News Brief: Fulbright-Hays Grant Funds Course in Guatemala

A Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad Program grant of more than $60,000 was awarded to RIC Assistant Professor of World Languages Education Erin Papa to lead current and pre-service K-12 educators to Guatemala for a four-week seminar course beginning in the summer of 2021. Grant funding will cover all 13 of the participants' travel and in-country expenses, while students will be responsible for their tuition and fees.

Titled "Topics in World Languages Education," Papa's course provides a study of both the Spanish and Mayan (K'iche') language and culture and a comparative analysis of  the Guatemalan and U.S. educational systems. A reciprocal exchange with Guatemalan educators will also occur.

With the continued growth in enrollment of Guatemalan youth in Rhode Island's K-12 educational system, particularly K'iche'-speaking Mayan Guatemalans, Papa's program will be of particular benefit to educators working or preparing to work in RIC's partner school districts – Providence and Central Falls – that currently serve the largest number of Guatemalan youth.