RICHARDSON, Texas (July 18, 2006) — Beginning next month, a professor at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), Dr. Stephen G. Rabe, will oversee two first-of-their kind American Studies seminars in Argentina, featuring a unique and in-depth examination of American history, culture, political traditions and the country’s role in the continent and in the world.

Rabe worked with the Fulbright Commission, the United States Department of State and the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires to bring the two courses to the country.  Both offerings will include an intensive, eight-day “Study of the United States Seminar” for about 30 Argentine student leaders and young professionals.  At the conclusion of the seminars, the commission will select 16 of the participants who will travel to the U.S. for further study at a leadership institute.

A professor of history at UTD, Rabe pointed out that courses about the United States are virtually nonexistent in Argentine universities, and that there are few professors with the specific training to teach such programs. 

“An objective of this initiative is to provide Argentine students and professionals who will someday enter academia, business, politics or the media with a greater and more sophisticated understanding of the United States,” Rabe said.  “I am truly excited to help get this project off the ground, and I look forward to seeing it grow into a larger and more comprehensive American Studies curriculum that will be widely available in Argentinean universities.” 

Rabe, recognized on numerous occasions for distinguished teaching, has been at UTD since 1977 and has taught courses about U.S. foreign relations, U.S. relations with Latin America, the American experience in Vietnam, U.S. history since 1945 and U.S. historiography.  He also has taught about slavery.  

Rabe has written numerous book chapters, book reviews and encyclopedia articles about U.S. and Latin American history.  Foundations and research institutes have supported his studies, and he has won grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Historical Association, the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation, the Rockefeller Archive Center and the Eleanor Roosevelt Institute, among others.  Rabe’s most recent book is titled The U.S. Intervention in British Guiana:  A Cold War Story (2005).  He also is the author of The Most Dangerous Place in the World:  John F. Kennedy Confronts Communist Revolution in Latin America (1999).

Rabe previously held a Fulbright Distinguished Chair, serving in 1990-91 as the Mary Ball Washington Professor of American History at University College in Dublin, Ireland.  In 2005, he was awarded the Bicentennial Chair in American Studies at The University of Helsinki in Finland by Fulbright.  Rabe previously has directed American Studies seminars in Brazil.

About UTD

The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the complex of major multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor®, enrolls nearly 14,500 students.  The school’s freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront of Texas state universities in terms of average SAT scores.  The university offers a broad assortment of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs.  For additional information about UTD, please visit the university’s web site at www.utdallas.edu.