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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2014
PAGE 3
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EDUCATION
Grant provides military language instruction
YU KYUNG LEE
news@kansan.com
The University received a $775,000 grant from the Department of Defense for foreign language instruction for military personnel.
With the grant, the University will now provide language instruction for the U.S. Army at The Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth and the Marines at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.
AMIE JUST/KANSAN
The University received national funding as a military language training center. The funding will provide military personnel with a variety of foreign language options.
The grant will pay for the development of the foreign language curricula, the instructors and the tuition costs for military personnel.
"We have a role that the men and women who are out defending the country are the best educated, are the most culturally-astute they can be, and we take a lot of pride in that role," said Mike Denning, director of graduate military programs.
Denning also said the University is one of nine public institutions that currently have DoD-funded language instruction.
"In the future, DoD will continue to look at the University of Kansas as one of the leading institutes that provide foreign language to the military," Denning said. "As far as civilian universities, we are definitely on the leading edge."
The University already has a tradition of educating military personnel from Fort Leavenworth in Lawrence. But now with this program, on-site learning will include online instruction and in-class instructors at the military bases.
This relationship has been growing stronger over recent years as military holds high value on the University's education, said Megan Greene, director of the Center for East
Asian Studies. She was one of the principal investigators who helped create the curricula for the military.
The close partnership and the quality of education Kansas offers as a public university were key reasons the University received the grant, Greene said.
"Because we are a public institution, it's a good value from the dollars in the defense perspective," Denning said. "But it really comes down to the quality of the program and the quality of instruction we are providing here at KU. We could be the cheapest university in the nation and we could have the best relationship with the military, but if the educational quality wasn't there, they would never look at us."
The University offers courses on 40 different foreign languages, more than any other university in Kansas.
"Most institutions teach
In the future, DoD will continue to look at the University of Kansas as one of the leading institutes that provide foreign language to the military."
MIKE DENNING Director of graduate military programs
The University's foreign language program is precisely what drew future Marine Nick
many fewer than we do and that's one of the things that makes KU more special." Greene said. "I think increasingly people outside of Kansas and inside of Kansas are becoming aware of this great strength the University has. It makes sense KU would be a language training site."
Morrison, a freshman from Austin, Texas, to the University. Morrison, who wanted to get a college degree before service, had only two requirements in looking for college: a naval ROTC, which offers a Marine option, and a Kiswahili language course.
that definitely narrowed down my options to four schools, so that was definitely a big part of why 1 applied to KU" Morrison said.
Grant Breakdown
KU instructors provide Arabic, French, Japanese, German, Spanish and Russian courses at the military bases.
Kiswahili is the most-spoken African language. With this language skill, Morrison has the potential to work in many different places.
$775,000 grant pays for the development of the curricula, language instructors and the tuition costs for military personnel.
The military has different commands over different parts of the world," Morrison said. "In 2009 the government created Africom, which monitors situation and does humanitarian assistance in Africa. Perhaps I'll be assigned to an embassy in Kenya or Tanzania and my language skills can come into use there. At this
Special Operations Officers are required to maintain at least an intermediate level of language skills throughout their career.
With military bases and embassies all over the world, language skills and cultural awareness is critical for the U.S. Armed Forces.
"Most of the time, much of their roles have nothing to do with fighting the nation's battle," Denning said. "A lot
point, I'm only a freshman, I don't know where I'll end up, but having the language skill is very useful."
Edited by Chelsea Mies
of what they do is trying to prevent that from occurring and they do that by day-to-day engagement with the local populace. So it's really critical to the success of the mission that they understand the cultural norms in the country as well as the language to be able to communicate."
Kansas played its first men's basketball game ever 115 years ago today. It was against the KC YMCA and Kansas lost 16-5.
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