[EDLING:2083] fmhult at dolphin.upenn.edu has sent you an article from HoustonChronicle.com "AUSTIN The University of Texas at Austin is recruiting students to study Hindi and Urdu as part of a new Defense Department program to teach languages that officials consider vital to global security."

[fmhult at DOLPHIN.UPENN.EDU]

 http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/4359335.html

UT recruiting students for Hindi-Urdu program

AUSTIN — The University of Texas at Austin is recruiting students to
study Hindi and Urdu as part of a new Defense Department program to
teach languages that officials consider vital to global security.

The National Security Education Program awarded UT's South Asia
Institute more than $700,000 to establish the Urdu and Hindi program.
It's part of the National Security Language Initiative announced this
year by the White House, according to Robert Slater, director of the
National Security Education Program.

"It is designed to offer important and heretofore unavailable
opportunities for students to pursue majors across the curriculum and,
at the same time, advance their proficiencies in critical languages,"
Slater wrote in an e-mail.

The National Flagship Language Program in Hindi and Urdu at UT is the
latest language institute set up by the Defense Department's National
Security Education Program. Other institutes teach Arabic, Korean,
Central Asian languages, Chinese, Farsi and Russian.

"With our internationally renowned faculty, innovative educational
technology and multidisciplinary curriculum, we are poised to house the
strongest advanced Hindi-Urdu language program in the country," said
Judith Langlois, dean of the College of Liberal Arts.

University officials are looking for high school students with some
knowledge of Hindi or Urdu for the 2007-08 academic year. The program
will enroll about 10 students in the fall and expand to 20 by the next
year, UT officials said in a news release.

The language program is meant to complement the student's academic
major. Courses will concentrate on use of the language in practical
situations. Students will enroll in a language class each semester with
a focus on religion, gender issues, globalization or other contemporary
topics. They'll also take a class in Hindi or Urdu that covers history,
business or anthropology, said James Brow, director of the South Asia
Institute at UT.

Students will study in India — where both languages are widely spoken —
during their third year in the program. By the time undergraduates in
the program earn a degree, they should be able to chat with near
fluency in either Hindi or Urdu. They'll also be prepared for jobs with
the federal government, technology, academia or global business,
university officials said.


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