Description
The center includes eight cultural hubs relfecting languages offered at USU: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish. These hubs offer a comfortable and inviting space for students to practice their language skills using specialized books and materials; engage with cultural artifacts; have video meetings with other students from around the world; and experience the foods, music, film, and art of another culture. These spaces allow students to engage in real-time conversation and cultural immersion here on campus, which is essential for helping new students increase language proficiency while letting advanced students maintain cultural ties to the languages and places they’ve studied. The hubs help establish a USU community for each language, inviting students, instructors, and guest speakers to enjoy an immersive experience as they share space over conversation, food, and objects that let them travel to another part of the world without leaving campus.
Room Details
Location
Located in the highly visible and most used halls of the new building, these hubs were designed for easy access by language and IELI students. Flanking the path that leads to the north and south exits, these hubs are also visible from the second floor thanks to the open plan of the building's main area.
Amenities
These rooms, designed with collaboration in mind, give students a comfortable place to study language with fellow learners and native speakers. The casual and welcoming environment provides a relaxed area outside of the classroom for students to develop communication and language skills with their classmates.
Sofas, lounge chairs and bar tables help students to stay relaxed while they practice speaking, listening and reading their languages of study. To encourage a focused atmosphere — as well as student health and wellness — each room contains an under-the-counter refrigerator for students who wish to bring food and drink from home.
- Plenty of seating types accommodate a variety of student needs and support inclusive conversation spaces
- Open access to outer hall with lots of natural light
- Small tables for group work
- Digital displays let students collaborate on projects and have fun through club activities