The Nippon Foundation of Japan has awarded another $1.1 million to the National Technical Institute for the Deaf-sponsored Postsecondary Education Network—International to continue its work in expanding career and education opportunities for deaf people around the world. This brings to $7 million the total award given to the program, which has become a world model in influencing attitudes, practices, and policies among educators and industry leaders so that who are deaf or hard-of-hearing people have increased access to technology and employment.
PEN-International works with colleges and universities in China, the Czech Republic, Japan, the Philippines, Russia, and Thailand, and plans to partner with colleges in Korea, Vietnam, and Hong Kong this year.
This year’s initiatives include a Summer Leadership Institute based in England and open to students from PEN partner colleges, workshops in Vietnam and Hong Kong to develop sign language dictionaries, and a Nippon Foundation Internship Program for master’s level students at Rochester Institute of Technology.
PEN-International will continue to provide training at Tianjin University of Technology (China), Bauman Moscow State Technical University (Russia) and De La Salle-College of St. Benilde (Philippines). Regional training will be held at National-Tsukuba University of Technology (Japan).
For more information about PEN-International and its global partners, visit www.pen.ntid.rit.edu.
Dateline: February 24, 2006
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