UGA Portuguese Flagship Program

The first Portuguese program of its kind in the United States, the UGA Portuguese Flagship Program will receive approximately $3 million in additional funding from the U.S. Department of Defense's National Security Education Program to continue its mission:

Students in the UGA Portuguese Flagship Program reach the highest levels of proficiency in Portuguese, a language growing in popularity and considered critical for U.S. interests. They then spend a year in Brazil, studying at the Federal University of São João del Rei and complete an internship related to their area of study.

Administered by the Institute of International Education in Washington, D.C., and unique in practice, flagship programs aim to help students enhance their current major with international and linguistic credentials. Flagship programs have been launched across the nation in Chinese, Russian, Arabic, Turkish and other languages considered vital to U.S. interests.

"The Flagship Program at UGA is the only one of its kind in Portuguese in the U.S., and it represents, arguably, one of the largest federal investments in Portuguese instruction in the history of higher education in this country," said Flagship program director Robert Moser, associate professor of Portuguese in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.

"Study abroad is one of the truly transformative experiences that a student can have in college, and the Portuguese Flagship Program takes that experience to a new level."

With the Olympics in Brazil this summer and the overall vibrancy of the LACSI program, UGA's engagement with South America has never been more robust. This doesn't happen by accident, but is the result of hardworking and visionary faculty in both countries with a passion for language, culture and international collaborations. All three serve as important signals to our students, who are embracing new opportunities to live, learn and expand on the fruits of these exchanges. Vamos!

Image: University of Georgia Portuguese Flagship Program