About the ALD
The ALD is part of MLA Academic Program Services (MAPS), which supports the language, literature, and cultural studies communities in the United States and Canada. The ALD's broad membership base of departments and programs in diverse languages at a wide range of postsecondary institutions provides an ideal network to examine the issues confronting language-related humanities fields and work to develop fieldwide policies. Hundreds of college and university departments and programs are members. They are represented by the chair or program lead in association activities.
A Professional Network
The ALD puts department chairs and program leaders in touch with experienced peers and provides professional development to help leaders work more effectively. It provides a forum for collegial exchange about important issues through its summer seminars, journal, discussion list, and Web site. Members are kept informed about legislation that affects the field.
Research and Advocacy
A membership with ALD gives you access to and helps sustain ALD’s ongoing research, providing you with institutional, national, and professional contexts for exploring policy, disciplinary challenges, trends, and best practices within humanities studies in higher education. The ALD articulates fieldwide consensus on standards of good practice on such topics as class size and workload, evaluation of teaching and scholarship, the employment of adjunct faculty members, and procedures for departmental review. ALD provide its members with research to strengthen programs through surveys on undergraduate and graduate programs, staffing, PhD placement, and enrollments. Information on the job market appears annually.
Find out more about joining ALD.