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CASLS is delighted to be partnering with the College of Arts and Sciences, the UO Language Council, and the Yamada Language Center on Language-learning Innovation for Teaching (LIFT) – an initiative to support and transform language learning at the University of Oregon (UO). Participants are working together towards making the UO a leading example of proficiency-based language education in the Pacific Northwest. Twenty-two faculty members from eight departments (Comparative Literature, East Asian Languages and Literatures, German and Scandinavian, International Studies, Linguistics, Religious Studies, Romance Languages and Russian, Eastern Europe, and Eurasian) are engaging in a tailored professional development experience focused on fifteen different topics to be implemented in lower-division courses.  Some examples include France Noire: African American Writers in France (1918 to 1970) (Corinne Bayerl, Comparative Literature), Learning How to Learn Languages (Melissa Baese-Berk, Kathie Carpenter, Spike Gildea, and Harinder Khalsa), and Russian Literature and the Politics of the Fantastic (Jenifer Presto). Julie Sykes, CASLS’ Director notes, “LIFT is a unique opportunity for collaboration across departments and disciplines. It brings together people with a common goal to engage in meaningful work looking towards the future.” CASLS looks forward to continued collaboration during the 2018-2019 year as part of the LIFT team.