Lecturer at South Asia Summer Language Institute; SASLI

The South Asia Summer Language Institute (SASLI) is a national, eight‑week, intensive language institute housed in the Language Program Office (LPO) at the University of Wisconsin‑Madison and co‑administered by the UW‑Madison Center for South Asia. SASLI offers courses in South Asian languages annually from mid‑June through mid‑August. SASLI is also one of the programs hosted under the Wisconsin Intensive Summer Language Institutes within the LPO.

SASLI is governed by a national consortium of U.S. universities that contribute resources, academic oversight, and language teaching staff to support this unique language institute.

The 2026 SASLI program will be held from June 15 through August 7 and will be preceded by a staff orientation week from June 8‑12, 2026. SASLI offers the first‑, second, and third‑year study of the following languages:
Bengali, Dari, Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi, Nepali, Pashto, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sinhala, Tamil, Tibetan, and/or Urdu.

Under the supervision of the Academic Director of the South Asia Summer Language Institute (SASLI) and designated Administrative and Pedagogical staff of the Language Program Office (LPO), and in coordination with the designated SASLI Pedagogy Coordinator and administrative staff members, language instructors will perform the following duties:

• Teach one South Asian language at the elementary, intermediate, or advanced level in an eight‑week intensive format. Prospective instructors should be aware that a combined Intermediate‑Advanced course may be offered, with students placed within a similar proficiency range (typically Intermediate‑Mid to Advanced‑Mid). SASLI 2026 classes will be taught in an online, synchronous format.
• Following ACTFL recommendations, commit to communicating at least 90% in the target language in interaction with students for the duration of the program.
• Prepare syllabus, determine appropriate course goals and objectives, create lesson plans and teaching materials for assigned language and course level and potentially for future use by the institute.
• Prepare weekly lesson plans and provide to assigned pedagogy coordinator(s).
• Develop, administer, and grade classroom and home assignments and exams; maintain student learning management system (LMS) on Canvas.
• Hold scheduled office hours a minimum of 2 hours per week with additional time available to students upon request.
• Supervise the Faculty Assistant or Teaching Assistant assigned to the section, if applicable.
• Work closely with the LPO and program pedagogy staff to prepare for course observations and performance evaluations that ensure program guidelines and expectations are met.
• Demonstrate ability to collaborate with other instructors and program staff.
• Contribute to fostering a supportive and collegial working environment.
• Advise on cultural programming and help prepare and implement institute co‑curricular activities, no more than one a week.
• Participate in all pedagogy workshops and instructor meetings organized by WISLI and individual programs, including all required pre‑service workshops during the first week of employment.
• Instructors may be required to submit supplemental evaluations for students who have received a FLAS fellowship or other funding.
• Instructors may be required to administer placement tests to incoming program participants.
• Follow WISLI best practices and work toward level‑appropriate standards of ACTFL proficiency‑based instruction.
• Ensuring target language use in the classroom.
• Maintaining an engaging and orderly learning environment.
• Acting as the first point of contact for student academic and non‑academic issues with support from the pedagogy coordinator and academic director.
• Organizing all course materials and updating student grades in Canvas.
• Sharing course‑related communications with students.
• Managing classroom administrative tasks including taking attendance, reporting grades, and providing timely feedback.

During the eight‑week summer period, there will be at least one scheduled teaching observation. Additional observations may be arranged for professional development purposes, to address classroom‑related issues, or for funding agency…