Giti Farudi is currently serving her fifth year as the chair of the Department of Languages at Xavier University of Louisiana, where she has been a faculty member since 2010. Prior to joining the Xavier faculty she taught Spanish in California, Virginia, West Virginia, and Arkansas.Her work with students from a diverse array of cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds, as well as her own extensive experience studying and training abroad in England, Spain, Mexico, Cuba, and Costa Rica have inspired her interest in increasing all students’ access to international education. Throughout her career, she has been committed to ensuring that minority students, particularly HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) students, have the same opportunities as other college students around the country. She is the founder of XULA in Costa Rica, Xavier's first faculty-led study abroad program.
It includes a Spanish language component and a clinical practicum experience in which students observe and accompany physicians and other medical professionals at work in Costa Rica, a Spanish-speaking country that is recognized as having one of the best healthcare systems in Central and South America. Giti’s most recent project is the development of a Spanish for Healthcare Professionals certificate program, which is offered to Xavier students and as part of the university’s continuing education courses that are open to members of the community. The goal of the program is to help health care professionals gain proficiency in Spanish in order to bridge the gap between the increasing Spanish-speaking population and the lack of Spanish-speaking health care professionals in the New Orleans area. Giti is strongly committed to, and passionate about, helping young people from New Orleans become contributing players on the national, and international, stage.
