For summer 2004, the IPED Program awarded three Language Immersion Study Awards (LISA) to Ms. Elitza A. Mileva, Mr. Paul Wilkins, and Ms. Jane Hingston. Fordham gave funding to these students so they could travel overseas and attend an intensive language immersion program.
Ms. Mileva traveled to the city of Recife in the Northeast of Brazil to learn Portuguese. There she received individualized lessons while living with a Brazilian speaking host families. She also had the opportunity to interact with the local staff of Catholic Relief Services and obtained some experience on project grant writing.
Mr. Paul Wilkins traveled to Bolivia where he studied Spanish at the Maryknoll Center in Cochabamba, while Ms. Hingston traveled to Cuzco, Peru to study Spanish. Both of them also lived with Spanish speaking host families.
Each year up to three IPED students are awarded LISA Scholarships on a competitive basis. Scholarship recipients are able to spend the summer after the completion of their first year of study in an intensive overseas language immersion program that must include a home stay. Foreign language proficiency is frequently required for various career paths.