Media Relations
Press Release:
MEDIA
CONTACT:
Polly
Burks
561-297-2595, pburks@fau.edu
FAU Receives Grant to Strengthen
Asian Studies Program
BOCA
RATON (September 7, 2010) –
Florida
Atlantic University’s Asian Studies Certificate program, the
Department of Languages, Linguistics, and Comparative Literature,
and the Office of International Programs recently received an
Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language grant from
the U.S. Department of Education to enhance the university’s
Asian studies curriculum. The grant, consisting of $200,000 over
two years, will strengthen FAU’s Asian studies certificate
program and increase faculty in Asian studies. FAU’s Asian
studies program encompasses East, South and West Asia, and the
Middle East.
The grant will allow FAU’s department of languages,
linguistics and comparative literature to offer classes in Mandarin
Chinese and Arabic. The department will also offer a series of six
new interdisciplinary courses on Asian studies and update six
existing course offerings. To facilitate these course
enhancements, the department will expand faculty expertise in Asian
studies with a series of faculty development activities, including
an annual faculty development seminar, three faculty research
awards each year and an annual teacher workshop on aspects of Asian
studies. Two new faculty members for Chinese and Arabic will be
hired on a permanent basis as of 2012.
FAU’s Office of International Programs will use grant money
to expand study abroad and student exchange opportunities in
selected locations in East, South and West Asia.
“We are very excited about this development,” said
Manjunath Pendakur, dean of the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts
and Letters. “This federal grant could not have come at a
better time because it will help the College build faculty and the
programs that enhance our students’ understanding of the vast
region of Asia that includes the Middle East. In addition, this is
a boost to the proposed Institute for Middle East Studies because
in addition to offering courses in Hebrew, the College will now
prepare students who are interested in learning Arabic. Proficiency
in languages is the key to understanding other cultures and also to
finding jobs globally.”
Over one fifth of the world’s population, or over one billion
people, speak some form of Chinese as their native language. Arabic
is spoken by approximately 280 million people. Furthermore, three
of the world’s largest nations, China, India and Indonesia,
are in Asia.
“This grant will give us increased expertise among
faculty and students across FAU colleges on this strategically
important nexus of world regions,” said Michael Horswell,
chair of the department of languages, linguistics, and comparative
literature. “Our graduates will be better prepared to meet
the challenges of living and working in a globalized society in
which language proficiency and cross-cultural competency in Arabic
and Chinese are becoming increasingly important.”
For more information on FAU’s Asian studies certificate
program in the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters,
contact the director, Kenneth Holloway, at
khollow4@fau.edu.
For information on studying world languages and cultures, including
languages of Asia and the Middle East such as Arabic, Chinese,
Hebrew, and Japanese, contact Michael Horswell at
Horswell@fau.edu.
For opportunities in study abroad in Asia or elsewhere, contact
Cathy Meschievitz at
cmeschie@fau.edu.
- FAU –
About Florida Atlantic University:
Florida Atlantic University opened its doors in 1964 as the
fifth public university in Florida. Today, the University serves
more than 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students on seven
campuses and sites. Building on its rich tradition as a teaching
university, with a world-class faculty, FAU hosts 10 colleges:
the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters, the College
of Business, the College for Design and Social Inquiry, the
College of Education, the College of Engineering
& Computer Science, the Graduate College, the Harriet L.
Wilkes Honors College, the Charles E. Schmidt College of
Medicine, the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing and the
Charles E.
Schmidt College of Science. For more information, visit
www.fau.edu
.
