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Summer 2006
Funding bolsters MSU capacity for international, area and foreign language studies
If globalization is the main attraction in the 21st-century economy, then the price of admission is an ability to speak multiple languages – one reason Michigan State University has long prioritized language instruction along side its noted study abroad program.
Now, renewed federal funding will bolster MSU’s capacity for international, area and foreign language studies, particularly in less-commonly taught languages such as Chinese and Arabic.
“We know that possessing some measure of international knowledge is critical for today’s students,” said Jeffrey Riedinger, MSU’s acting dean of international studies and programs. “Funding like this is critical in our efforts to continue innovating our core strengths, including providing tools to understand other languages and cultures.”
Much of the recent support – nearly $8.5 million during the next four years – comes from U.S. Department of Education Title VI programs, which award competitive grants to provide language and area training, research and outreach. Beyond funding, several campus units were re-designated as National Resource Centers, an honor based on breadth of offerings and public importance.
The funding comes as MSU’s mission to apply knowledge is carried out across a smaller, increasingly interconnected planet, and MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon leads the university in growing from a land-grant to world-grant institution. This effort includes expanding longstanding international partnerships that return benefits to Michigan while fulfilling the land-grant responsibilities that stretch across state and national boundaries.
“This is a testimony to the long-term commitment of MSU to research and development activities in Africa and elsewhere in the world,” said David Wiley, an MSU professor of sociology and director the African Studies Center, a recipient of Title VI funding and one of the renewed National Resource Centers. “The financial support and designation from the Department of Education also reflect the national prominence and diligent work of our foreign language and international area studies faculty.”
The other campus units receiving Title VI funding are:
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The Asian Studies Center, which focuses on Asian language and culture while providing a full range of on-campus events and dynamic off-campus outreach activities for K-16 educators and students, business representatives and Michigan officials.
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The Center for Advanced Study of International Development and the Women and International Development Program, which both coordinate international development work across several MSU colleges. Also, the two groups comprise a National Resource Center for general international studies.
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The Center for Language Education and Research, or CLEAR, which concentrates on teacher education and the development of cutting-edge language teaching materials. The center has strong emphasis on less-commonly taught languages such as Chinese, Arabic, Hindi, Vietnamese, Hausa (spoken in West Africa) and several others. This center was re-designated a Language Resource Center, a Title VI-related recognition of its national importance in the teaching and learning of languages.
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The Center for International Business Education and Resource focuses on issues of knowledge development and competitiveness while helping businesses navigate the international marketplace. The group is based at The Eli Broad Graduate School of Management.
Beyond the Title VI funding, MSU has recently expanded its language instruction capacity in other ways, as well.
In April, the university announced that it would explore feasibility of a new federal program, funded by the U.S. National Security Education Program, to teach Arabic to Michigan K-12 and college students. One month later, the Michigan State University Confucius Institute was announced. In partnership with China’s National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language and a major Beijing university, the MSU-based institute will provide online Chinese language courses for K-12 and adult learners in Michigan and around the world.
And Deogratias Ngonyani, an MSU researcher studying the Tanzanian language Kakisi, has received support from a joint National Science Foundation-National Endowment for the Humanities program to make digital records of dying languages.
MSU’s momentum in foreign languages and international education comes in the 50th anniversary year of the university’s Office of International Studies and Programs. In 1956, the university was the first among major public universities to create a dean-led international organization.
“We’re proud of our half-century of work, though we’re actively seeking a short list of programs of distinction that will propel us through another 50 years of international leadership,” said Riedinger. “Given these positive developments, including the infusion of financial support, I am confident that MSU foreign language instruction will be high on any such list.”
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