Howard University News September 12, 2017 U. S. Department of Education Awards Howard University Fulbright-Hays Funding for Intensive Yoruba Language Abroad Project Howard University is the third U.S. institution to win the grant since the program started in 1993, along with the University of Wisconsin and the University of Florida. Howard University Professor Bayo Omolola Ph.D., in the Department of World Languages and Cultures, has been awarded a $73,530 grant to conduct an intensive eight-week Yoruba language program at the University of Ibadan's Language Center in Nigeria, during summer 2018. "This project is further testimony of Howard University's commitment and obligation to teaching the languages and cultures of the African continent. I hope that this undertaking will serve as a model to be replicated for other indigenous African languages taught at Howard," said James J. Davis, Ph.D., Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. The award gives the University a chance to implement a project that will take American students from various colleges who are learning Yoruba to Nigeria. Howard University is the third U.S. institution to win the grant since the program started in 1993, along with the University of Wisconsin and the University of Florida. "This award is an important and well deserved achievement for Professor Omolola who worked really hard to put together a compelling project proposal". Said Mbye Cham, Ph.D., Professor in the Department of African Studies. "It's a welcome complement to the Title VI National Resource Center award that HU received to promote and enhance the study of African languages. I believe this award is one more testimony to the longtime leadership and excellence of HU in the study of Africa." The Yoruba Group Project Abroad will benefit 12 students selected on a competitive basis from colleges/universities that offer Yoruba courses in the U.S. The program gives students an immersion-learning opportunity in an environment different from the one in the U.S. Students will have an opportunity to interact with Yoruba native speakers and get exposure to their culture. Dr. Omolola, the project director, is a lecturer of Yoruba in the Department of World Languages and Culture. He considers this project "... a call to serve our American students so that they can be proficient in the Yoruba language and culture and have global understanding at an advanced level. We know that this project will enhance their academic and job performance when they return to the United States after their summer abroad." Prior to joining Howard University in 2015, Dr. Omolola studied at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), the University of Ilorin, the University of Ibadan, the University of Texas and the University of South Africa. Dr. Omolola has taught Yoruba, English and Communications at several institutions in the U.S., Nigeria and The Gambia. He is a published author of articles in peer-reviewed journals and textbooks and the current president of the American Association of Teachers of Yoruba. He is also a poet and has received poetry prizes, such as the Lawrence Morgan Prize for The Flight of Icarus. SANDRA M. PHOENIX HBCU Library Alliance Executive Director Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library 111 James P. Brawley Drive SW Atlanta, GA 30314 404-978-2118 (office) 404-702-5854 (cell) http://www.hbculibraries.org/ sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org%3cmailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org>> Honor the ancestors, honor the children. Follow us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hbculibraryalliance1/ and Twitter https://twitter.com/HBCULibAlliance Check out "PULSE!" The HBCU Library Alliance's News Source! - https://hbculibraryalliance.wordpress.com/