BOONE–Appalachian State University has received a $250,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s U.S.-Brazil Higher Education Consortia Program to implement a four-year U.S.-Brazil Sustainability and Sustainable Development Education Initiative.  Appalachian will implement the program in collaboration with Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University and Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, University of Fortaleza, and State University of Amazonas in Brazil.

Appalachian’s was one of 15 projects selected for funding by the U.S. Department of Education.

The goal of the project is to improve the quality of undergraduate and graduate education with a focus on sustainability and sustainable development through the exchange of curricula and language acquisition, faculty and staff, students and cultural experiences.

The grant will facilitate cross-national education opportunities for students in sustainability and sustainable development; encourage U.S. and Brazilian students to acquire Portuguese and English language skills; develop innovative models for undergraduate and graduate education through internships and service learning experiences; and encourage participating faculty to develop new collaborative research, educational and outreach projects that include students.

The program will be directed by Dr. Jesse Lutabingwa, associate vice chancellor for international education and development and Dr. Marty Meznar, associate dean for international programs and assessment in Appalachian’s Walker College of Business.

A total of 48 students (24 each from the United States and Brazil) and a minimum of 28 faculty members (14 U.S. Americans and 14 Brazilians) will participate in the exchange experiences.  Funds also will be available for research and that helps students from the respective institutions understand sustainability and sustainable development issues from interdisciplinary and global perspectives.

“The U.S.-Brazil Sustainability and Sustainable Development Education Initiative will contribute by helping to prepare our students for a fast-paced world of rapid scientific, social, technological, workforce, and demographic changes,” Lutabingwa said. “The project will help students at participating partner institutions develop the attitudes, skills and knowledge to make informed decisions for their own benefit and others, now and in the future, and to act upon these decisions.”

The project includes $60,000 to assist with student expenses to study in Brazil and $43,400 to support Appalachian faculty travel and exchange activities to the Brazilian partner institutions.

“This project will engage our students as effective agents for change in the sustainability challenges we face together as societies.  Students will understand that their daily decisions affect the quality of life of people around the globe now and in the future,” said Lutabingwa.

Appalachian students interested in studying at one of the host universities in Brazil will be required to enroll in at least two semesters of first-year Portuguese at Appalachian.  While in Brazil, they will be required to enroll in at least one Portuguese language course to continue their language acquisition.

The Department of Foreign Languages and Literature at Appalachian started offering Portuguese in the 2009 fall semester.  Appalachian has invited a faculty member from one of the Brazilian partner institutions to teach Portuguese during the spring 2011 semester.

“Both students and faculty in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures will benefit directly from the opportunity to participate in this exchange with Brazil,” said department chair Dr. James Fogelquist.  “Students can enhance their classroom language study with an immersion experience at one of the partner institutions and our faculty can engage in dialogue and research with colleagues in Brazil, whose economy is one of the fastest growing in the world.  The Portuguese language is among the world’s most widely spoken languages, is ranked seventh world-wide in number of native speakers, and is the vehicle of expression for a rich and varied literary tradition.”

“We prepare our students not only to be successful in the marketplace, but also to be responsible global citizens. This grant, with its focus on Brazil and sustainability, will allow us to better equip students to succeed in a very important specific market and to do so in a respectful and constructive manner,” Meznar said.

During the 2009-10 academic year, three faculty members led study abroad programs to Brazil involving 35 Appalachian students.  Two programs (one undergraduate and one graduate) were from the Walker College of Business and one program was from the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. Appalachian’s Department of Technology is implementing a research and outreach grant from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Landfill Methane Outreach Program/Methane to Markets Partnership to investigate the potential for landfill gas (LFG) utilization in Brazil.

For more information, contact Lutabingwa in the Office of International Education and Development at 828-262-2046 or lutabingwajl@appstate.edu.

###