Transformative grant benefits students from all backgrounds interested in studying Latin and Greek who may otherwise not have the resources
New York, NY, September 21, 2016: The Latin/Greek Institute at the Graduate Center, CUNY, has been awarded a transformative $1 million grant that will expand opportunities for students of all backgrounds to participate in the Institute’s nationally renowned summer language institute. Through the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Scholarships will enable an additional 20-25 students to attend the Institute’s introductory and upper-level programs annually.
The Institute, a joint collaboration between the Graduate Center and Brooklyn College, has been providing intensive summer-term training in Latin and Greek for over 40 years. Stavros Niarchos Foundation Scholars will receive both a substantial scholarship and support for living expenses during the summer in New York City. They will also join an extensive community affiliated with and supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.
“This grant is transformative because it offers the opportunity to study Greek and Latin language and literature — the source of so many fertile ideas in global culture — to students who typically have not had access to the field,” said Joy Connolly, Provost and Senior Vice President of the Graduate Center. “As a classicist, I can speak to the immediate impact this grant will have in both diversifying the discipline and sustaining its intellectual foundations. Thank you to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation for having the foresight to provide such significant support.”
The Latin/Greek Institute offers total-immersion programs in Latin or Ancient Greek that enable students to master in one summer the material normally covered in two to three years. Classes meet all day, five days a week, at the Graduate Center in midtown Manhattan.
“Over the past twenty years, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation has been committed to supporting the study of classical cultures and civilizations globally,” said Sarah Needham, Program Officer at the Foundation. “We are proud to support such an innovative and renowned program, and are excited to be opening the world of Greek and Latin to ultimately hundreds of students who may have not otherwise had the chance. The Latin/Greek Institute is a gem and one of New York City’s most unique educational programs, with a long history of introducing thousands of students to the study of these classical languages. We do hope that through this support, students from all backgrounds will be able to participate and reap the benefits of studying Greek and Latin.”
“The Institute’s beyond-intensive, rigorous approach equips students to read Latin or Greek with precision and confidence in a short time, but it also requires a singular focus on their studies. For many, this is challenging because there is a real need to work at the same time as going to school,” said Katherine Lu Hsu, Director of the Latin/Greek Institute. “This grant will allow students to come to New York and dedicate their entire summer to learning Latin and Greek, and prepare them for further studies or research at top institutions across the country.”
For more details about the programs and application information, please see the Latin/Greek Institute’s website, gc.cuny.edu/lginst. Applications for Summer 2017 will be available online in December.
About the Latin/Greek Institute
The Latin/Greek Institute, founded in 1973, is a collaborative effort between the City University of New York’s Graduate Center and Brooklyn College. The Institute offers intensive, total-immersion programs in classical languages that enable serious, highly motivated undergraduates, graduate students, and other interested parties to cover the material normally included in several semesters of conventional work in a single summer. The pedagogical method relies on the active production of forms and syntactic rigor to allow students with no prior experience to enter advanced language courses at their home institutions or to conduct humanistic research at the end of the summer. All programs are team-taught by experienced instructors, who are available to help students at school or by phone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
About the Graduate Center
The Graduate Center (GC) is the focal point for advanced teaching and research at the City University of New York (CUNY), the nation’s largest urban public university. Devoted exclusively to graduate education, the GC fosters pioneering research and scholarship in the arts and sciences, and trains students for careers in universities and the private, nonprofit, and government sectors. With over 35 doctoral and master’s programs of the highest caliber, and 20 research centers, institutes, and initiatives, the GC benefits from highly ambitious and diverse students and alumni — who in turn teach hundreds of thousands of undergraduates every year. Through its public programs, the GC enhances New York City’s intellectual and cultural life. Visit www.gc.cuny.edu to learn more.
About the Stavros Niarchos Foundation
The Stavros Niarchos Foundation (www.SNF.org) is one of the world’s leading private international philanthropic organizations, making grants in the areas of arts and culture, education, health and sports, and social welfare. The Foundation funds organizations and projects that are expected to achieve a broad, lasting and positive impact for society at large, focusing on vulnerable groups such as children and the elderly, and also exhibit strong leadership and sound management. The Foundation also seeks actively to support projects that facilitate the formation of public-private partnerships as an effective means for serving public welfare.
2016 marks the twentieth year of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation’s global philanthropic activity. Since 1996, the SNF has made grant commitments of $1.8 billion / €1.5 billion, through 3,534 grants to nonprofit organizations in 111 nations around the world.
