UMassGives 2021

Many things happen in our campus and remote classrooms in the Spanish and Portuguese Studies Program. But what happens outside of them? We love thinking about how we can better prepare our students to use their language skills and related knowledge responsibly and effectively when not in our classrooms. Funds raised from UMass Gives support the ways in which we can enrich the intellectual and professional lives of our students outside our classrooms. 

For one thing, our students are involved with several community outreach initiatives that support local school communities and the dissemination of the Spanish language in our region. 

In numbers: 

1 faculty leader

50 students

2+ years of work

6 programs

200+ Spanish-speaking community members

$0 compensation

$0 allocated to sustain the design, organization, and implementation of the programs. 

We need support to keep this going! Give to us so we can transform lives through language! 

Once our students leave our campus, they need to know how they can use their bilingual skills for future employment. Thanks to the 2019 UMass Gives we were able to offer a workshop titled “Working While Bilingual” by Holyoke-based interpreter and entrepreneur Katy Moonan to make students aware of responsible language use in the work setting and expose them to the ethics of translation and interpreting.

Our graduate students think about their role in local communities and beyond as they become researchers and professionals. They need to register for, travel to, and participate in conferences. Our 2019 UMass Gives campaign supported the works of two doctoral students. Gina Malagold reported “the conference I attended provided intellectual stimulation, community, and mentorship which motivated me to continue working towards my research goals and in some ways, I fell in love with the profession all over again after each meeting. I am so grateful to have had these experiences.” Gina will be joining the faculty of Georgetown University in Fall 2021.

Give to us so our young researchers can share their knowledge with and learn from the world!