WASHINGTON, D.C.- U.S. Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME) and Susan Collins (R-ME) today announced $119,000 in funding from the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) that will allow Mainers to participate in international education programs in China. The grants were awarded under the Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad (GPA) Program. $55,000 has been awarded to the Council on International Educational Exchange and $64,000 has been awarded to the University of Maine at Farmington. "This is an exciting opportunity for Mainers to study Chinese language and culture in China, and to bring that knowledge back home to share with other teachers and students," Snowe and Collins said in a joint statement. " The Fulbright-Hays program fosters rewarding and enriching international experiences for students and teachers in Maine. Cultural exchanges facilitated by programs such as these allow citizens to form bonds with people from other countries and cultures as well as learn about places they might otherwise have never had a chance to visit." The Fulbright-Hays program supports overseas projects in training, research, and curriculum development in modern foreign languages and area studies for groups of teachers, students, and faculty engaged in a common endeavor. Projects may include short-term seminars, curriculum development, or group research or study. This competition will support advanced overseas intensive language projects. The funding awarded to the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) in Portland will fund scholarships for advanced language training in each of the Council's four study centers in mainland China and Taiwan. Since 1980, CIEE and leading Chinese language faculty in its consortium of U.S. colleges and universities have worked together to develop in situ Chinese language programs for U.S. students. CIEE's Centers for Chinese Studies focus on intensive language training coupled with high quality area studies opportunities to prepare students for careers related to China. The funding awarded to the University of Maine at Farmington (UMF) will be used to implement a four-week summer curriculum development team project in China. The purpose of this project is to provide opportunities for practicing K-12 teachers from Maine's School Administration District 21 and the faculty at the University of Maine at Farmington to a- develop and enhance their understanding of the Chinese language and culture through first-hand experience, b- develop curriculum content and teaching units to integrate international studies into their classrooms, c- permit participants to acquire resource materials for curriculum development and for local dissemination and d- to forge ties between faculties and teachers for future collaborations.
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