The 2016 Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (CSC), a joint conference with the Ohio Foreign Language Association, focused on fostering language and culture connections within and outside the language classroom and across the curriculum at all levels. A variety of approaches aimed at improving skills in language, literacy, and critical thinking were highlighted in order to engage students and prepare them for global citizenship in the 21st century. This 2016 report entitled "Fostering Connections, Empowering Communities, Celebrating the World," contains 12 articles that focus on fostering connections between and among language students and teachers, language, culture and content, the language classroom and the world and between K-12 and higher education. Through the integration of meaningful curricula, engaging learning tasks, media and technology, authentic materials, and cultural products in the language classroom, teachers can connect their language classrooms with the authentic lives of their learners. All of these articles underscore the important role of connecting learners with the target language and culture through a variety of means aimed at improving language skills, knowledge and attitudes of language learners in order to prepare them for global citizenship in the 21st century.