Tucson Standard

The University of Arizona has received a $5.9 million grant in federal Title VI funds from the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) to establish a new Center for East Asian Studies, joining three other longstanding international centers on campus.

According to a release from UA, the Center for Latin American Studies and the Center for Middle Eastern Studies in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences will both be allocated $2.2 million over the four years. The Center for Educational Resources in Culture, Language and Literacy will receive $699,640, and the new Center for East Asian Studies will be allocated $782,686 over four years.

The Title VI grant will support teaching, research and outreach programs and help “affirm the university's status as a leader in foreign language and international studies instruction and international engagement,” the release stated, adding that university officials stressed the importance of international studies in today’s economy.

"In our increasingly globalized world, the study of foreign languages and international cultures is as critical as ever," University of Arizona President Robert C. Robbins said in the release. "This is a proud area of strength for the University of Arizona, and this new funding will allow us to continue as a world leader in international and foreign language teaching, research and scholarship."

Center for East Asian Studies co-director Wenhao Diao said the funding will allow the center to become more visible globally.

"The Center for East Asian Studies will focus on themes that simultaneously define our current national and international needs and are relevant to Arizona's concerns," he said. "As a brand-new center, we cannot be more thrilled for the great news. As you can imagine, it's incredibly difficult to get funded as a new application and this really means bringing visibility to our expertise in East Asia here on the University of Arizona campus and our potential role in linking East Asia with the southwestern U.S."

Marcela Vásquez-León, Center for Latin American Studies director, said the new funding would give the center increased capabilities.

"Being recognized as a National Resource Center allows us to continue to provide enhanced opportunities for students at all levels through an expanded curriculum with a focus on Latin America and by offering scholarships for study abroad, internships, research and language immersion in Portuguese as well as in Maya and other Indigenous languages of Latin America," she said.

Center for Middle Eastern Studies director Anne Betteridge said such funding helps support its mission and success.

"This year's NRC competition was particularly keen, with 14 Middle East NRCs reduced to 11," she said. "The center's success reflects the high quality of the University of Arizona's Middle East-related scholarship and teaching. It remains an honor to be able to support teaching, learning and research about the Middle East and North Africa – vitally important and diverse regions with deep histories, complex politics and cultural riches that are often little understood or misunderstood."

Officials said the grants will help UA increase its international presence.

"By taking many of our events online in the wake of the pandemic, we have been able to reach out further, increase our U.S. and global audience, and in doing so, we substantially increased our overall visibility and thus our impact," said Center for Educational Resources in Culture, Language and Literacy co-director Beatrice Dupuy. "Our funding has created an opportunity for people from the U.S. to be a part of the international community, and also to be part of current national and international conversations on equity, diversity and inclusion, themes that will continue to be reflected in the set of projects we proposed for this new grant cycle."