SiS News - July 2009

Recent News July, 2009

• Fulbright Traditional Scholarship from CIES.

• More than 2.000 students from 69 countries participate in the International Courses of Spanish Language and Culture 2009, at University of Salamanca.

• The Global one University Network for Innovation-GUNI, chaired by the vice-chancellor of the UPC, participates in the Worldwide Conference on Higher Education.

SiS Student Ambassadors

• The 2009-2010 edition of the SiS Student Ambassadors Program, ready to go.

SiS on the road

• Study in Spain heats up with its third participation in the AP Annual Conference in San Antonio, Texas.

Amigos del español

• Gwyneth Paltrow

Institution Profile

• University of Murcia

Fulbright Traditional Scholarship from CIES.

The traditional Fulbright Scholar Program sends 800 U.S. faculty and professionals abroad each year. Grantees lecture and conduct research in a wide variety of academic and professional fields.

The Fulbright Program is sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Under a cooperative agreement with the Bureau, the Council for International Exchange of Scholars (CIES) assists in the administration of the Fulbright Scholar Program for faculty and professionals.

Eligibility requirements apply at the time of application (ending August the 1st). Applicants must meet all of the following requirements—unless specific exemptions are stated in individual country or award descriptions. Applicants will be considered without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin and/or physical impairment.

• U.S. citizenship at the time of application. Permanent resident status is not sufficient.
• A Ph.D. or equivalent professional/terminal degree (including a master's depending on the field) as appropriate at the time of application. For professionals and artists outside academe, recognized professional standing and substantial professional accomplishments.
• College or university teaching experience at the level and in the field of the proposed lecturing activity as specified in the award description at the time of application.
• Foreign language proficiency as specified in the award description or as required for the completion of the proposed project. (Note: Except in certain world areas and countries, lecturing is in English.)
• Sound physical and mental health

More information at:
http://www.cies.org/

More than 2.000 students from 69 countries participate in the International Courses of Spanish Language and Culture 2009, at University of Salamanca.

More than 2.000 foreign students, from 69 countries, will participate during the months of July and August in the International Courses of Spanish Language and Culture of the University of Salamanca, inaugurated by the provost Jose Ramón Alonso.

The writer from Valladolid Gustavo Martín Garzo, pronounced the opening conference: “The Value of Words”.

In a crowded Meeting Hall, followed the ceremony the Mayor of Salamanca, Julián Lanzarote, the Subdelegated of the Spanish Government, Jesus Málaga, the Mayor of Béjar, Cipriano González and the education representative of the Council, Jesus María Ortiz, among other authorities.

In the 2009 edition of International Courses, the University of Salamanca has been able to keep the interest of foreign students, with an increase of 4% in the Master's degree of Spanish Language and Culture and 8% in the six-week courses of Spanish.

The United States is the country that sends more students, 1.415. That is 27% of the attendants, but in july, they were 70% of the total. Following are China and Italy.

The Global one University Network for Innovation-GUNI, chaired by the vice-chancellor of the UPC, participates in the Worldwide Conference on Higher Education.

The Worldwide Conference on Higher Education 2009 (CMES) is an international platform to debate the state of higher education in the world, a sector that is quickly transforming and which has an indisputable repercussion in the progress of mankind. The Congress takes place from July 5th through July 8th, in the headquarters of UNESCO, in Paris. The Conference should serve to lay the foundations of the role of higher education and research facing world challenges.

The Conference will give way to a strategic program that drives policies on higher education in the world, with a specific action to guarantee higher education and research a strategic role in the development and exchange of knowledge.

The committee of the Conference is integrated by skilled high-level management who gives counselling, orientation and intellectual leadership in the UNESCO. They elaborate the fundamental strategies within the framework of higher education.

The participants in this committee are: the vice-chancellor of the Universidad Politécnica de Catalunya (UPC) and President of the Global one University Network for Innovation-GUNI, Antoni Giró, together with other 20 agents of networks and experts in higher education from all over the world.

SiS STUDENT AMBASSADORS

The 2009-2010 edition of the SiS Student Ambassadors Program, ready to go.

The new edition of the successful SiS Student Ambassadors program, developed and implemented by the Embassy of Spain-Trade Commission Miami and sponsored by EDUESPAÑA and the Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade, has been published in www.spainedu.org, with significant changes from the previous edition.

The Embassy of Spain is looking for higher learning students who have:

• Knowledge of Spanish language.
• Proactive personality.
• Social skills.
• Interest in the people and culture of Spain.
• Motivation and commitment for a minimum of two semesters.

The SiS Student Ambassador receives:

• An accreditation certificate issued by the Embassy of Spain-Trade Commission Miami.
• Personal reward and added value to his/her Résumé.
• Be eligible for diverse awards, including a one-week trip to Spain in the summer as SiS Student Ambassador of the Year.

The Embassy of Spain-Trade Commission Miami will support the SiS Student Ambassadors by providing:

• Information.
• Merchandising and materials.
• Limited financial support.
• Assistance of program coordinator.

Each SiS Student Ambassador must be endorsed by a Professor Sponsor at his or her institution. The Professor Sponsor of the SiS Student Ambassador of the Year will also be honored.

Find complete information at www.spainedu.org

SiS ON THE ROAD

Study in Spain heats up with its third participation in the AP Annual Conference in San Antonio, Texas.

Study in Spain participated with an Informative Pavilion in AP Annual Conference 2009 for the third year in a row. AP 2009 took place in San Antonio, TX, between the 15th and the 19th of July, and was organized by The College Board.

The College Board is a national nonprofit dedicated to preparation and facilitation of the admission of students to higher education institutions, it offers extensive programs and services in the areas of college admission, guidance, assessment, financial aid, enrollment, teaching and learning.

The association was founded in 1990 and currently includes over 4200 universities and secondary schools, and annually serves more than 22,000 high schools and 3,500 universities.

The AP (Advanced Placement) is a voluntary program that offers high school students the opportunity to take higher level courses and obtain University credits before joining the university, which allows faster entry to advanced level courses, admission to degree programs and master, or to finish degrees in less than four years, besides the economic benefit by reducing costs of admission and tuition.

The Study in Spain Pavilion promoted the AP Programs of EDUESPAÑA, through the widespread distribution of brochures and other information.

The AP Spanish Language and Literature Programs for High School Students in CEELE-accredited Schools are organized in Spain and their goal is to help U.S. high school students aged 15-19 improve their Spanish language skills and their knowledge of Spanish literature, respectively, in preparation for the exams. Canadian students are also welcome. For the Spanish Literature Program, an advanced level of Spanish is required.

The program consists of 60 class hours over three weeks. Class size is limited to 12 students. Students practice taking AP exams.

More information at www.eduespa.org

Amigos del español

Gwyneth Paltrow

Gwyneth Paltrow is a perfect example of the California blonde, but also an “adopted daughter” of the Spanish city of Talavera de la Reina, where she lived as an exchange student and learned Spanish. This citizen of the world won an Oscar at the age of 26 for her role in Shakespeare in Love and had highly publicized romances with Brad Pitt and Ben Affleck. Paltrow now lives in London with husband Chris Martin, the lead singer of the English rock band Coldplay, and their two children. Paltrow’s worldly background is reflected in her ability with languages, as she speaks English and Spanish fluently and also has good command of Italian, French and German.

Why so many languages?

Languages come easy to me. I grew up imitating accents and I have a good ear.

What’s the best thing about knowing Spanish?

It gives me a broader perspective of the world I live in.

Who’s your favorite author?

J.D. Salinger. I have the first editions of The Catcher in the Rye, Franny and Zooey and Nine Stories.

And in Spanish?

I also have them in Spanish.

But what about a Spanish-language author?

All of them. Spain has such a rich culture!

But is there one book in particular?

Now with the kids anything by Roald Dahl for the kids. When I was a girl I went through a phase when I was obsessed with Nancy Drew and then in the institute I got into Charlotte Bronte, Dostoevsky, Faulkner and of course García Márquez. But now it’s Dahl.

Would you like to teach your fellow Americans Spanish?

I want to show Americans Spain. They know about France and Italy and don’t realize what they’re missing by not knowing Spain.

Institution Profile: University of Murcia

The University of Murcia, situated in the south-eastern area of Spain of the same name, can trace its roots back to the 13th century and the reign of Alfonso X the Wise. Through the centuries it has been founded and re-founded before finally coming into its own in the early nineteen thirties. It is a university which has wrought to blend the traditional with the modern, the historical with the contemporary, and the past with the present.

This is why it has responded successfully to the demands of each period. The seventies were to see the University really take off. The rise in the number of centers, of the academic courses offered, of students and the appearance of new campuses all bear witness to this boom.

Progress on progress, yet the University never loses sight of its homeland, the Region of Murcia, to which it owes its being, which it reflects and in which it sees its own reflection. And so the traditional, the classical courses remain, but accompanied by others dictated by the needs of a society which is increasingly more plural and more specialized.

American students and scholars can study at the University of Murcia as exchange students, by means of::

• An international programme for a fixed period and only to study part of your course (ISEP etc. programmes) or
• Participating in a specific agreement between their center of study and the University of Murcia.

To learn or improve Spanish skills and get into Spanish culture within the university environment, the University of Murcia can offer a range of courses in Spanish language and culture. These are aimed not only at language learning but at national and local culture knowledge, too. There are intensive, semester, summer and tailor made courses.

More information at www.um.es/internacionales/