The Center for Portuguese Studies

Mission

The Center for Portuguese Studies promotes the study of the Portuguese-speaking world: language, history, culture, and influence. The Center works to enrich the connections between the local Portuguese community and its cultural and linguistic heritage and to forge new connections between countries of the Portuguese-speaking world and California's Central Valley. The Center sponsors scholarships, exchanges, language programs, and cultural activities.

Initiatives

• Stanislaus State Portuguese Studies program support
• New courses and fellowships to incorporate Portuguese-related materials into existing courses
• Promotion of scholarship in the Portuguese community of California and on Portuguese-speaking countries
• Distance delivery of Portuguese language courses within the California State University system.
• Development of K-12 curricular units on Luso-Americans, their language, history, and culture, and teacher training to help elementary school teachers use the material.
• Public lectures on scholarly topics related to Portuguese-speaking cultures.
• Activities that celebrate traditional Portuguese-speaking cultures.
• Liaison between the Portuguese program at Stanislaus State and other Portuguese Studies centers in California and the U.S.
• Liaison between the university and Portuguese-speaking communities in our region.
• Donations to the Portuguese-speaking culture collection in the Stanislaus State Library
• Student exchange with universities in Portuguese-speaking countries
• Student exchange with Portuguese universities
• Partnership with Portuguese-speaking-related Ministries of Education and Foreign Affairs to coordinate Portuguese language programs in the Western United States, including hosting a Coordinator of Portuguese Programs appointed by those Ministries.