Discontinued Offices & Programs. Institute In Foreign Languages (University Of Maine) Records

The Foreign Languages Institute was organized by the University of Maine’s Department of Foreign Languages and Classics and financed by a grant from the U.S. Office of Education under provisions of Title XI of the National Defense Education Act as amended in 1964. The Institute was held at the University of Maine during the summer months from 1959 to 1968. A mix of faculty taught at the summer institute including from the University of Maine's Department of Foreign Languages and Classics. Attendees came from across the nation, but predominately from Maine.

The Institute was for the advanced study of foreign languages. It appears that with exception of the first two instances of the institute where Spanish and German were also included the University of Maine program focused on French, preparing recent graduates to teach French in the classroom. The program sought to improve attendee's cultural understanding and language proficiency in terms of listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. As part of their training attendees taught beginner classes for school children and went on a field trip to Quebec.

In 1959, Robert N. Rioux, Associate Professor of Romance Languages was appointed the first director of the Institute. Rioux was replaced in 1965 by Dr. E. Wesley O'Neill, Associate Professor at the University of Maine. O'Neill held the director position until 1968 when the program closed.