Pitt Wins Four National Resource Center Redesignations

PITTSBURGH-The University Center for International Studies (UCIS) at the University of Pittsburgh again has received major national recognition from the U.S. Department of Education, which has redesignated four of Pitt's area studies programs as National Resource Centers (NRC). The programs, which together will receive $4 million over the next four years, include the Asian Studies Center (ASC), the Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS), the Center for Russian and East European Studies (CREES), and the Center for West European Studies (CWES).

"The renewal of National Resource Center status for our area studies centers reaffirms the strength of the University of Pittsburgh in international studies," said UCIS director William Brustein. "I am especially pleased that all four of our area studies NRCs and our International Business Center were refunded, in spite of fierce national competition. This success places Pitt once again among the top schools in the United States in the area of international studies," Brustein said.

Along with the recently redesignated International Business Center-jointly sponsored by UCIS and the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business-the University of Pittsburgh is home to five Title VI centers.

The NRC program is authorized through Title VI of the Higher Education Act and administered through the U.S. Department of Education's International Education and Graduate Programs Service. Through NRC, the Department of Education provides grants to colleges and universities to strengthen and maintain U.S. capacity in foreign languages and expertise in area and international studies by supporting students, outreach, and faculty development.

Following a national peer-reviewed competition, the ASC, CLAS, CREES, and CWES were redesignated, an honor that they have held for more than two decades. Recently, all four of those centers also received Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships for graduate students.

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