In the spirit of Michigan State University's "world-grant" initiative, MSU's International Business Center in the Eli Broad College of Business is implementing Pro Bono Services for businesses in the Greater Lansing Region (Michigan, USA) which are striving to engage in the global marketplace. The Michigan Export Growth Program was started with a seed grant from the Ford College Community Challenge, which funds projects that meet community leads, create student leaders while building sustainable communities and fostering community partnerships.

George Biltz, is Business Group President, Specialty Plastics & Elastomers for The Dow Chemical Company.

The Broad Study Abroad & Student Organization Fair showcases study abroad programs available to students in the Eli Broad College of Business.

Doug Barry, Senior International Trade Specialist with the U.S. Department of Commerce, will present "Basic Guide to Exporting"

Michigan agriculture, while dynamic, holds tremendous potential for the future. We just need to tap the innovative spirit, abundant resources and unbridled work ethic of our industries to capture new markets, create new products and expand aggressively to meet the needs of consumers and industry. The Michigan Food & Agri-Business Symposium includes panel discussions on retail trends, industry opportunities and challenges, and the financial forecast. Matthew Tripodi of Euromonitor International will offer the keynote address.

This is a conference that is part of the biennial Symposium on Multicultural Psychology at Michigan State University. The goal of the symposium is to identify the best practices and methodological lessons learned from conducting large scale multinational projects and will feature renowned researchers as invited speakers, breakout and discussion groups for interchange on one's own cross-cultural research, and a poster session.

Local companies are invited to a breakfast meeting to learn more about the Michigan Export Growth Program (MEGP), and how they can benefit from this innovative new program.

Robert Selig, Executive Director of the Capital Regional International Airport, presents "Lansing's International Port of Entry and Foreign Trade Zone"

Peter Pratt is Senior Vice President, Health & Human Services at Public Sector Consultants.

With this year's theme, we turn our attention to the variety of approaches employed in studying the processes and contexts of SLA. Researchers draw on theoretical linguistics, sociolinguistics, anthropology, cognitive science, psychology, educational science, and other disciplines. They gather and analyze data through laboratory research, classroom observations, case studies, ethnographies, and language corpora. They quantify and they interpret. At times it appears that these researchers are looking at completely different subject areas, but all identify themselves as working within the field of SLA. SLRF 2009 asks how these varied methodologies and approaches compose a single "field of SLA". We solicit papers, posters, and colloquia that address this question and that add to our understanding of SLA.