Wednesday, April 16, 2003

Wilmington – “¡Qué fantástico!,” “¡Vamos a celebrar!,” “¡Bravo!” were the shouts of excitement heard from Valerie Rider’s Spanish for Faculty class last week. This enthusiasm was the result of an announcement that the University of North Carolina at Wilmington’s Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures had received a $66,000 Fulbright Hays grant for faculty study in Chile this summer.

The five-week trip will begin in late June when Rider leads a group of 15 faculty, 10 from UNCW and five from the University of North Carolina at Asheville, to Valparaíso, Chile. During the first four weeks of the program, faculty will live with native Chileans and attend intensive language and culture classes at the Universidad Católica for three hours every weekday morning. In the afternoons, they will participate in group field trips and meet with Chilean colleagues. Faculty will have an opportunity for more extensive travel during weekends and the final week of the program when they can spend their time as they like.

Designed to address the university’s commitment to international perspectives, as defined by UNCW’s mission statement, this trip is the culmination of Rider’s two-semester Spanish for Faculty class.

Throughout the year the class has been “enthusiastic about learning the language, eager to appreciate Spanish and Spanish-American culture, and ‘up’ for whatever activities and assignments I gave them,” said Rider of her pupils. “I am honored to be taking them to Chile, and when the trip itself is finished, look forward to the contributions each will make back at home,” she added.

“Although this will be a fun experience, it is primarily a learning experience,” said Denise DiPuccio, chair of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures.

DiPuccio describes the program as vitally important because “there are many programs in place at UNCW for students to participate in cultural immersion experiences, but this is the first time that that such an opportunity has been offered for faculty to experience this as a group.” This is important because “when faculty can share their experiences with students, it expands students’ cultural and linguistic horizons,” she said.

“Chile was selected because there is an identified need on campus for greater understanding of Spanish culture and language,” explained DiPuccio. In addition, UNCW has established active student exchange programs with the Universidad Católica.

“A partnership with UNCA provides even broader possibilities for the program, allowing UNCW faculty to establish connections with colleagues at a sister university,” DiPuccio added.

Jo Ann Seiple, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said, “Participating faculty should attain greater sensitivity to the experiences of their Hispanic students, new directions for their research, new insights in to their classroom pedagogy, and new directions for curriculum development.”

The Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad Program provides grants to support overseas projects in training, research and curriculum development in modern foreign languages and area studies by teachers, students, and faculty engaged in a common endeavor. The Fulbright Program, America's flagship educational exchange program, is sponsored by the U.S. Information Agency, an independent foreign affairs agency within the executive branch of the U.S. government. Established in 1946 under Congressional legislation by Sen. J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the program is designed "to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries."



For more information, you may contact Denise DiPuccio at (910) 962-3340 or e-mail dipucciod@uncwil.edu or Valerie Rider at (910) 962-3341 or e-mail riderv@uncwil.edu. To reach a contact at UNC Asheville, e-mail Cathy Pons at ponsc@unca.edu.