The University of Nebraska (NU) central administration is offering four teaching and research grants in the Africa and South/Central Asia region (due October 31) and a fifth on global themes in class curriculum (due November 7). The grants support the NU goals for global engagement and aim to strengthen the institution’s competitiveness and understanding of various world regions.
In June 2016, the President and Chancellors of the NU system formally adopted a Strategy for Global Engagement. The document emphasizes that “strengthening global engagement and building on a tradition of success with international activities will improve the educational outcomes the university seeks.”
One of the six goals identified in the strategy is to encourage faculty to increase global perspectives in their courses and programs through global themes, regional histories and perspectives, foreign languages and literatures, and disciplinary insights from different regions of the world. Such experiences are essential in order for students to develop a global mindset and the skills they need to contribute meaningfully in our rapidly changing and globalizing world.
The four Africa and South/Central Asia grants fall in two categories: research and teaching initiatives. All four Request for Proposals (RFPs) are due October 31.
The teaching initiatives are intended to support the development of new courses or the revision of existing courses whose purpose is to introduce students to any country or region of Africa and from any disciplinary perspective. Award totals for both regions can total up to $10,000 for one year.
The research initiatives will facilitate and build new research collaborations focusing within the specific region. Funding is available to support planning meetings, retreats, and travel to funding agencies in order to meet with National Program Leaders and gauge support for the proposed programmatic direction. Maximum funding awarded for a single year is $20,000.
The “Globalizing the Curriculum” grant enables faculty within NU to develop new course themes to introduce global or international perspectives to large numbers of students as part of the on-campus curriculum. The RFP is due November 7 and allows a faculty member to earn up to $5,000 for the academic year 2018-2019.
General eligibility for all grants is open to Assistant, Associate or Full Professors and equivalent-rank professors of practice who have been employed by any University of Nebraska campus. Please note the “Globalizing the Curriculum” grant requires faculty members to have been employed for at least two years prior.
Additional details and the RFPs can be found at: https://go.unl.edu/globalgrants. Inquiries should be sent to: globalstrategies@unl.edu.