Submitted by: Ernest A. Scatton, Director
Program in Russian & East European Studies
Humanities 254
The University at Albany
State University of New York
1200 Washington Avenue
Albany, New York 12222
Phone: 518-442-4224
Fax: 518-442-4188
Email: es182@albnyvms.bitnet
AND
Alexander Shurbanov, Chair
Department of English
Sofia University "Kliment Okhridski"
Boulevard Tsar Osvoboditel 15
Sofia 1000
Bulgaria
Phone: 011-359-2-46-40-93
Fax: 011-359-2-87-53-48
Academic Fields of Project: American Studies
Applied Linguistics
American Language and Literature
Funding Amount Requested: $98,543
The University at Albany, State University of New York, and Sofia University-KlimentOkhridski (Sofia, Bulgaria) propose a three-year program of collaborativeactivities under the auspices of the USIA University Affiliations Program.The proposed affiliation, the first between Bulgaria's oldest, largest,and most prestigious university and a major American research university,would have the following objectives:
1. expansion of curricular offerings in American Studies within SofiaUniversity's Department of English Philology with the eventual developmentand implementation of an undergraduate program in American Studies;
2. providing faculty members and librarians at Sofia University withopportunities to expand their knowledge of and utilization of state-of-the-arteducational technology, with special application to the teaching of readingand writing, second-language-teaching methodology, testing and evaluation,and library information systems;
3. evaluation of holdings in American Studies in the libraries of SofiaUniversity and development of an acquisition and development plan to expandthese collections;
4. providing faculty and staff at Sofia University with opportunitiesto teach and study at the University at Albany in the areas of Americanliterature, American language, teaching-English-as-a-second language, Englishwriting and reading, testing and evaluation, sociolinguistics and languagevariation, applied linguistics, and librarianship.
5. providing opportunities for Albany faculty members in the listeddisciplines (involving at least five different departments, two schools,and the University's Library) to visit Sofia in order to teach and consult;
6. establishment of a secure electronic link between Sofia University'sEnglish Department and the University at Albany via Internet for the purposesof carrying out the proposed program, communicating with colleagues worldwide,and accessing major electronic library and other information systems.
The proposed project foresees the exchange of six faculty members ineach direction over the course of three years. Six Sofia faculty will spendone semester each at the University at Albany. Four Albany faculty willspend one semester each at Sofia University. The remaining two Albany participants,specialists in educational technology and library-information systems,respectively, will each visit Sofia for one-month consultancies in eachof the three project years. The semester-long participants will teach coursesin their specializations, consult with colleagues, and have access to thelibrary, laboratory, and other resources of their hosts. The two short-termAlbany consultants will conduct workshops and short courses with studentsand faculty at Sofia University, and will collaborate in the developmentof plans for further expansion in the areas of their concern.
At Albany, the project will be directed by Professor Ernest Scatton,Director of the Program in Russian and East European Studies, Professorof Slavic Languages & Literatures and Linguistics & Cognitive Studies,and immediate past president of the American Association of Teachers ofSlavic & East European Languages. The Bulgarian project director willbe Professor Alexander Shurbanov, chair of the Department of English Philology,a distinguished literary scholar and translator, and an alumnus of theFulbright/Hayes Lectureship Program.
Budget support is requested for travel and per diem expenses for twoplanning trips, one by each of the project directors, for travel and perdiem expenses of faculty participants, for the acquisition of materials(largely library materials), and for communications.
1 Introduction.
The years of Socialist rule in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Blocnations significantly impeded normal exchange and interaction with thenon-Socialist West in all social, economic, and cultural spheres. In theareas of research and scholarship, the effect in many of the East Europeanstates, from the Baltic Sea to the Balkan Peninsula, was to constrain severely,if not to eliminate entirely, already existing and productive links betweenEastern academic institutions and their Western counterparts. Beginningin 1989, the fall of Socialist regimes in East Europe provided conditionsconducive to the reestablishment of normal contacts and the developmentof programs aimed at improving and expanding long retarded educationaland research cooperation. Now able to approach East European institutionsas they are able to approach those elsewhere in the world, American universitiesand colleges have the opportunity to broaden the range of their contactswith East Europe while at the same time assisting these institutions torepair the damage of the past 40 or more years.
The present proposal foresees a program joining the premier post-secondaryinstitution in the Republic of Bulgaria, Sofia University-Kliment Okhridski,with a major American research university, the University at Albany ofthe State University of New York. The program will have the following aims:
It will expand the range of contact between departments and programsof the University at Albany and their counterparts in Southeast Europe.
It will facilitate the development and implementation of a program ofAmerican Studies in the Department of English Philology of Sofia Universitywithin the framework of a general reworking of undergraduate programs atSofia University along the lines of American undergraduate majors.
It will provide faculty members in the Department of English Philologyof Sofia University with opportunities to interact with experts at theUniversity at Albany in educational technology, English writing and reading,American language and linguistics, second-language acquisition, and testingand evaluation.
It will provide Bulgarian exchangees access to a wide array of libraryand technological resources, including:
The University Library, including the InteractiveMedia Center;
The Center for Language Learning and Research: astate-of-the art digital language-learning laboratory;
The Dædalus Networked Writing-Intensive classroom:an interactive computerized instructional environment for
Englishwriting;
The English Writing Center;
The Learning Technologies Laboratory;
The Center for the Study of Writing and Literacy.
(See Appendix I for additional details.)
It will provide a needs assessment of holdings in American Studies inthe libraries of Sofia University and develop a plan for the systematicimprovement of these holdings.
It will establish a secure, reliable electronic-mail link between NorthAmerica and the Arts and Sciences faculties of Sofia University, and atthe same time provide the University with access to valuable electronicresources, such as on-line data-bases and library-catalog systems.
It will establish a basis for the future exchange of faculty and students,particularly graduate students, and the development of appropriate grantproposals to support these exchanges and other activities of mutual benefit.
On the American side, the project will be directed by Professor ErnestScatton, a leading specialist in Bulgarian language with more than thirtyyears of experience in East European studies.
Because of its broad interdisciplinary character, the program will besponsored at Albany by the interdisciplinary Program in Russian and EastEuropean Studies, which Professor Scatton directs. On the Bulgarian side,the program will be sponsored by the Department of English Philology ofSofia University. The Bulgarian director will be Professor Alexander Shurbanov,chair of the Department and a distinguished literary scholar, with nearlythirty years experience in international studies.
The proposed program will be carried out over a three-year period, fromSeptember, 1993 through August, 1996. It will consist of two stages (describedin more detail below): an intensive one-semester planning period followedby five semesters of faculty exchanges. Every effort will be made to assureadequate local support and orientation for all faculty participants andsystematic evaluation, feedback, and reaction during the grant period.Given current political and economic circumstances in Bulgaria, the Bulgarianside pledges to do its utmost to provide suitable living and working conditionsfor American exchangees. Adequate resources will be set aside for the acquisitionof appropriate library materials and computer software and for electroniccommunications that will significantly facilitate the accomplishment ofthe project's goals.
2 Participating Institutions.
2.1 The University at Albany, State University of New York
The University at Albany is one of the sixty-four member institutionsof the State University of New York (SUNY). These institutions includefour research-oriented university centers (of which Albany is one), thirteenliberal arts colleges, six agricultural and technical colleges, thirtytwo-year community colleges, four medical schools, and specialized collegesin forestry, agriculture, maritime studies, technology, and fashion. Withan enrollment of over 365,000 students and a faculty of more than 30,000,SUNY is the largest university system in the United States.
The University at Albany, established in 1844, is the oldest institutionin the SUNY system. Albany offers more than one-hundred degree programsat the baccalaureate level, sixty-nine masters-degree programs, and thirty-twodoctoral programs. The University enrolls approximately 16,000 students,including 4,500 graduate students; its teaching staff comprises more than700 full-time faculty members. Albany's libraries rank in the top one-hundredresearch universities in the United States with more than 1.3 million volumes,7,000 annual periodical subscriptions, and 2.4 million microform items.
The interdisciplinary Program in Russian and East European Studies atAlbany offers three programs leading to the bachelor's degree. It is supportedby more than thirty individual faculty members spread across many of theUniversity's academic departments and programs. The largest concentrationof East European specialists is in the Department of Slavic Languages andLiteratures, which has nine faculty members and which offers the B.A. andM.A. in Russian Language and Literature and an Advanced (Post-M.A.) Certificatein Russian Translation and Interpreting.
Under the administration of the Office of International Programs, Albanysupports more than twenty foreign programs and exchanges in China (5),Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Spain, Germany (2), Israel, Denmark, Russia(2), France (3), Brazil, Costa Rica, the Netherlands, United Kingdom (3),and Hungary. The premier East European exchanges have been with the MoscowState Linguistics University (formerly Torez Institute, Moscow) and MoscowState University. Albany has supported exchanges of undergraduate studentswith the former since 1974 and of faculty and graduate students with thelatter since 1976. In addition to formal exchange programs, Albany hassupported numerous other international research and aid initiatives, insuch diverse nations as Somalia, Cameroon, Georgia, and Hungary.
2.2 Sofia University-Kliment Okhridski
Sofia University is the oldest institution of higher education in Bulgaria,founded in 1888, and the largest, with over 15,000 students (including2,400 graduate students) and 2,000 full-time faculty members in a widevariety of academic disciplines. Financed by the Bulgarian national government,Sofia University has full autonomy in all academic matters. All academic-administrativepositions and councils--the Rector (the University's chief administrator),the Academic Council which the Rector chairs, the Deans of the University'sschools and their Faculty Councils, and the Chairs of academic departments--areelected by the University community for fixed terms.
Sofia University offers undergraduate programs in more than fifty fieldsin the Arts and Sciences. Undergraduate programs of five-years length havetraditionally followed fixed courses of instruction, including a substantialpedagogical component which prepares graduates to teach in elementary andsecondary schools. All undergraduate programs conclude with a comprehensivefinal examination and written dissertation, and they are commonly regardedas equivalent to an American master's degree.
Beginning with the academic year 1993-94, many departments of SofiaUniversity will introduce substantially revised programs offering studentsthe flexibility to construct courses of study suited to their individualinterests and career plans. These programs, quite innovative within thecontext of traditional Bulgarian educational practice, will resemble closelythe structure of traditional American undergraduate majors in the Artsand Sciences. Assisting the English Department in the implementation ofa revised program of this sort in American Studies is one of the main objectivesof this proposal.
Sofia University offers graduate programs in all areas in which it offersundergraduate degrees. Graduate programs lead to the second universitydegree comparable to an American Ph.D. In the absence of any formal graduateschool structure, study at this level is conducted on an individual basisunder the close supervision of senior faculty members.
3 The University at Albany and Southeast Europe.
For more than fifteen years, Southeast European languages and cultureshave enjoyed the special attention and support of the University at Albany--particularlyin the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures. In addition to annualcontingents of faculty and students from the Moscow State Linguistics Universityand Moscow State University, the Department has received visiting lecturersand research scholars from Rumania, Bulgaria, and the states of formerYugoslavia. The principal aim of these visits has been to enrich the courseofferings of the Slavic Department, largely concentrated in Russian languageand literature. However, in order to maximize the impact of these visitorson the general University community, the Department has sought colleagueswho, while competent to teach the languages and literatures of their areas,were specialists in other, non-Slavic academic disciplines. Additionally,the Department has not hesitated to invite those who have made successfulcareers in cultural fields outside of academe and who could thereby contributeto other departments and disciplines at the University:
Spring, 1976, Emil Vrabie (University of Bucharest and Rumanian Academyof Sciences): Rumanian language, Balkan linguistics, and general linguistics.
1982-85, Acija Alfirevic (Zagreb), Croatian poet and translator: Serbocroatianlanguage and literature, American poetry and theater.
1985-87, Milisav Savic (Belgrade), then editor-in-chief of Prosvetapublishers and a distinguished writer of prose fiction: Serbocroatian language,literature, and culture.
1985-86, Miroslav Krzak (Zagreb), electrical engineer and computer scientist:research in computer-based manipulation of Serbocroatian and Serbocroatian-languageword processing.
1987-89, Slobodan Djordjevic (Belgrade), senior literary editor forNolit publishers and translator of English prose into Serbocroatian: Serbocroatianlanguage, literature, and culture.
1989-91, Vladimir Filipov (Sofia University), English-literature scholar,translator, and interpreter: Bulgarian language, literature, and culture.
1991-92, Mihai Zaharia (University of Cluj), specialist in French languageand literature: Rumanian language and culture, the works of Eugene Ionesco.
1992-93, Liliana Simeonova (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and SofiaUniversity), medieval history: Bulgarian language and culture, Balkan history,Byzantine history.
Other departments and programs able to benefit from the presence ofthe visitors have included English (Alfirevic, Savic, Djordjevic, Filipov),French (Zaharia), Computer Science (Krzak), Linguistics (Vrabie), History(Simeonova), Classics (Simeonova).
The proposed project will expand the range of contact of Albany's departmentsand programs with Southeast Europe, in this case Bulgaria. Albany's participantswill include members of four Arts and Sciences Departments: Slavic Languagesand Literatures, Linguistics and Cognitive Studies, Hispanic and ItalianStudies, and English; two faculty members in the Department of EducationalTheory and Practice of the School of Education; and a member of the professionalstaff of the University Library.
4 Proposed Activities.
The activities supported by the proposed grant will entail a seriesof exchanges carried out over the course of three years and directed atthe goals enumerated above. The majority of the exchanges will be for periodsof one semester (4.5 months on average); two will consist of three one-monthvisits in each of the three years of the project's duration. In general,Albany and Sofia will exchange six professionals in roughly parallel areasof specialization. While at Albany, the Bulgarian exchangees will takethe place of their American colleagues, teaching courses similar to theirs,working in their research or academic-support units, interacting with theirdepartmental colleagues, and participating in departmental activities.In Sofia, American exchangees will do likewise. In this way, units at bothinstitutions will not suffer the loss of teaching or other personnel resourcesas a consequence of participating in the project.
The exchange visits will be structured around the following interrelatedprogrammatic areas.
4.1 Program Development: American Studies
Since its inception, the English Department of Sofia University hasoffered traditional training in English language and literature and toa much lesser extent American "language" and literature. The departmentnow proposes to strengthen significantly its curriculum in American Studies,not only in language and literature but also in the areas of ethnic andgender studies. The proposed project will support implementation of thisinitiative through the participation of Albany faculty members with expertisein the following areas:
4.1.1 American literature and literary studies, "ethnic" literatureand women's literature
4.1.2 American language and linguistics
4.1.3 Linguistic variation in American English, Sociolinguistics ofAmerican English
These activities will involve semester-long exchanges of three facultymembers. Each Albany participant will offer two courses, at least one ofwhich will be at the undergraduate level. In addition they will consultwith Sofia faculty on questions of course and curriculum design. TheirBulgarian counterparts will do the same in Albany.
4.2 Language training
Practical training in the English language is a high priority for theEnglish Department of Sofia University, for Sofia University carries primaryresponsibility for preparing the large numbers of speakers of major worldlanguages, English included, necessary for the nation's critical internationalactivities. While there is a well developed tradition of foreign-languagepedagogy in Bulgaria, there is still much that American educational scholarshipcan do to assist the English Department in this area--particularly given(1) the department's traditional preference for British language and literature,as opposed to American language and literature, and (2) the general scarcityof state-of-the art educational technology and technological expertisein Bulgarian educational institutions of all levels. The proposal foreseesthree areas of cooperation here:
1. The design and evaluation of programs of reading and writing: theDirector of Albany's Center for the Study of Writing and Literacy willvisit Sofia University for one semester. During this time he will teachappropriate courses and consult with departmental faculty in the areasof literacy, culture, and technology; the evaluation of language learning;literary theory and its relation to pedagogy; and multiculturalism andthe study of literature. His Bulgarian counterpart will have the opportunityto teach in Albany's Department of Educational Theory and Practice andto work within the Center.
2. The application of computer technology to writing instruction: oneof the Albany participants supervises a dedicated writing classroom consistingof 25 networked personal computers. He will consult with faculty at SofiaUniversity who teach writing regarding the implementation of a similarfacility at their institution. His counterpart will have the opportunityto work in and observe the use of Albany's writing classroom.
3. The application of educational technology to English-as-a-Second-Language(ESL) and applied linguistics: The Director of Albany's Center for LanguageLearning and Research, a specialist in applied linguistics and the applicationof educational technology to second-language learning, will make threeone-month visits to Sofia in each of the three years of the grant. Duringthe first visit she will survey existing instructional technologies inthe English Department and the University and the needs of faculty, staff,and students. This information will serve as the basis for a series oftraining workshops to be offered during her second visit. During her thirdand final visit, she will offer additional workshops and work with thefaculty of the English Department to develop a set of recommendations forfuture hardware and software acquisitions and training. Her Bulgarian counterpartwill spend a semester at Albany teaching appropriate courses, but, moreimportantly, working closely with the director in the Center for LanguageLearning and Research.
4.3 Library development
A critical facet of the proposed activities will be library servicesand holdings. Here the goals are two-fold:
1. To review Sofia University Library's acquisition program for Americanimprints
2. To facilitate increased use of state-of-the-art information technologyin the University's libraries
A member of Sofia University's library staff will spend a semester atAlbany, working in one of Albany's libraries, where she will be able tobecome familiar with and utilize state-of-the-art electronic informationtechnology. The American participant will spend three one-month consultanciesin Sofia during each of the three years of the grant. There he will offerseminars on CD ROM technology (in the fall of 1992, Sofia University'smain library acquired CD ROM capability through a grant from the SorosFoundation) and the use of electronic library and information resources(below). Money will be set aside in the grant for the acquisition of alimited amount of materials in order to enhance Sofia University's holdingsin American Studies.
D. Electronic communications
At present, there are very few computer sites in Bulgaria--and noneat Sofia University that we have been able to identify--that are connectedto international electronic networks. This deprives the faculty and staffof the University of a powerful communications tool that many of theircolleagues elsewhere have long taken for granted. Communications in generalare worsened by the fact that postal, telephone, and fax services to Bulgariaremain slow and unreliable. Establishing a reliable electronic link willbe one of the proposed project's first priorities. This will make it fareasier to coordinate other proposed activities by allowing program participantsto communicate by electronic mail. Further, it will provide participantsin Sofia with access to basic electronic resources (on-line data-bases,list- and file-servers, on-line catalogs and other information services)necessary for the several project activities related to educational andinformation technology described above. Funds requested for communicationswill be used largely for this purpose.
5 Methods of Exchange.
5.1 Planning visits
Early in the grant period, as soon as possible after the award announcement,each of the two project directors will spend four weeks in Albany and Sofia,respectively. During these planning visits, the project directors willhave the opportunity to meet with proposed personnel, to become acquaintedwith local administrators whose support is needed for the successful completionof the project, and to observe firsthand the various facilities which theproject will make use of. At each institution, the project director andother project participants will constitute a local steering committee thatwill be responsible for supervising the project. During the planning visitseach of the project directors will meet with the other side's local steeringcommittee, and together they will work out the logistical details for theproject:
1. Who will travel when
2. Courses to be taught by exchangees
3. Goals and objectives of consultancies dealing with Sofia University'slibrary and the utilization of educational technology
4. Workshop topics
5. Housing and other needs of exchangees
In order to assure adequate academic support and orientation for exchangees,each participant will serve as a "mentor" for a visitor from the otherside. The project directors will be responsible for assisting exchangeesin finding adequate housing and for dealing with all administrative mattersrelated to the project.
5.2 Exchange activities
The substance of proposed exchange activities has been described above.On the Bulgarian side, we propose six semester-long visits in Albany. Onthe American side, we propose four semester-long visits in Sofia, and twoseries of three one-month visits spread over three years. An average of4.5 months is set aside for each semester visit. This time includes thetime when the universities are actually in session plus 2-3 weeks priorto the beginning of the semester during which exchangees will get settledin their housing, become otherwise adjusted, and make final plans for theircourses.
6 Evaluation
On-going supervision and evaluation of the program will be providedby the local steering committees described above. Each of the project directors,in conjunction with the local steering committee, will prepare a reportat the conclusion of each semester describing and evaluating the projectactivities during that period. The reports will be shared by the projectdirectors and their committees and will serve as the basis for the considerationof changes in the project as it proceeds.
6.1 Program Schedule:
Year 1:
Semester 1:
1. Planning visits: 2 @ 1 month
a. Sofia project director visits Albany
b. Albany project director visits Sofia
2. Semester evaluation and reports
Semester 2:
1. Sofia exchangees: 2 @ 1 semester
a. Librarian
b. Applied linguistics/educational technology
2. Albany exchangees: 2 @ 1 month
a. Librarian
b. Applied linguistics/educational technology
3. Semester evaluations and reports
Year 2:
1. Sofia and Albany exchangees: 2 each way @ 1 semester
a. American literature
b. American language and linguistics
2. Albany exchangees: 2 @ 1 month
a. Librarian
b. Applied linguistics/educational technology
3. Semester evaluations and reports
Year 3:
1. Sofia and Albany exchangees: 2 each way @ 1 semester
a. Multiculturalism and ethnic studies
b. Reading and writing
2. Albany exchangees: 2 @ 1 month
a. Librarian
b. Applied linguistics/educational technology
3. Semester evaluations and reports
7 Project personnel.
7.1 The University at Albany
7.2 Project director: Ernest Scatton, a specialist in the modern Bulgarianlanguage, has been working in Bulgarian studies for more than 25 years.The author of two major works on the modern Bulgarian language, he hasvisited Bulgaria nine times for the purposes of study and research at SofiaUniversity and the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. In the United Stateshe has been active for many years in efforts to promote the study of Bulgarianlanguage, literature, and culture. He brings to the project not only manyyears experience in Bulgarian studies, but a long record of diverse academicadministration and service to the Slavic profession.
2. Faculty/staff participants:
a. Francine Frank is Dean of Albany's College of Humanities and FineArts; she holds academic appointment in two departments: Hispanic &Italian Studies and Linguistics & Cognitive Science. A Spanish linguist,Professor Frank is also a specialist in sociolinguistics, especially racial,ethnic, and gender-based linguistic variation. She is the co-author/co-editorof two important works dealing with gender and language. A former Fulbrightexchangee in Italy and Argentina, Professor Frank has extensive experienceteaching and lecturing abroad. She will offer courses dealing with multiculturalismand ethnicity described above.
b. George Hastings has taught English language and linguistics in Albany'sDepartment of English for more than 25 years. He will offer theoreticalcourses in the history and structure of American language, as well as Americandialects. In 1985, Dr. Hastings was a visiting professor at Würzburg,where he taught courses in English grammar and linguistics. As directorof Albany's networked computer writing classroom and a long-time writinginstructor himself, he offers to teach English writing and to consult withfaculty of Sofia University regarding the application of computers in thisarea.
c. Henry Mendelsohn has served in the University's library system fornearly fifteen years. He is a productive librarian-scholar with many publicationsdealing with information retrieval and bibliographic services. Mr. Mendelsohnwill carry out the library activities described above. His foreign experienceincludes similar activities in Somalia. In January, 1993, he will returnfrom a five-month stay in Bulgaria under the auspices of USIS and the AmericanLibrary Association. While in Bulgaria, Mr. Mendelsohn worked in the libraryof the American University in Blagoevgrad. In addition, he traveled widelythroughout Bulgaria, visiting major Bulgarian libraries. His contacts includeProfessor Anka Gergova, Chair of Library Science at Sofia University, withwhom he has spoken regarding the proposed activities.
d. Carla Meskill is a junior faculty member in the Department of EducationalTheory and Practice and the director of Albany's Center for Language Learningand Research, an interactive computer language laboratory. She is an appliedlinguist specializing in the use of technology in language instruction.Professor Meskill has extensive foreign experience: she has taught Englishin France and Sweden, she has conducted teacher training programs for USIAin Syria and Iraq, and she has been a visiting scholar in Norway. ProfessorMeskill will carry out the consultancies and workshops in applied linguistics/educationaltechnology described above.
e. Alan Purves is a senior faculty member in Albany's School of Education,where he teaches in the Department of Educational Theory and Practice anddirects the Center for the Study of Writing and Literacy. Professor Purveshas a distinguished record of more than thirty years of service to theeducation profession. His research deals with theories of instruction inreading and writing, program development and evaluation, literacy, andmulticulturalism, both within the United States and abroad. He has heldFulbright Research awards in New Zealand and Finland. He is the author/editorof many books and articles in these areas. Professor Purves is preparedto teach the courses in reading and writing mentioned above.
f. Iliana Semmler has taught American literature and English writingin Albany's Department of English for more than 10 years. Here she hasdeveloped a number of innovative courses focussing on issues of the "Americanexperience," multiculturalism, and ethnic and racial diversity in Americanliterature, for example, Growing up in America and Literature and Medicine.In 1985, she was a guest lecturer in American Civilization at WürzburgUniversity. She will offer the courses in American literature describedabove.
B. Sofia University
1. Project director: Alexander Shurbanov is a distinguished scholarof English literature and a well known translator. He has taught at SofiaUniversity for more than twenty years, and has twice been chair of theEnglish Department there. Twice he has studied and conducted research inGreat Britain, and for two years from 1979 through 1981 he was a Fulbright/Hayeslecturer in the Department of Slavic Languages & Literatures at UCLA.Professor Shurbanov has long been active in efforts to promote Englishstudies in his home country and elsewhere in Europe.
2. Faculty/staff participants:
a. Lyubomir Bossilkov, currently a Senior Lecturer in the English Departmentof Sofia University, is an applied linguist with special interests in secondlanguage acquisition, contrastive linguistics, and language contact. Hehas taught courses in English syntax and stylistics and practical Englishgrammar at Sofia University for nearly twenty years. Professor Bossilkovhas twice received support from the British Council to participate in summerEnglish-language seminars in Great Britain. In 1985-86, he spent five monthsat the University of Washington (Seattle) under the auspices of the Fulbright/HayesProgram, conducting his own research and teaching Bulgarian language.
b. Margarita Chourova-Georgieva: Dr. Chourova, a specialist in the Britishnovel, is an Assistant Professor at Sofia University, where she completedher doctoral degree in 1988 with a dissertation dealing with the novelsof Iris Murdoch. She teaches courses in practical English, 19th- and 20th-CenturyEnglish literature, and Postmodernism. In 1976, she spent a semester atSussex University conducting research on modern English literature, andin the summer of 1991 she was a participant in Edinburgh University's SummerSeminar on the same topic. In 1985-86, Dr. Chourova spent a year in Washington,D.C., accompanying her husband who was then a visiting scholar at the AmericanSociety of International Law.
c. Boukitza Grinberg is Assistant Professor of English at Sofia University.Dr. Grinberg's dissertation, which she completed in 1987, dealt with thewritings of Richard Wright and Ralph Ellison. She has been on the facultyof the English Department since 1974, and has taught practical coursesin English language, composition, vocabulary development, and Americanliterature, including the literature of African-Americans. Dr. Grinbergearned her B.A. degree from the University of Maryland, and she did additionalpost-graduate study in TESL at Hunter College. In 1989, she spent threemonths at Leeds University in Great Britain, and in the summer of 1990,she participated in summer seminar at Dartmouth College sponsored by NEH.
d. Rositsa Ioncheva is a professional librarian with more than twenty-fiveyears of experience in academic libraries. Currently she is employed bySofia University where she is head librarian of the English Department.In 1976, Ms. Ioncheva completed her M.A. training in English at Sofia University,while at the same time completing a second specialization in librarianshipand scientific information. She has twice participated in summer programsin English language in Great Britain sponsored by the British Council.
e. Stefanka Kmetova is an Assistant Professor of English at Sofia University.For over thirty years she has taught courses in practical English grammar,translation, and interpreting at a number of institutions of higher learningin Sofia. An distinguished translator and interpreter in her own right,she is the recipient of a prestigious national award recognizing her accomplishmentsin these areas. Ms. Kmetova is an applied linguist, whose publicationsinclude a number of articles dealing with language pedagogy, and she isthe co-author of a leading elementary textbook of English for Bulgarianspeakers. In 1982, she participated in a summer seminar in English languagein Great Britain sponsored by the British Council, and in 1988, she spentsix months doing research and studying at the University of Malta.
f. Krassimir Rangelova is a Senior Assistant Professor of English atSofia University, where she completed her doctorate in 1990, with a dissertationin psycholinguistics. She teaches courses in practical English grammar,writing, and psycholinguistics. Her research interests include not onlythese areas but cognitive linguistics, (second-)language acquisition, memoryand lexical acquisition, testing and evaluation. She is the author or co-authorof a number of articles in these areas as well as the co-author of twoEnglish-language textbooks. She has traveled abroad to participate in scholarlymeetings and conferences.
8 Anticipated benefits.
The University at Albany's benefits from the proposed project include:
Strengthening and expanding existing contacts withSoutheast Europe
Opportunities for faculty and staff members to enrichtheir academic experiences by teaching in a major East European Universitywith a long and distinguished history
Opportunities for larger numbers of Albany faculty,staff, and students to interact with six highly trained, highly qualifiedBulgarian educators
Developing an academic alliance that can lead tofurther activities of mutual benefit, including faculty exchanges, exchangesof undergraduate and graduate students, and programs of research and programdevelopment
Putting to good use: existing interest and experiencein Southeast Europe
faculty strengths in American literature and language,applied linguistics, the theory and practice of writing and reading, andeducational multiculturalism
Sofia University will gain:
Assistance in the implementation of an innovativeprogram in American studies, including literature, language, reading, writing,and multiculturalism
Assistance in raising its capacity to apply educationaltechnology to English-language instruction
Assistance in the application of state-of-the-artinformation technology in the library and the development of plan for theacquisition of American imprints in connection with the American Studiesprogram
The opportunity to interact with six highly qualifiedand experienced American educators of diverse backgrounds and specializations
The opportunity for six professionals to work andteach at a major American research university
I. Project Facilities at the University at Albany
II. Résumés (Abridged) of Project Participants
III. Letter of Agreement between the University at Albany and SofiaUniversity
IV. Letters of Support and Commitment from the President of the Universityat
Albany and the Rector of Sofia University
V. Campus Impact Statement, University at Albany, State University ofNew York
ject activities during that period. The reports will be shared by theproject directors and their committees and will serve as the basis forthe consideration of changes in the project as it proceeds.