April 27, 2020
Asian Languages & Literature Department awarded Chinese Flagship Grant to expand language education
The UW Asian Languages & Literature Department has been awarded a four-year $1.3 million “flagship” grant from the U.S. Department of Defense that will support the expanded study of Chinese language and culture across the UW.
Chan Lü
The grant will be used to establish a Chinese Flagship Program at the UW, joining a dozen other institutions in The Language Flagship, a federally-funded consortium that is part of the National Security Education Program at the U.S. Department of Defense.
The successful grant application was compiled and submitted by Chan Lü, assistant professor and Chinese language coordinator, who will also be the new program’s director. Zev Handel, professor and associate department chair, will be co-director.
The grant will fund expanding current Chinese language offerings — including study of social studies and humanities in Chinese — and provide tutors and scholarships for students to take classes in summer and a capstone year abroad. The grant will help support students while they pursue any major.
“The goal is to help students reach professional proficiency in Chinese — being able to use the language fluently and accurately on all levels and as normally pertinent to professional needs,” Lü said.
The grant term runs from June 1, 2020, to May 30, 2024, and is renewable. The new flagship will work closely with several other UW offices and units and will be housed in the Asian languages and literature department’s Chinese language program.
For more information, contact Lü at chanlu@uw.edu.
Tag(s): Chan Lü • Department of Asian Languages & Literature
