Patronage

Saliva Glass Palace Spain

The Department of Languages, Linguistics and Comparative Literature at Florida Atlantic University has steadily evolved over the years into a greater multilingual academic unit and now offers undergraduate degrees in French, Italian, Spanish and Linguistics. In addition, the department has also developed its graduate programs, with the Master of Arts degree now being offered in French, Spanish, Linguistics and Comparative Literature (within which Italian is an option as one of the two required concentrations). Enrollments have increased significantly in recent years. These are signs of a prosperous and thriving future for the study of cultures and literatures in languages other than English, here at Florida Atlantic University.

We find ourselves, therefore, at that point when -- while we will surely continue to grow -- outside sponsorship of extracurricular, extramural, and/or scholarship support for our students to study both here and abroad would prove most significant in keeping our multiple programs on an unprecedented growth path.

The notion of cultural patronage has been around for centuries, as we all know. Indeed, the two centuries that constitute what we now know as the Italian Renaissance, for instance, would not have produced the social, philosophical, scientific and artistic works we all cherish, and benefit from today, were it not for the likes of, for example, the Medici family in Florence or the D'Este family in Ferrara. Indeed, our own Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters has benefited greatly from the philanthropic generosity of the Schmidt family, as the home college name indicates.

To this end, then, we offer the following five proposals as possibilities for consideration of support according to your philanthropic policies:

  • Study-abroad scholarships for majors and/or minors
  • Weekend conferences on topics relating to French, German, Italian, Spanish and/or linguistics
  • Visiting professorships
  • Lecture series and book publications
  • Endowed professorships

We are, of course, always ready to discuss this and any other activity you may have in mind for mutual cooperation.

Please feel free to contact Marcella Munson, Chair, for further information or visit us at any time; our office is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Image: Saliva Glass Palace at Parque il Retiro, Spain