Professors Renata Wasserman and Arthur Marotti, of Wayne State University's English department, were awarded a $210,000 four-year grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (U.S. Dept. of Education) for "Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature, Film, and Culture."

This award, in which Wayne State University (through its English Department) as a lead institution will be paired with New York University (through its Cinema Studies Department) involves, in its second, third, and fourth years, student and faculty exchanges with Brazilian federal universities at Santa Catarina and Minas Gerais.

The grant provides individual stipends of $3000 for 16 Wayne State students and eight N.Y.U. students in the 2003-04, 2004-05, and 2005-06 academic years for one-semester of study at either of the Brazilian universities. Four Wayne State faculty and two N.Y.U. faculty will offer mini-courses at the Brazilian universities over three summers. Brazilian students will be supported by funds from CAPES (a Brazilian federal agency) to study for one or two semesters at Wayne State and N.Y.U.

Brazilian faculty will be hosted during their sabbatical leaves and/or be invited to present courses, mini courses and seminars at the two American universities. During the 2002-3 academic year, Professors Wasserman and Marotti, in conjunction with their partners at N.Y.U. and the Brazilian universities, will develop the support mechanisms for this exchange and publicize this new opportunity for funded study abroad to the Wayne State student body.

Wayne State University is a premier institution offering more than 350 academic programs through 14 schools and colleges to more than 31,000 students in metropolitan Detroit.