The spring 2025 Language Learners' Lounge event ,"Where Can World Languages Take You?,” is organized by the Center for Language Technology (CeLT) and the Walter Center for Career Achievement.
At this event, you will hear short presentations of success stories from IU students and alumni whose language studies have inspired their academic and career journeys! The speaker panel will be comprised of 3 student presenters (both undergraduate and graduate) for a range of academic programs and 1 alumnus presenter:
- Parker Henry, Senior Learning Designer at DuoLingo and IU alumnus (B.A. ’18, Linguistics, B.S. ’18, International Studies)
- Aaron Kennet, a graduate student in Public Affairs and FLAS recipient (Polish and Ukrainian)
- Kaitlyn Pieper, a graduate student in Social Work and FLAS recipient (Persian and Ukrainian)
- Caroline Ringquist, an undergraduate student in East Asian Language & Cultures (Chinese Flagship) and History and FLAS recipient (Chinese and Uyghur)
Read more about our presenters below.
Registration is required, to ensure we have enough pizza for all attendees!
STUDENTS: Click here to register through Handshake. You will need to create a free Handshake profile, which can be used for future Walter Career Center events as well as network with potential employers.
FACULTY/STAFF: Please register using this form.
Parker Henry
Parker Henry (B.A. ’18, Linguistics, B.S. ’18, International Studies) is a proud IUalumnus and former Fulbright Fellow who currently works as a Senior Learning Designer at Duol &ingo, utilizing his interest in the intersection of AI and language education to cultivate innovative new AI-powered features (such as Video Calls). Priorto joining Duolingo, Parker taught English as a new language both abroad and in his hometown of Memphis, TN.His enthusiasm and creativity for teaching, academia, and ed-tech are reflected in his noteworthy professional achievements, earning him the distinction of being named one of the College of Arts and Sciences’ “20 Under 40” in 2024.
Aaron Kennet
Aaron M. Kennet is a development specialist with over 9 years of international experience. His areas of expertise include decentralization, local government strengthening and economic development, especially focused on the countries in eastern Europe and Latin America and the Caribbean. He is especially passionate about supporting programs around Ukraine’s reconstruction and strengthening resilience in response to Russia’s 2022 invasion. Aaron has bachelor’s degrees in political science and modern languages and linguistics from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and speaks Russian, Ukrainian, Spanish, Hebrew, Polish and English. At IU, he is a MPA student and FLAS recipient for Ukrainian and Polish. He is a proud Fulbright Ukraine alum, where he served as a fellow in the city of Sumy.
Kaitlyn Pieper
Kaitlyn Pieper is completing her Masters of Social Work at Indiana University remotely while living and working in Utah. She received a FLAS Fellowship in 2024-2025 for Persian language, and a FLAS Fellowship in 2023-2024 for Ukrainian. Kaitlyn spent most of her youth in Kazakhstan and Russia, and lived in England, Turkey, and Taiwan as an adult while studying, working, and volunteering. She speaks Russian, Persian, Mandarin Chinese, Turkish, and Ukrainian to various degrees of proficiency. Kaitlyn is currently the Executive Director of a local non-profit which focuses on educational equity, the Utah Center for Legal Inclusion. She has formerly worked at the Salt Lake Chamber as the Director of Community Policy and volunteered with the Utah Women & Leadership Project as a Research Associate. In previous positions, Kaitlyn worked in translation services – both as an interpreter in the local community and as a translation manager, where she traveled globally to deliver training. She has also taught university courses on world literature. Upon graduating with her Masters of Social Work, Kaitlyn hopes to use her language skills to provide trauma-informed services to forcibly displaced people from around the world.
