Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval (left) and Dr. Michael Baum, executive council for the Luso-American Development Foundation, agreed on a new study abroad pathway for students to study in Portugal. (Photos by Benjamin Kirk)
Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval and Dr. Michael Baum, executive council for the Luso-American Development Foundation, met March 20 at the Fresno State Library and signed an agreement creating a new study abroad pathway through the Study in Portugal Network. The program will allow Fresno State students to study for a year, a semester or a summer at partner universities in Portugal.
“Learning another language and becoming active in someone else’s culture expands our students’ understanding of their own potential as visionary leaders,” Jiménez-Sandoval said. “A seminal part of my own educational journey was through Universidade de Lisboa — an experience that promoted academic, emotional and mental growth that defines me to this day. Through this pathway, our students will have the opportunity to forge their own transformational experience in Portugal.”
Students will be able to take classes taught in English or Portuguese in social sciences and humanities, business, economics, STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and other academic disciplines while living in Lisbon and experiencing Portuguese culture.
“[The Luso-American Development Foundation (FLAD)] is thrilled to have this opportunity to celebrate with Fresno State and the larger Fresno community the partnership agreement that recognizes FLAD’s efforts to bring Fresno State students to Portugal through our Study in Portugal Network program,” Baum said.
The new pathway is run through the Study Abroad office in the Division of Continuing and Global Education at Fresno State. The office provides students with individualized and group advising services to identify their learning goals, assist in choosing programs and make necessary plans and arrangements. Coordinators say students returning from their study abroad programs often report life-changing experiences.
“Study abroad is one of Fresno State’s high-impact practices: those university experiences that students carry with them for the rest of their lives. High-impact practices are linked to university retention, graduation rates and overall student success,” said Dr. Scott Moore, dean of the Division of Continuing and Global Education at Fresno State.
Students interested in the program can apply now for the fall term in the Study Abroad office.
Founded in 2014, the Study in Portugal Network partners with four Lisbon-based universities to host students and faculty from the United States. They provide housing in downtown Lisbon, health and safety support, guided field trips, monthly city transportation costs and a robust cultural orientation and mentoring program. During the summer program, students also have the option to attend the University of the Azores at its Ponta Delgada campus.
The Study in Portugal Network is managed by FLAD, a non-profit organization that aims to promote the development of Portugal in cooperation with the United States. FLAD is a member of the U.S. State Department’s Gilman Scholarship Program, recognized as one of its seven global partners. The Study in Portugal Network’s primary objective is to provide affordable study abroad opportunities to students with Pell Grants. Students who do not receive Pell Grants can benefit from the SiPN program, which offers a more cost-effective option than similar European programs.
FLAD’s collaboration with Fresno State began in 2018 when its grant funded a Portuguese-American Oral History Project and a speaker series through the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute at Fresno State. Since then, FLAD has continued to support the institute’s programs.
The Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute is a product of the College of Arts and Humanities, the College of Social Science and the Jordan College of Agricultural Science and Technology, designed to support multidisciplinary scholarship related to the Portuguese-American experience in Central California and the Lusophone cultures.
