Faculty projects get global-at-home curriculum grants

Learning about the challenges of Latin American migrant workers in upstate New York; partnering with students in India and China to address sustainable food, energy and water policies; sharing global experiences through the Intergroup Dialogue Project – these are examples of global-at-home learning opportunities faculty are developing through 2017 Internationalizing the Cornell Curriculum (ICC) grants.

Ten faculty-led projects are receiving approximately $170,000 in ICC grants this year, the Office of the Vice Provost for International Affairs has announced.

“We are pleased to recognize the leadership of faculty who are developing innovative efforts to more effectively internationalize the university,” said Laura Spitz, vice provost for international affairs.

This marks the third year of the program, which is funded through the Global Cornell initiative. In the first two years, the program awarded grants to 38 faculty-led projects that engaged community partners in countries across the world. Projects that receive grants meet the goals of the Global Cornell initiative to incorporate international and cross-cultural concepts into the curriculum.

“This year we funded projects that are developing internationalization initiatives on campus,” said David R. Lee, provost’s fellow for internationalization and International Professor in the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management. “These global-at-home opportunities offer students a breadth of cultures and languages, and expand their exposure to, and familiarity with, global issues and diverse international perspectives.”

This year’s grant recipients and their projects are:

  • Ilana Brito, assistant professor and Mong Family Sesquicentennial Faculty Fellow in Biomedical Engineering: Expanding the Global Reach of Microbiome-Based Research through an Undergraduate-Organized International Workshop;
  • Abigail C. Cohn, professor of linguistics in the College of Arts and Sciences: Linguistics for the Global Citizen: Foundations and Tools;
  • Maria Lorena Cook, professor of international and comparative labor in the ILR School: Migration in the Americas: A Global-at-Home Course Sequence Focusing on Latin American Migrant Workers in Upstate New York;
  • Michael Fontaine, associate professor of classics in the College of Arts and Sciences: Pioneering an Interdisciplinary Study Abroad Trip: Wine Culture in Rome and Naples;
  • Adi Grabiner Keinan, lecturer and director of the Intergroup Dialogue Project in the Office of Academic Diversity Initiatives: Internationalizing the Intergroup Dialogue Curriculum;
  • Marianne Krasny, professor of natural resources and director of the Civic Ecology Lab in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences: Global Engaged Learning through MOOC Undergraduate Teaching Assistantships;
  • Sarosh Kuruvilla, the Andrew J. Nathanson Family Professor in Industrial and Labor Relations: Restructuring the Global Scholars Program;
  • Xingen Lei, professor of animal science in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and a faculty fellow at the David Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future: The Global Food, Energy, and Water Nexus – Engaging Students from the United States, China and India to Chart a Sustainable Future;
  • Simone Pinet, professor of Spanish literature in the College of Arts and Sciences: Spain in/from America: Cultural Engagements in Historical and Local Perspectives; and
  • John Sipple, associate professor of development sociology in and a core faculty member in the Cornell Institute for Public Affairs in the College of Human Ecology: The Intersection of Local Schools, Community Development and Policy: U.S., Irish and Scottish Cases.

Faculty who receive ICC grants are encouraged to participate in development opportunities that include seminars and short workshops offered in collaboration with the Center for Teaching Excellence, Cornell Abroad, Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, Office of Engagement Initiatives, Language Resource Center and others.

ICC grants are administered by the Office of the Vice Provost for International Affairs, Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies and Cornell Abroad, with support from the Internationalization Council.

Media Contact

Rebecca Valli