FLAC (and CAC) at Florida:  Contributions and Roles of RLL, LAS, CIBER and CES

    Without detailing every single budgetary and chronological item, here is a general overview of FLAC (and CAC) at Florida, divided into the following four periods:  1996-1998, 1998-2002, 2002-2006, 2006-2011.

    1996-1998
    The program was initially a joint effort of RLL (Romance Languages and Literatures) and LAS (Center for Latin American Studies.  The Chair of RLL in 1996, Dr. Geraldine Nichols, wrote the proposal which resulted in a two-year U.S. Department of Education grant to launch the program.  This DOE grant funded FLAC at Florida in its entirety from 1996-1998.  All content courses during this period were taught by LAS professors, and accompanying discussion sections were offered by RLL lecturers and/or graduate students ("teaching assistants") in Spanish, Portuguese and French.

    1998-2002
    With the expiration of the DOE grant, RLL and LAS sought additional collaboration and financial support.  RLL continued to contribute in the form of program direction (Dr. Moreland) and provision of language-section instructors (paying them as part of their teaching load).  LAS (via the Title VI grant) continued to provide funding for the FLAC summer workshop, which compensated the program director, one new content course faculty member, and the course preparation by one new language-section instructor.  In addition, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences chipped in (2000, 2001 and 2002) to pay the summer prep stipends of language-section instructors.  Finally, the CIBER (Center for International Business Education and Research, funding for which had been granted to UF starting in 1998) funded the development and delivery of a new content course/language section entitled "Latin American Business Environment" (offered annually from 1998-2002).

    2002-2006
    FLAC at Florida experienced significant expansion with the heightened presence of CIBER and the addition of the CES (Center for European Studies) during this four-year period.  The new CIBER grant helped broaden the traditional scope of FLAC offerings.  CIBER and CES monies funded the summer preps (by RLL lecturers and grad students) of the following language sections:  "Latin American Business Environment," "Business and Economics in Latin America," "Spain and the European Union," "Public Relations in the Spanish-Speaking World," "Business Portuguese," "France and the European Union,"  "Business and Culture in the Francophone World," "Business and Culture of Sports in the Spanish-Speaking World," "French Cinema and War," "Filming Italy," "Screening Germany," "Introduction to EU Law," "Society and the Sexes in Modern Europe," "Europe and the Holocaust," "Human Rights in Italy," and others.  At the same time, LAS continued to finance the summer workshop and development of additional language sections.  Overall, FLAC at Florida witnessed the following growth:  from an average of three language sections per semester for 1996-1998 and 1998-2002, to an average of seven per semester during 2002-2006.

    2006-2011 (FLAC and CAC)
    The program has now entered its fourth phase.  This period witnesses the continued guiding presence of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese*, in collaboration with the Department of World Languages and Cultures*, CIBER, LAS and CES.  There are a wide variety of new course offerings, based on recently-awarded LAS (Title VI) and CIBER grants, and CES competitions.  Fall 2006 and Spring 2007 each included five tried and true FLAC sections.  Spring 2007  featured a new Spanish-language section on "Latin American Revolutions," a new French section on "Marketing U.S. Food Products in the EU," and, for the first time, a Russian language section, "Russian Popular Culture."   Additional LAS-sponsored courses will come on board in 2008, 2009 and 2010.  The CES has funded three new FLAC courses for 2008-09.  The CIBER grant for 2007-2011 finances several current business-oriented FLAC classes, and funds the development of new FLAC sections in Spanish, Portuguese and French.  Furthermore, CIBER monies have created a series of CAC (Cultures Across the Curriculum) courses. The following CAC sections have been offered:  "Arabic Culture and Business" (2006, 2007, 2008), "Japanese Business Culture" (2008) and "Chinese Business Culture" (2008).  These are currently offered in English, but could potentially be taught in the target language.
(*Note:  the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures was restructured in summer 2008, resulting in the creation of two new entities:  (1) Spanish and Portuguese; (2) World Languages and Cultures.)

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