change, details of communication change, even affecting how you write a resume and communicate within the workplace.
“Change in cultural focus changes how you write a resume and how you communicate with others, which was fascinating,” Twohig said. “It’s a nice way to get a perspective of cultures from all around the world and be able to learn a language while doing so.”
