Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER):
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Foreign Language and Area Studies
During the grant period, the CIBER will leverage the University's competence in the less-commonly-taught languages and cultures of Asia to provide innovative language learning resources that will build the capacity of institutions across the U.S. to teach Asian languages. The programs will provide improved language instruction for business and professional students, and will provide management training to foreign language and international studies faculty and students.
Online Business Modules for East Asian Languages
CIBER will support initiatives to improve language learning for business students in the difficult but critical languages of East Asia—Chinese, Japanese and Korean. The project will be designed within the existing curriculum of the UH Japan- and China-focused MBA programs and will be extended to meet the needs of any UH MBA and Ph.D. student wishing to learn an East Asian language.
Online Business Modules for Southeast Asian Languages
CIBER will support the development of business modules in the less commonly taught languages of Southeast Asia—Indonesian, Filipino and Thai—that are of strategic importance to the United States. These modules can be used as a freestanding online course or can be integrated into traditional language classes to enrich the class and infuse business and economics as well as intercultural skills into the course.
Joint Workshop for Language Faculty and Professionals with Ohio State University
Foreign language faculty will learn more about global business concepts and the ways in which business and professional students acquire knowledge in this faculty development program hosted by the Ohio State CIBER, in co-sponsorship with the CIBER schools at Indiana, Thunderbird, Hawaiʻi, Memphis, North Carolina and San Diego State.
Joint Workshop on Business Languages
The UH CIBER will collaborate with Brigham Young University, Georgia Tech and the University of Memphis CIBERs to offer an annual workshop to help language instructors develop and deliver better business language courses.
CIBER Business Language Teaching and Research Consortium
The consortium will work to help “mainstream” business language in foreign language departments by introducing panel discussions at the annual Modern Language Association conference or similar venues that typically do not address applied language topics.
Study Abroad Experiences for Language and Area Studies Students
The UH CIBER will work with the UH Mānoa Study Abroad Center and faculty at UH Mānoa and Kapiolani Community College to support graduate and undergraduate students in language and area studies to participate in study abroad programs to improve their language skills, develop a deeper understanding of culture, and observe international business through first hand experiences in a foreign country.