The College of LAS is where curiosity drives impact, and the new Curiosity to Impact (C2I) Fund helps faculty members to do exactly that.
Announced in fall of 2025, the C2I Fund is part of the college’s Strategic Investment Program. Faculty members submit proposals for the creation or revision of courses, certificates, and programs. This year, 15 proposals were awarded a total of over $1.15 million.
Descriptions of this year’s awardees from SLCL follow:
Interdisciplinary/immersive/interactive digital East Asian studies
Submitted by Shao Dan, East Asian languages and cultures, this online graduate certificate program is centered on East Asia’s histories, cultures, languages, and contemporary studies, with an emphasis on digital methods, immersive/interactive media, and the humanities stakes of artificial intelligence. Among the many learning outcomes presented include applying interdisciplinary methods to analyze region-specific questions in East Asian studies, critically assessing affordances, limitations, and ethical implications of digital tools, data practices, and AI applications, and engaging ethically and inclusively with East Asian communities, scholarship, and data sources in global contexts.
The social lives of bilingualism
Salvatore Callesano, Spanish and Portuguese, submitted a proposal for the development of a new hybrid general education course that would cover the fundamental concepts of sociolinguistics, particularly regarding language variation, linguistic ideologies, and language attitudes and biases. The course will also cover how bilingual language practices are policed and judged, as well as how to promote linguistic diversity and inclusivity in real-world professional settings.
Editor's note: A version of this story first appeared on the College of LAS website.