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Last year, UM became the state’s only university to offer a degree in Chinese. Now the U.S. Department of Defense has awarded the Department of Modern Languages a $635,000 grant to teach Chinese language and culture to ROTC students.
The federal program is one step in a series of initiatives designed to improve the foreign-language capability of future military officers. UM is one of only four universities to develop strategic language initiatives through the National Security Education Program, which provides funding for scholarships, infrastructure and Chinese instructors. Other universities received funds to offer Arabic, Russian and Farsi.
“UM is truly playing a critical role in our nation’s vital effort to create a cadre of military professionals who are proficient in Chinese and knowledgeable of Chinese culture,” said Donald Dyer, chair of the modern languages department. The department, along with the Croft Institute for International Studies, offers the intensive Chinese Flagship Language Program and Mississippi StarTalk, a federally funded intensive Chinese summer program for high-school students.