WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Joint National Committee for Languages and the National Council for Languages and International Studies (JNCL-NCLIS) is pleased to announce the addition of Ezra Wyschogrod as Public Policy Intern at their offices in the Washington, D.C. area for the Fall/Winter term.
As Public Policy Intern, Wyschogrod assists the Managing Director in researching federal legislation, tracking federal appropriations, and drafting and disseminating action alerts to JNCL-NCLIS member organizations.
Wyschogrod received a BA in linguistics and mathematics from Columbia University, and an MS in linguistics from Georgetown University. During his academic career, he focused on phonology and socio-phonetics, and conducted fieldwork in Côte d’Ivoire, his hometown of Boston, and in immigrant communities in New York.
Wyschogrod’s dedication for world language learning began early, teaching himself a language not offered at his high school—German. He completed an honors thesis examining world language offerings in public high schools nationwide, particularly whether the language(s) offered corresponded to the heritage language of that school district’s largest census-defined heritage group.Prior to his internship acceptance, Wyschogrod was part of two research teams documenting threatened languages: Zazaki (Turkey) and Guebie (Côte d’Ivoire).
“I’m excited to be able to advocate for language rights,” said Wyschogrod. “Linguistic diversity cannot thrive in the United States without legislative action. For that reason, I’m passionate about JNCL’s mission and thrilled to be involved.” Ezra can be reached at ewyschogrod@languagepolicy.org.
"Ezra is sharp, energetic and brings a strong background in linguistics, field research and domestic language policy," said Trey Calvin, Managing Director. "This addition will allow JNCL-NCLIS to continue to do more to advocate on behalf of our members. We are thrilled to welcome Mr. Wyschogrod to the policy team."
JNCL-NCLIS represents over 100 national, regional and state organizations encompassing virtually all areas of the language field: the major and less-commonly taught languages, including English and English as a second language, bilingual education, the classics, linguistics, exchanges, research, technology, and translation.