UMass Dartmouth renews agreement with Portugal’s Camões Institute

Chancellor Robert E. Johnson hosts community, Portuguese government, and university officials to celebrate global education partnership

On September 28, 2018, officials from Portugal’s Camões Institute, the lead Portuguese government unit responsible for the internationalization of higher education, visited UMass Dartmouth to extend a partnership agreement between the two institutions for two more years.

Chancellor Robert E. Johnson and Camões Institute President Luís Faro Ramos signed an agreement that will fund six Ph.D. students as they pursue their doctorates and assist in the teaching of undergraduate and graduate Portuguese language courses. The Institute has committed $48,000 per year to fund three of the students while the university will fund the other three.

“By learning more about Portuguese culture, language and literature, our students will find a deeper appreciation for the country that has had such an enormous impact on the culture and economy of our region,” said UMass Dartmouth Chancellor Robert E. Johnson. “This partnership will give our students the global mindset they need to succeed on both sides of the Atlantic.”

“Recognizing the key role of the longstanding partnership with UMass Dartmouth, Camões Institute remains committed to the sponsoring of three teaching fellows and the promotion of the teaching and growth of Portuguese Language and Culture through the education of students, scholars and teachers of Portuguese Studies,” said Anna Amado, Director of Language Studies at the Camões Institute. “Therefore, it was with great pleasure that Ambassador Luís Faro Ramos, President of Camões Institute, accepted the invitation to be a guest speaker of the 15th Annual Conference on Portuguese Language Education (UMass Dartmouth), which in turn offered the perfect setting to formalize the renewal of the Protocol Cooperation between the two institutions.”

The renewal of this partnership strengthens the university’s longstanding linkage to the Portuguese-speaking world.

In the spring of 2018, Chancellor Johnson awarded the Chancellor’s Medal to President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa of the Portuguese Republic at the annual State House Day of Portugal celebration. Following the State House ceremony, Chancellor Johnson joined President De Sousa and Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa aboard the tall ship Sagres for the signing of student and faculty exchange agreements between UMass Dartmouth and several Portuguese universities. Those agreements grew out of a February 2018 visit by Chancellor Johnson to Portugal where he met with university officials and Camões Institute representatives as part of his effort to enhance UMass Dartmouth’s relationship with the Portuguese-speaking world.

As a sign of his commitment to the Portuguese community, Chancellor Johnson moved the Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture from the College of Arts and Sciences to the Office of the Chancellor. UMass Dartmouth also houses the nationally recognized Ferreira-Mendes Portuguese-American Archives, Department of Portuguese, and the Tagus Press, which publishes Portuguese literary works.

UMass Dartmouth’s connection to the Portuguese-American has grown beyond its historical focus on culture and literature to science and health care:

• The School for Marine Science and Technology has formed a doctoral education partnership with Brazil’s University of São Paulo Institute of Oceanography.

• The College of Nursing partners with the University of the Azores on the “Bridging the Atlantic” community-nursing student exchange program.