Center for South Asia hosts orientation for teachers on Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad

The Center for South Asia continued for the second year to provide training and orientation for 15 teachers traveling to India this summer in the Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad program.

The center, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Education and with the United States-India Educational Foundation (USIEF) in New Delhi, provided practical and educational information.

The teachers arrived in Madison for two days jam-packed with lectures, practical information and Q&A sessions, cultural events, and meals in a variety of South Asian restaurants before departing for New Delhi, India. 

The Pre-Departure Program included a South Indian vocal recital by Vanitha Suresh, a meeting local children's author Kashmira Sheth and a display of rare textiles and miniatures by Maya Lea and Drew Stevens in the Chazen Museum of Art.

The teachers also learned a few basic phrases in Hindi from the Center for South Asia Associate Director Lalita du Perron, and listened to some of the best speakers at UW-Madison.

Dr. Mitra Sharafi spoke about Indian history in a highly accessible manner and Dr. Aseema Sinha spoke engagingly on "India: A revolution of Rising Expectations" and Dr Kirin Narayan told a variety of Indian stories.

The Pre-Departure Orientation was organized by Rachel Weiss, Mike Kruse and Matt Sebranek of the Center for South Asia, and attended by UW-Madison alumnus Adam Grotsky, USIEF Director, and USIEF Senior Program officer Girish Kaul.

The Center for South Asia Director Dr. J. Mark Kenoyer gave the welcoming address.

Category: Area Studies
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Center for South Asia celebrates 50th Anniversary (1960-2010)

The launching of Sputnik I in 1957 led to the federal government's most significant participation in modern foreign language and area studies research and training in history – the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) of 1958.

The first NDEA grant to expand language and area studies in the UW-Madison Department of Indian Studies was acquired in 1960. With this grant, the UW-Madison South Asia Area Center (later renamed the Center for South Asia) was established.

The Center for South Asia is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year at UW-Madison.

The center, an affiliated  National Resource Center (NRC) Program, conducts a broad range of activities that include instruction, outreach, scholarly research, maintenance of library resources, and teacher training.

Collectively, these activities represent a programmatic effort that focuses on particular regions of the world and the relevant issues connected to those regions, and they constitute a national capacity in modern foreign language training and area and international studies.

UW-Madison actually has the largest number of NRCs in the country: http://www.wisc.edu/international/centers.php

A number of celebratory activities are planned for later in the year, some to coincide with the Annual Conference on South Asia in
October 2010.

For more information, please email Lalita du Perron at 608-262-3209 or duperron@southasia.wisc.edu

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Summer program offers intensive study of Baltic area languages

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is an international leader in foreign languages, offering instruction in more than 80 modern and ancient languages, from Akan-Twi to Zulu.

The campus also houses 11 area-studies centers, the National Council of Less Commonly Taught Languages and the National African Language Resource Center.

Students can put those language courses to the test with a study-abroad experience; they are available on every continent of the world except Antarctica.

This summer, students from across the United States will come to Madison for eight weeks of intensive study of the languages of the Baltic countries: Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian.

The program, the Baltic Studies Summer Institute (BALSSI), is sponsored by a consortium of 12 U.S. universities.

Read full release...

News via UW Communications 

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L&S graduate is an inspiring story of success

Carlos Torres, who graduated in May with a degree in Psychology, was recently featured in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,  Once struggling to learn English, student now heads to Harvard Med.

The story tells of Torres' inspiring life from a town in Mexico, to earning citizenship in the United States and his acceptance at UW-Madison.  

While at UW-Madison, Torres was a Chancellor's Scholar who co-founded PALMA, a Latino pre-medical student organization. Although only two-years-old, the organization has already received Community Health Award by the Dane County Latino Health Council. 

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Gálvez visits UW-Madison for lecture, guest spot on WPR's 'Here on Earth'

Alyshia Gálvez, Assistant Professor of Latin American and Puerto Rican Studies at Lehman College, City University of New York, visited Madison in late April for a lecture.

Gálvez spoke at UW-Madison Latin American, Caribbean & Iberian Studies Lunchtime Lecture Series as part of the NAVE Visiting Scholars and Artists Program. Her lecture was "Guadalupe in New York: Devotion and the Struggle for Citizenship Rights Among Mexican Immigrants".

Gálvez has a connection to UW-Madison: she was the graduate thesis advisor of Catherine Reiland while at NYU . Reiland, who is the Assistant Director of the African Studies Program, organized Gálvez's recent visit to Madison.

During her visit to Madison, Gálvez was also a featured guest on WPR’s Here on Earth as part of 'The Virgin of Guadalupe in New York'.

You can listen to the segment here:

http://www.wpr.org/hereonearth/archive_100426k.cfm 

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11 LACIS undergraduates receive internship, research grants

The Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies Program (LACIS) is proud to announce that eleven undergraduate students have received internship and research grants.

Students majoring in LACIS can receive one-time funds for internships in Latin America, the Caribbean, the Iberian Peninsula or domestic internships related to the LACIS field of study.

This year's winners are: 

• Maria Blohoweak (Multiple Spots): The World Race
• Miriam Clayton (Spain): Universidad de Alcala's Instituto Franklin 
• Steven Eisenhauer (Dominican Republic): Dominican National Commission for UNESCO 
• Joshua Hamborg (Minneapolis/St. Paul & Mexico): AmeriCorps' Admission Possible Program & The Mexico Field Study Program offered by UW's Dairy Science Program 
• Emily Hosek (Brazil): Saint Jude Medical Brasil 
• Jacob Kushner (Dominican Republic): Conduct research through the University of Iowa 
• Nicholas Nugent (Peru): Centro Sachamama 
• Alison O'Brien (Guatemala): Conduct research on how non-governmental organizations affect development 
• Molly Reddy (Brazil): Alianca Empreendedora 
• Rebecca Sweeney (Brazil): Orpas 
• Teresa Welsh (Colombia): Colombia Reports
  

For more information about this program:

http://lacis.wisc.edu/index.php?q=node/44

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LACIS student presents at Undergraduate Symposium

Earlier this month, LACIS undergraduate student Rebecca Sweeney presented at the Undergraduate Symposium 2010, a daylong event featuring 530 students who presented and displayed their research.

Sweeney presented her research with LACIS Director and mentor Ksenija Bilbija, a comparative study of Bolivia's Cartoneras.

Cartonera publishers have worked to revitalize and reinvent literature throughout Latin America.

Sweeney, who was supported by a Hilldale Undergraduate Fellowship, studied the Yerba Mala Cartonera and its partner projects: the mARTadero Cultural Center in Cochabamba, the Nicotina Cartonera in Santa Cruz, and the Canita Cartonera in Iquique.

The cartonera publishing phenomenon began in Buenos Aires in 2003 and was spearheaded by writers and artists who were interested in reconfiguring the conditions in which literary art is produced and consumed.

Very little is written on the subject and the majority of Sweeney's research was conducted through interviews with Cartonera members, writers, and other book publishers; through observations mainly at the Feria del Libro where their books were sold; and through participation in Cartonera book-making.

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