The University of Notre Dame will host its fourth annual Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistantship (FLTA) orientation for the coming academic year, bringing 55 foreign language teachers from 40 countries to campus Aug. 11 to 15 (Tuesday to Saturday) for a series of workshops designed to enhance their teaching in the United States.
Notre Dame is one of only five universities selected by Fulbright and the U.S. Department of State to host such an orientation, which trains and prepares Fulbright foreign language teaching assistants for the academic year they will spend teaching their respective languages in colleges and universities across the United States. On completion, the teachers will travel to their host institutions, where they will teach undergraduate foreign languages.
“Hosting this event not only places Notre Dame at the center of Fulbright’s foreign language program, but it underlines our leadership and also accentuates our expertise and reputation as foreign language teachers,” said orientation director Brian Ó Conchubhair, assistant professor in the University’s Department of Irish Language and Literature. “Notre Dame will serve as the gateway to their American experience and will shape how they perceive the United States.”
Additional information, including a complete schedule of events, is available by visiting http://www.nd.edu/~flta/ on the Web.
The FTLA participants come from Afghanistan, Algeria, Argentina, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, China, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Spain, Syria, Senegal, Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Yemen.
The orientation is organized and funded by the Fulbright Commission, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and the Institute for International Education.
Contact: Brian Ó Conchubhair, 574-631-0499, boconch1@nd.edu