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Gustavo Primo
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Gustavo Primo spent one of his first weekends on campus helping as a crew member during the Macomb Balloon Rally.
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Fulbright Scholar Teaching Portuguese on WIU Campus

September 12, 2019

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MACOMB, IL – For the second consecutive year, Western Illinois University is hosting a Fulbright Scholar to teach a foreign language on campus during the Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 semesters.

This year's Fulbright Exchange Program Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) is Gustavo Primo, of Brazil. He is teaching beginning Portuguese each semester and is hoping to conduct some lectures at the Multicultural Center during the coming year.

"The application process started last August; it was a long process," said Primo. "Hundreds of Brazilians applied, but only 20 were selected."

Primo's campus residency was made possible by an agreement from the WIU Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, the School of Global Education and Outreach and the Fulbright Foundation. Foreign Languages and Literatures Chair Luciano Picanço and Jeff Hancks, executive director of the school, made the application for the FLTAs.

"It is a pleasure to receive another FLTA in our campus," said Picanço. "But it is especially a pleasure to receive Gustavo Primo, a teaching assistant with plenty of experience, not only in teaching language, but also somebody so aware of the interconnections between language and culture. He will be a real asset this year in the promotion of diversity and multiculturalism at Western Illinois University and the region."

Hancks said his office works hard to "bring the world to the WIU campus," and initiatives like this program are an important part of the efforts.

"We're very honored that the Fulbright Commission decided, for the second consecutive year, to send an FLTA fellow to WIU," he said. "We're excited to have Gustavo on our campus, and I am confident his students will benefit greatly from his expertise in teaching the Portuguese language, and through his public presentations, the wider campus community will be able to learn more about the rich Brazilian culture." 

Prior to coming to Western, Primo received his master's degree in literature at a federal university in São Carlos, Brazil. He said he chose WIU as his service location because it was a smaller town and he grew up in a small town. This is his first visit to the United States.

"I was looking at all of the support there is for international students at WIU," he said.

While Primo is on campus, he is taking classes in American culture and joining a few campus clubs.

"I'm trying to get involved on campus and getting to know people," he said.

Over the weekend, Primo served as a crew member for the Macomb Balloon Rally and had his first hot air balloon ride Friday night.

The Fulbright program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Funding for the FLTA program was increased in 2001 to meet the growing need for instruction in languages that are less common in the classroom. The program is now used in more than 50 countries and supports the instruction of more than 30 languages.

Since 2001, more than 3,200 FLTA program participants have benefitted from the opportunity to experience the U.S., while about 80,000 U.S. students have increased their knowledge of foreign languages and cultures.

For more information about the program, contact Hancks at (309) 298-1929.

Posted By: Jodi Pospeschil (JK-Pospeschil@wiu.edu)
Office of University Communications & Marketing