The Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Program, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education, named Elizabethtown College as a recipient for a two-year grant, which will be used to help create, plan and carry out international and foreign language studies initiatives on campus. The funding will also support many study abroad and internship programs.
The grant, which was also awarded to 16 other colleges, will be a big help for the international studies department. There have been many programs that were put on the backburner because of a lack of funding that will now be able to occur.
The Asian language department, for instance, has been in need of some growth through the addition of a Chinese language course. There will also be an addition of four new Asian studies courses. The grant will also be used to help the Japanese foreign language program, which has been in need of more faculty as well as instructional support.
Additionally, there will be a new on-campus national conference called “Teaching Japan” that will help to bring more recognition to the College as well as promote cultural understanding.
The international studies department also plans to use some of the money to build relationships with some Intergovernmental and International Non-Governmental organizations.
On top of all this, there are plans to create a biennial conference and a job fair at Etown geared specifically toward international opportunities. In addition to improving existing elements of the department, these new programs that will be created with the help of the grant will hopefully work in conjunction to improve the overall state of the international studies outlook on campus.
Many professors and faculty members at the College have been pushing for greater emphasis on the international studies program and an international mindset in general.
Associate professor of history Dr. David Kenley was heavily involved in the drafting for the College’s proposal for the grant. He submitted the proposal around June of this year and, by early September, the College was awarded the grant.
“As a College, we have to demonstrate that we have already made investments in these programs before anyone would give us money to enhance them,” Kenley said. “But this grant is now going to allow us to do things we weren’t able to do before.” Many initiatives that have been in the works for the international studies department for a while will now be able to go forward.
The grant will benefit some students directly as the money will also go toward study abroad and internship opportunities. For those going abroad, the grant money will go toward some of the travel expenses.
In addition, some of the money will be used to cover the expenses for four students to do an internship abroad. So not only will the international studies department on campus benefit, but those students doing work and traveling internationally will also be able to reap the benefits provided by the U.S. Department of Education.
In the global society of today’s world, more and more colleges are pushing to enhance their international studies programs. Dr. Jeffrey Long, professor of religion and Asian studies feels very strongly about this point. “I think that few things are as important today as understanding the religions of the world and the perspectives of a wide range of cultures,” he said. “The conflicts generated by cross-cultural and inter-religious misunderstanding are among the greatest threats facing humanity today. It is tremendously important that we dedicate ourselves to resolving and avoiding such conflicts, and education and global understanding are essential to this process.” This seems to be a unanimous opinion of professors teaching in today’s society.
Kenley added that in order to be a part of our global society, international study is crucial. In agreement with Long, Kenley stated, “I don’t think that it is difficult anymore to justify why our students need to be familiar with other cultures, other languages, other nations … It’s the world in which we live.”