93-09-29 U.Va. Receives Major NEH Grant to Help U.S. High School Teachers Keep Up With Rapid Changes in Spanish Culture

U.VA. RECEIVES MAJOR NEH GRANT TO HELP U.S. HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS
KEEP UP WITH RAPID CHANGES IN SPANISH CULTURE

       CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Sept. 29 -- With increasing demand for
Spanish-language education in the United States today, high school
Spanish teachers from around the country will have a firsthand
chance to analyze recent enormous changes in Spanish culture
through a special University of Virginia program based here and in
Madrid.
       The National Endowment for the Humanities has awarded a
$188,800 grant to U.Va. Spanish department chair David T. Gies to
direct an intensive summer institute in 1994, modeled on a highly
successful similar 1992 program, U.Va. officials announced.  The
programs include sessions with leading Spanish cultural figures.
       Part of a national effort to strengthen foreign language
education, the grant is the fourth NEH has made to U.Va.'s Spanish
department for programs for teachers in recent years and is among
the largest federal humanities grants ever received by U.Va.
       To help other U.S. teachers keep abreast of the rapid  changes
in Spanish culture, the 20 participants selected for the institute
will produce a contemporary Spanish-culture classroom guide for
distribution to teachers throughout the country, said Gies.
       The Education Office and the Cultural Affairs Office of the
Spanish Embassy in Washington, D.C. are helping sponsor the
program, which has a total budget of more than $260,000.  The
second half of the five-week program will take place in Madrid and
will include lectures and discussions with Spanish writers,
filmmakers and scholars.
       "Since the death of Francisco Franco in 1975 Spain has
experienced a series of fundamental changes in its political
structure and its cultural climate," said Gies.  "Visitors to Spain
today discover a country far removed from the quaint, slightly
backward nation which existed for the first three-quarters of the
20th century.  It is a culture which in many ways has moved to the
forefront of modern trends in literature, film, art and fashion. 
Spain pulsates with an exciting newness.
       "The view of Spain that most teachers, students and the public
have today is based on a series of repeated cliches which are
frequently false and misleading.  Spanish teachers must know about
these trends if they are to dispel the cliche-ridden ideas that
fill most high school textbooks."
       Spanish teachers selected for the program will receive a
stipend and have most expenses paid.  They will live with Spanish
families in Madrid while attending lectures, discussions and
cultural events and visiting libraries, museums and archives.
                                             ###
                                                                        
September 28, 1993
       [For additional information or interviews about the program or
contemporary Spanish culture David Gies may be reached at U.Va.'s
Spanish department at (804) 924-7159.]                  
 
Karen Castle, Office Services Specialist, University News Office
P.O. Box 9018, Booker House, Charlottesville, VA  22906
(804) 924-7116, kac@virginia.edu

[Submitted by: Karen A. Castle  (kac@uva.pcmail.virginia.edu)
               Wed, 29 Sep 93 09:23:44 EDT]