The University of Colorado at Boulder Center for Asian Studies has been awarded two grants totaling more than $1.8 million from the U.S. Department of Education and will begin new language programs in Farsi and Indonesian.
One grant establishes the campus center as one of only three National Resource Centers designated as Asian Studies Centers, a credit to the strength of CU-Boulder's Asian languages and area studies programs, according to Laurel Rodd, director of CU-Boulder's Center for Asian Studies. The other centers are located at the University of Minnesota and Michigan State University.
The second grant is for the Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship program that supports graduate students studying a modern Asian language combined with international or area studies.
"Receipt of these two awards will energize and expand Asian studies and language programs at CU-Boulder," Rodd said. "The Center for Asian Studies is proud to bring this recognition to the university."
Spread over four years, the National Resource Center grant will support additional faculty, Asia-related conferences and symposia, outreach to K-12 schools and the community, and new library acquisitions and staff. The grant also will fund the development of new language programs in Farsi and Indonesian. Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic and Hindi languages already are taught at CU-Boulder.
Seven students from the religious studies, history, geography, anthropology and linguistics departments at CU-Boulder have received the Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships for the 2006-07 academic year.
"Asia has been understudied for decades, even though the area is home to much of the world's population and a large part of the global economy," Rodd said. "The center provides a resource for people to learn more about Asia for their professional lives as well as personal interest."
For more information about the Center for Asian Studies at CU-Boulder visit the Web site at .