U.S. Department of Education

Office of Postsecondary Education

International and Foreign Language Education Office

Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad (GPA) Program

CFDA 84.021A

GPA Short-term and Long-term 

Grant Awards List and Project Abstracts

Fiscal Year 2022
Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad Program

FY 2022 Grant Awards List

Grantee Institution State Host Country Funding 

Amount

Page 

Number

SHORT-TERM PROJECTS

American Councils for International Education DC Taiwan $158,300 4

Cabrini University PA Zambia $87,883 5

California State University - Los Angeles CA South Africa $166,810 6

The College of New Jersey NJ Taiwan $99,416 7

Florida International University FL Tanzania $154,804 8

Hobart and William Smith Colleges NY Georgia $98,853 9

Middlesex Community College MA Cambodia $95,789 10

Ohio University OH Thailand $147,405 11

Rutgers University NJ South Africa $157,410 12

State University of New York, Purchase College NY Benin $118,175 13

University of Arizona (CASA Morocco) AZ Morocco $175,000 14

University of Arizona (CASA II Jordan) AZ Jordan $175,000 15

The University of Georgia GA Tanzania $103,906 16

University of Hawai’i HI Philippines $141,616 17

William Rainey Harper College IL Kenya & Uganda $163,444 18

Yuva Hindi Sansthan NJ India $111,203 19

LONG-TERM PROJECTS

American Councils for International Education DC Russia $232,500 21

American Institute of Indian Studies IL India $259,423 22

Howard University DC Kenya $299,532 23

Northern Illinois University IL Philippines $199,780 24

University of Arizona (CASA Morocco) AZ Morocco $300,000 25

University of Arizona (CASA II Jordan) AZ Jordan $300,000 26
SHORT-TERM PROJECTS
American Councils for International Education

Short-term Seminar Project for Prospective Teachers of Chinese

Project Director: Dr. Dan E. Davidson

The 2018 U.S. National Security Strategy identifies global competition with China as nothing less than 

the “central challenge to U.S. prosperity and security” in the decades ahead. The importance of U.S.-

Sino relations extends far beyond conflict and competition as the successful resolution of a growing 

number of urgent global issues, including climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, starkly rests upon 

greater cooperation between the two superpowers. However, the number of U.S. speakers of Chinese 

qualified to fill language-designated positions in government currently falls far short of the quantity and

quality of expertise required. To address this critical need, American Councils is pleased to submit this 

proposal to the U.S. Department of Education for 2022 Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad funding 

for Short-Term Seminar Projects to support the participation of current and future prospective teachers 

of Chinese in the Intensive Chinese Language Program in Taiwan (ICLPT), hosted by the National Tsing 

Hua University (NTHU). 

Program features include:

• Intensive Mandarin language classes conducted by leading NTHU faculty designed to strengthen 

participants’ speaking, listening, writing, and comprehension skills; 

• Seminars exploring Taiwanese and Chinese mass media and contemporary society;

• An elective seminar on the teaching of Chinese for current and future teachers;

• Weekly cultural excursions and an extended trip outside the host city;

• Weekly meetings with peer language partners to maximize linguistic and cultural immersion and 

expand social networks; 

• Ongoing logistical support and 24-hour emergency assistance from a U.S. Resident Director;

• Full academic credit (two units or eight credit hours) through Bryn Mawr College for work 

completed overseas;

• Pre- and post-program reading, listening, and speaking proficiency testing; and

• Active networks to support alumni in professional networks and career searches, to engage 

former participants in outreach to potential future program participants, and to promote the 

teaching and study of Chinese.

American Councils will conduct a national outreach campaign to encourage current and prospective 

future teachers to participate in ICLPT. An external selection committee comprising at least two experts 

in Chinese language and pedagogy will review all applications. Participants will complete both predeparture and in-country orientations. Recognizing that COVID-19 and world events continue to require 

maximum flexibility in planning and logistical support, American Councils has developed extensive 

protocols to ensure participant health and safety abroad, as well as virtual programming options to 

maintain instructional continuity in the event of delays or disruptions to onsite activities.
5

Cabrini University 

Bridges to Zambia

Project Director: Dr. Martha Ritter, mjr399@cabrini.edu

12 participants: undergraduate juniors, seniors, graduate students, and alumni in education 

Subject: Cabrini University (Cabrini) proposes Bridges to Zambia, a four-week group project abroad 

designed to increase the cultural competency and global citizenship capacities of U.S. students and 

educators by focusing on the history, culture, language, and society of Zambia and the challenges of 

economic development, entrepreneurship, and building civic society. 

Cabrini University (Cabrini) proposes the continuation of “Bridges to Zambia,” a four-week group project 

abroad designed to increase the cultural competency and capacity for engaged global citizenship by 

focusing on the history, culture, language, and society of Zambia through the lens of social justice and 

education, including human rights education. Bridges to Zambia promotes area studies at Cabrini, and 

through their sharing of the experience, impacts students and faculty at Cabrini and reaches students 

and teachers in PreK-12 schools and businesses in which participants will have careers. Project partners 

include Project Zambia (PZ), whose work focuses on “education, feeding programmes, improved access 

to first aid/healthcare, clean water and safe sanitation, income-generation and empowering 

communities through the training of local people” Vision of Hope (VoH), a local outreach arm of PZ, 

which is a Lusaka-based Zambian non-governmental organization (NGO), and St. Lawrence School which 

educates children in Grades Pre-first through Ninth, including many who reside in the Misisi Compound, 

a slum in Lusaka.

Zambia, a nation of over 16.5 million people, is a former British colony classified as a lower-middleincome country. Zambia is an exemplar of the challenges of a once-colonized nation that has been 

destabilized and seeks to flourish by investing in its future. Its capital, Lusaka (the home base of Cabrini’s 

Bridges to Zambia), has a long and important history. It has been a base for those attempting to free the 

region from colonial rule and has seen many nationalist movements as the country struggled to achieve 

stability. Experiencing the country’s history, social structure, institutions, language, and culture, in 

Lusaka and additional sites in the country, will encourage students to examine the events and 

institutions that have shaped Zambia’s culture and impacted international relations and development.

Participants will be eight pre- and in-service teachers who are Cabrini undergraduate, graduate students 

or alumni in PreK-12 classrooms, and four students in international business or organization 

development. Bridges to Zambia participants will be immersed in Zambian culture; economics; the 

educational system; and history. The immersion will contribute to students’ higher-level thinking and 

understanding of the interconnectedness of education and economics, and how each impact human 

rights. Bridges to Zambia is unique in that it brings together pre- and in-service teachers with students in 

international business, to better understand the interrelatedness of economics and education.

The goals of Bridges to Zambia are to (1) Increase cultural competency of participants and deepen their 

cross-cultural understanding through experiential learning and meaningful interaction with Zambians; 

(2) Increase knowledge of an understudied part of the world through an in-depth examination of 

Zambian history, culture, and society and beginning level instruction in Nyanja, a local Zambian 

language; and, (3) Promote global knowledge and citizenship in social studies and humanities curriculum 

within the Cabrini community and through the dissemination of knowledge about Zambia integrated in

thematic units for PreK-12 educators, professional organizations, and human rights networks.
6

California State University - Los Angeles

Performing & Creative Arts in South Africa During Apartheid and Beyond

Project Director: Dr. Serie McDougal

Project Coordinator: Professor Precious Dlamini, M.P.H.

Participants: 14 Secondary and Post-Secondary School Educators, Curriculum Specialists, and 

Administrators, plus Project Director and Project Coordinator

California State University – Los Angeles, Pan African Studies Department proposes a Fulbright-Hays

Group Project Abroad (GPA) to take fourteen educators from the state of California to South Africa for 

curriculum development. The project supports and builds on Assembly Bill (AB) 101 and 1460 – bills 

signed into law, in the year 2021 and 2020 respectively, by Governor Newsom of California. AB 101 

requires all High School Students to complete a semester-long course in ethnic studies to earn a high 

school diploma, making California the first state in the nation to make ethnic studies course a 

requirement in high school. AB 1460 requires California State University undergraduate students to take 

at least one ethnic studies course as a graduation requirement. The project will offer a rich experiential 

learning opportunity that will enable participants to explore first-hand the performing arts area of study 

as it relates to knowledge systems of South Africa for integration in their classrooms back in the United 

States.

The project will be based in KwaZulu-Natal, in affiliation with the University of Zululand, and the 

Chatsworth Education Center (CEC).The project will benefit from the unique strengths of these two 

institutions, which will provide access to high-quality academic and professional resources. 

Complementing classroom lecture seminars will be educational tours to sites in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, 

and Cape Provinces, where participants will experience South Africa through the uniquely distinct 

artistic features of these three provinces. 

The goals of this project are to:

1. To increase linguistic competency within ethnic studies among secondary and post-secondary 

school educators and administrators. Participants will receive substantive standards-based Zulu 

language and culture instruction for fifteen hours a week to develop linguistic and cultural 

competency in the language. The target proficiency goal will be at least level 1+ ceiling on the 

Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR) Proficiency Scale. 

2. To increase African performing arts knowledgebase of secondary and post-secondary school

educators, administrators, and curriculum developers. Through lecture seminars, class 

discussions, site visits, and performance attendance, participants will broaden their knowledge 

base as it relates to South African performing arts.

3. To enhance the quality of curriculums for U.S. middle-high and post-secondary schools to 

include topics and instructional materials related to the study of African performing arts. 

Through knowledge and instructional materials gained from lecture seminars, class discussions, 

relevant historical site visits, and performance attendance, participants will develop 18 

instructional modules (12 for secondary schools and 6 for post-secondary schools) for 

dissemination nationwide to be incorporated in the development of curriculums for U.S. 

classrooms.
7

The College of New Jersey

Advancing Core Taiwanese Values in Turbulent Times: A Post-COVID Reflection and Curricular 

Exploration

Project Director: Celia Liu; liuc@tcnj.edu; Dept of World Languages and Cultures

GPA Project Type: 4 Week Seminar Abroad

Participants: Four to six Professors (with advanced degrees) from TCNJ’s School of Education, School 

of Humanities and Social Sciences, and School of Nursing, Health and Exercise Sciences. Six to eight P12 Educators from the TCNJ’s School of Education’s Professional Development Schools Network 

(PDSN).

Taiwan continues to advance their core values amid the COVID-19 pandemic and has managed to 

maintain a business-as-usual lifestyle. The Taiwanese followed the national restrictions and guidelines 

set by their Centers for Disease Control (CDC). We have chosen Taiwan as the location for this FulbrightHays Seminar abroad to better understand how Taiwanese education and core cultural values 

contributed to the effectiveness of these national public health policies. 

Our goal for this project is to enhance the study of Mandarin and Taiwanese cultural studies at TCNJ and 

partner NJ P-12 schools by equipping TCNJ faculty and P-12 educators to promote Mandarin language 

study and its connections to other academic focus fields with attention to how these fields contribute to 

the success of Public Health policies. The targeted disciplines include: World Languages, Art Education, 

Physical Education, Health Education (Body and Mind), and Social Studies/History. This seminar would 

consist of: 1) a series of preparatory seminar discussions, 2) an in-country 4-week experience hosted by 

National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU), and 3) post-departure reflection and curricular reform

workshops. As a result of engaging in this seminar, participants would infuse content into existing 

curriculum and/or develop new curriculum.

The impact of this seminar would be the enhancement of global intercultural competence and crossdisciplinary engagement in Mandarin and Taiwanese studies at TCNJ and at our P-12 partner schools. 

The evaluation of this project will look at how we achieve the: 1) introduction of the intended crossdisciplinary model; 2) immersion of participants in experiential learning of Mandarin and Taiwanese 

culture; 3) infusion of content about Mandarin and Taiwanese studies into selected P-16 courses; and 4) 

connections that enable additional short-term programs, student exchange, and teacher collaboration 

on research, training and curriculum development.
8

Florida International University

The First English-Swahili Early Childhood Curriculum in the U.S.

Project Director: Dr. Iqbal Akhtar

Bilingual education in the United States rarely includes an African language and underprivileged minority 

children rarely have access to this important educational opportunity. Benefits for dual language early 

childhood learners include improved cognitive development, such as metalinguistic awareness, concept 

formation, and analogical reasoning. Our proposed cohort of 10 professors, graduate students, and 

teachers, hosted by Florida International University- an MSI, will collaborate with early childhood 

programs in Florida and Louisiana to conduct an 8-week intensive digital Swahili- English early childhood 

curriculum development workshop in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (Africa). The final product of which will be 

an open-source Swahili-English curriculum for one semester (15 weeks), which will include lesson plans, 

storybooks, flashcards, and YouTube videos, to help teachers implement international early childhood 

education.

This project is based on 38 years of pioneering work on Swahili-English curriculum development at 

Children’s College in Slidell, Louisiana. Mrs. Nargis is originally from Tanzania and opened the early 

childhood program in 1984. One of the challenges that she saw was how her African American students, 

particularly boys, had poorer educational outcomes and reflected in their school behavior their 

challenges at home. With her own funds, she launched the Swahili program, which has been refined 

over the last three decades. The connection with Africa interests and engages parents; children easily 

memorize basic words and phrases and enjoy learning about East African culture. Children’s College has 

become an institution of the Black community in Slidell, because of Swahili and its other innovative 

community engagement programs. This project would help her to further develop, systematize, 

rigorously test, and digitally publish the first peer-reviewed English-Swahili early childhood curriculum 

for teachers across the United States to access and adopt for free.

Ten participants will be selected through a merit-based review of applications from an open call posted 

across educational forums. Over 8 weeks (7/15-9/18), participants will develop and edit a 

comprehensive Swahili-English early childhood curriculum expanding upon existing materials with the 

help of a Swahili instructor, curriculum specialist, and cultural expert. In addition to developing lesson 

plans, participants will get a Swahili refresher course, tour schools in Dar es Salaam, taste local foods, 

experience local music and festivals (Nane Nane), connect with PAO/USAID funded educational 

programs in the capital, tour cultural heritage and sacred sites (Dar es Salaam, Bagamoyo, and Zanzibar), 

and co-create books/videos to create a holistic curriculum that in a small way translates East African life 

to an engaged American preschooler.

Project director Dr. Iqbal Akhtar is an associate professor at Florida International University. He is 

director of the Western Indian Ocean Studies program and is affiliate faculty of the African & African 

Diaspora Studies Program. His doctoral thesis was completed on Fulbright fellowship in 2008 in 

Tanzania, focusing on the history of the Khoja communities of Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam. He is 

executive director of The East-West Foundation that works in Miami and Slidell to document African 

American Muslim history as well as develop and implement culturally informed environmental K-12 

educational support to schools in Brownsville and Liberty City.

He has previously led Swahili language/cultural immersion and study abroad trips to Tanzania both at 

the U.S. Air Force Academy and more recently at FIU. BSRI will evaluate the project.
9

Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Modern Georgia: Politics, Economy, Culture

Project Director: David Galloway, Associate Professor of Russian Area Studies, galloway@hws.edu / 

(315)781-3790

Number and educational level of participants: (1) Project Director, Ph.D.; (1) Assistant Director, Ph.D.; 

(9) Undergraduate/graduate students, B.A./B.S.; (9) In-service/prospective K-12 teachers, B.A/B.S. or 

M.A./M.S.

Hobart & William Smith Colleges (HWS), in conjunction with the Akaki Tsereteli State University (ATSU), 

propose a six-week short-term seminar project for twenty participants in the Imereti region of western 

Georgia. Based in the city of Kutaisi, this project will foster interdisciplinary learning and teaching in 

Caucasus area studies by immersing participants in the politics, economics, language, and culture of 

contemporary Georgia. Participants will complete Georgian language training at the introductory level 

and coursework on Georgian area studies.

Due to Russia’s increased belligerence and unwelcoming legislation, HWS is turning to post-Soviet 

republics on the periphery as more suitable sites for study abroad. This proposal, our eighth to the 

Department of Education, builds on our six funded proposals since 2005 by focusing on authentic, 

language-centric, interdisciplinary programs that allow US and target-country participants to engage in 

sustained dialogue and co-learning. As a Western-oriented democracy with a strong orientation towards 

and investment in English-learning, Georgia is an ideal site for engaging issues in the Caucasus without 

risking residence in the Russian Federation. By examining Georgia, project participants will see firsthand 

the breadth of the country and its diversity, and will gain a sense of its complexities in terms of culture, 

ethnicity, and physical environment. 

A multifaceted understanding of Georgia is critical if participants are to interact with the country and its 

people on a professional basis after leaving college or in their existing teaching careers. Our approach is 

interdisciplinary: we will draw from all relevant topics in order to best grasp the changes which made 

Georgia what it is today, and the influences that will change it in the future.

This project complements HWS’s mission and that of Fulbright-Hays, combining area studies, cultural 

studies, and language-training components into an academic program, and by allowing participants to 

interact with Georgian peers. It will provide exposure to Georgia for Americans who will end up working 

in business and the government, as well as for those in education who will shape the next generation of 

foreign language learners. It will introduce students to an area critical to contemporary problems of 

transnationalism and multicultural heritage, and will lay the groundwork for further interdisciplinary 

work and collaboration between Georgian and U.S. faculty.
10

Middlesex Community College

Healing Connections: Art, Education and Well-Being

Project Director: Dr. Larisa Kradinova, Professor of English, kradinoval@middlesex.mass.edu

Participants: 7 Middlesex Community College faculty and 7 middle and high school teachers from the 

Lowell Public Schools

Middlesex Community College (MCC) is proposing a Fulbright-Hays Group Study Abroad (GPA) project 

for the purpose of deepening and expanding connections between Cambodian arts and cultural 

traditions with curricula at MCC and the Lowell Public Schools (LPS). This project, Healing Connections, 

Art Education and Well-Being, will be integral for MCC’s multipronged approach to help address the 

ongoing trauma experienced by the 20,000 members of the Cambodian diaspora living in Lowell, MA, a 

city of over 100,000 people. The overall goals of this project are to provide Cambodian youth with a 

strong sense to their cultural legacy by increasing their appreciation of Cambodia’s cultural heritage 

through new curricula and educational activities as well as a feeling of belonging to aid in retention and 

persistence in education. The specific objectives to accomplish the goals of the project are: 1.) Increase 

by 12 the number of MCC and LPS faculty who can integrate content related to the arts and culture of 

Cambodia into their classes through research, travel/study, and curriculum development; 2.) Infuse a 

minimum of 24 courses at the elementary, secondary, and college levels with content reflecting the 

connection between education, arts, and individual and community well-being using equity minded 

approach and historical context observed and researched in Cambodia and the United States and based 

on global academic scholarship; 3.) Increase faculty awareness and knowledge on connections between 

education and health access and well-being through grant activities, community events and newly 

developed curriculum units; 4.) Increase cultural awareness and knowledge of Cambodia, the 

Cambodian diaspora, and Cambodian heritage and arts through grant activities, community events and 

newly developed curriculum units; 5.) Develop strategies for increasing education and health access; 

work with existing organizations pursuing the same goals in Cambodia and the United States.
11

Ohio University

Short-term Seminar in Thailand

Project Director: Dr. Emmanuel Jean-Francois, Associate Professor, Educational Studies 

Educational level: Graduate students or junior or senior who are prospective teachers in the areas of 

social sciences, humanities and foreign languages and in-service teachers or administrators working in 

or with Ohio School Districts

Number of Project Participants: 14

CFDA Number: 84.021A (Competitive priorities 3, 4 and 5) 

The proposed project is designed for a cohort of 14 participants, including at least 7 graduate students 

or junior or senior who are prospective teachers in the areas of social sciences, humanities and foreign 

languages and 7 in-service teachers or administrators working in or with Ohio School Districts. The 

project aims to promote and facilitate the incorporation of cross-cultural contents and instructional 

strategies into the curricula and teaching practices in k-12 schools in the State of Ohio, through a shortterm seminar in Thailand. Thailand is selected because of the growing number of students from 

Southeast Asian countries attending Ohio k-12 schools, which contribute to the increasing diversity of 

Ohio school districts. The project includes three major phases: Phase 1) A 30-hour pre-travel orientation 

(Introduction to Culture in Context); Phase 2) A 6-week sojourn in Thailand: (a) Cross-cultural Contents 

in k-12 Education: The Thailand Context, and (b) Cross-cultural Teaching practicum and Community 

Service Learning; and Phase 3) A 30-hour post-travel workshop (Seminar on international comparative 

studies in Thailand). The total fund requested for the project is $147,405.
12

Rutgers University

Short-Term Seminar in South Africa

Project Directors: Dr. Esther O. Ohito, (Project Co-Director), Dr. Susan E. Wilcox (Project Co-Director & 

Coordinator), Dr. Jamila Lyiscott (Project Curriculum Specialist & Manager), Dr. Keisha Green (Project 

Evaluator)

Amount of Time in Country: 4 weeks

Number of Participants: 16 including, ideally, (6) pre-service teachers & (6) public school K-12 

teachers, with an emphasis on those who teach in the humanities; and one each, project co-director, 

project co-director & coordinator, project curriculum specialist & manager, and project evaluator

The Urban Social Justice Teacher Preparation Program at Rutgers - New Brunswick, in collaboration with 

the Center of Racial Justice and Youth Engaged Research at the University of Massachusetts Amherst 

and the University of Zululand in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, is facilitating a cross-cultural, transnational project designed to support teachers (pre-service and in-service) in developing curriculum that 

enhances their grasp of language and literacy pedagogies in order to improve reading, writing and 

critical thinking skills are taught to linguistically and culturally diverse students in North and Central New 

Jersey and Western Massachusetts. This 4-week short-term seminar project focuses on fostering

teachers’ capacities to develop curriculum that supports the teaching of language and literacy to 

linguistically and culturally diverse students. The project will occur in three phases: 1) a 3-month long, 

28-hour pre-departure phase that will occur virtually (12 hours over three months) and in-person (16 

contact hours); 2) a month-long overseas phase; and 3) a six-month follow-up phase focused on

curriculum implementation and dissemination activities. The project objectives are:

1. To increase participating teachers’ knowledge and awareness of diversity through a study of

linguistic and cultural heterogeneity in South Africa;

2. To train teachers in the development of curriculum that supports the teaching of language and

literacy in ways that deepen students’ content knowledge; sharpen students’ reading, writing,

and critical thinking skills; and improve the holistic learning experiences of linguistically and

culturally diverse students; and

3. To promote cross-cultural and intellectual exchanges across national boundaries.

During the overseas phase, participants will engage in interactive activities, such as:

• Academic lectures and seminars with university scholars and school partners centered on South 

African language, literacy, culture, and on historical and contemporary issues

• Instruction in basic Zulu and Xhosa languages to improve language and communication

• Workshops on the use of cultural art forms to explore innovative youth learning strategies

• Guided visits to key landmarks to explore South Africa as a teaching and learning landscape

• Homestays in village communities to enhance cross-cultural learning and expose participants to 

the experiences of rural life
13

State University of New York, Purchase College

Connecting Across Languages and Cultures in Benin, West Africa

Project Director: Anne M. Kern, Ph.D.; anne.kern@purchase.edu; Dean for Office of Global Strategy

Participants: 12 participants. 6 K-12 teachers, 6 Purchase College faculty members

Project Overview: The State University of New York (SUNY) Purchase College, an institution devoted to 

the arts, liberal arts, and sciences located 30 miles north of New York City, and neighboring school 

system K-12 teachers seek to launch a four-week program in Western Africa, in the south of Benin. The 

overarching goal of this undertaking is to produce a new and enhanced understanding about the history 

and ongoing reconciliation at both ends of the transatlantic slavery trade, with specific emphasis on the 

cultural transmission that has taken place along the link. We will draw from our background in various 

arts—dance, music, and film—as we study the historical influence that flowed from West Africa to the 

Americas and back, and will look toward its continuing evolution today, as experienced in our 

collaborative work at Purchase and in Benin. Participants will focus on dance, music, and contemporary 

art, including art studio site visits, dance and instruction, and musical performances; the restitution of 

art works formerly housed in France and recently returned to Benin; language instruction, with 

immersive instruction in Fon, the dominant language in the south of Benin; the history of the Kingdom 

of Dahomey, including its role in the transatlantic slavery trade, the historical overlay of kingdoms in the 

modern, post-colonial nation-state of Benin; and the history and contemporary practice of vodun, 

including study of religious tolerance and syncretism in contemporary Benin.

The GPA Program addresses multiple institutional needs related to global education: it increases 

capacity and long-term partnership development in our high priority region, Western Africa; it enhances 

diversity, equity and inclusion in its focus on human rights and specifically reconciling the history of 

slavery; it offers a wide range of skill building to American faculty members and K-12 teachers with its 

linked online and in-person collaborative components; and helps to advance our college’s commitment 

to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. As a new applicant, Purchase proposes to 

complete this work in collaboration with the African School of Economics and the Zinsou Foundation in 

Benin, partners with whom Purchase has been working since 2017. Participants will develop and 

implement new curricular units for existing or new courses. These units will explore the intersection of 

Beninese languages, culture, history, educational systems, politics, and more. Ultimately, participants 

will share the resources they develop on an open-resource platform, exponentially expanding access to 

other educators.
14

University of Arizona

Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA) for Scholars Group Research and Language Training at 

AALIM Institute, Morocco 

Project Director: Dr. Sonia Shiri, CASA Director, School of Middle Eastern Studies & North African 

Studies, University of Arizona

Group Projects Abroad Type 3: Group Research or Study Project

Competitive Preference Priority 3: Training and Thematic Focus on Priority Languages

The Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA), based at the University of Arizona, is seeking funding for a 

new training site at AALIM in Meknes, Morocco to support 10 semester-long fellowships for faculty of 

Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) Studies. This program, to be known as “CASA for Scholars” or 

“CASA III,” will serve two purposes. First, it will provide advanced Arabic "refresher" courses for 

professors in various MENA fields who are interested in further improving their Arabic language skills, 

learning a colloquial, or further developing their ability to use the language in contexts appropriate for 

their own research areas. Second, it will support the professors’ research in the Arabic language by 

providing them opportunities for engaging regularly with Arabic-speaking local experts in their field, 

accessing primary sources, and/or conducting field research in Arabic. CASA Scholars will also take 

professional and networking group trips around the country to engage with scholars and experts from 

other cities and leading universities. They will also participate in a bi-weekly forum in Arabic at AALIM in 

preparation for presenting their work at a final mini-conference that will include local scholars and other 

experts from their field and later posting their extended paper abstracts on the CASA website. 

This CASA for Scholars program is part of the offerings of the larger CASA and operated with limited 

numbers for approximately two decades before it was suspended in 2011, at the start of the “Arab 

Spring.” CASA’s proven training methods and results-driven methodologies are crucial for meeting the 

nation’s strategic, economic and educational needs for advanced-level speakers of Arabic. CASA for 

Scholars is an unparalleled and vital program that will help serve the unmet needs of these scholars 

who, in turn, will be impacting learners of Arabic and MENA scholars all over the country. CASA, a 

consortium of 30 American universities, was formed in 1967 and has since provided advanced-level 

Arabic training to over 1,800 American students and faculty initially attending the American University in 

Cairo, Egypt for nearly four decades then expanding to Damascus, Syria for several years. Since 2012 and 

due to safety and security concerns, the program has moved to the Qasid Arabic Institute in Amman, 

Jordan and operated the yearlong program there but only focusing on language and culture for graduate 

and advanced undergraduate students. With this grant, CASA will now expand its numbers and the type 

of participants to better address the long-term, unmet national demand for its training. It will do so in 

North Africa, a long-term scholarly MENA hub and a region that has recently become even more critical 

to the international scene. CASA is administered by a Governing Council representing the consortium, a 

Stateside Director who is responsible for all its operations, and an Executive Director who manages the 

day-to-day of the program in Morocco. CASA Scholars will be selected from a pool of faculty applicants 

who respond to a nationwide call. The selection committee, consisting of the Stateside Director, three 

representatives of the Consortium institutions and the Executive Director, evaluate candidates based on 

their language proficiency test scores, research projects, activity in the field, and statement of purpose. 

All chosen fellows are American citizens or permanent residents of the US and may but do not have to 

be former CASA I or CASA II participants. CASA adheres strictly to the principles of equal opportunity, 

and diversity and inclusion in its admissions.
15

University of Arizona

Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA) II – Group Research and Language Training at Qasid 

Institute, Amman, Jordan

Project Director: Dr. Sonia Shiri, CASA Director, School of Middle Eastern & North African Studies, 

University of Arizona, Email: soniashiri@arizona.edu, Tel: 520-626-7667 

Group Projects Abroad Type 3: Group Research or Study Project

Competitive Preference Priority 3: Substantive Training & Thematic Focus on Priority Languages

The Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA), based at the University of Arizona, is seeking funding for a 

training site at Qasid Institute in Amman, Jordan to support 10 semester long fellowships for graduate 

students specializing in the Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) Studies. This program, known as 

“CASA II,” will serve two purposes. First, it will provide advanced Arabic enhancement courses for 

graduate students in various MENA fields who are interested in further improving their Arabic language 

skills including learning a colloquial, or further developing their ability to use the language in contexts 

appropriate for their own research areas. Second, it will support the fellows’ research projects by 

providing them opportunities for receiving weekly mentoring from Arabic-speaking local academics and 

experts in their field, accessing primary sources, and/or conducting field research in Arabic. CASA II 

fellows will also take cultural, professional and networking group trips around Jordan to engage with 

scholars and experts from other cities and leading universities. They will participate in a bi-weekly forum 

at Qasid to hone their research and presentational skills in Arabic, in preparation for presenting their 

work at a final mini-conference that will include local scholars and other experts. 

The CASA II program is part of the offerings of the larger CASA and has operated with limited numbers 

for approximately two decades before it was suspended in 2011, at the start of the “Arab Spring.” 

CASA’s proven training methods and results-driven methodologies are crucial for meeting the nation’s 

strategic, economic and educational needs for advanced-level speakers of Arabic. CASA II is a unique and 

vital program that will help serve the needs of these junior scholars, who will, in due time, join academia 

and start impacting learners of Arabic and MENAS scholars all over the country. CASA, a consortium of 

30 American universities, was formed in 1967 and has since provided advanced-level Arabic training to 

over 1,800 American students initially attending the American University in Cairo, Egypt for nearly four 

decades then expanding to Damascus, Syria for several years. Since 2012 and due to safety and security 

concerns, the program has moved to the Qasid Arabic Institute in Amman, Jordan and operated the 

yearlong program there continually but solely focusing on language and culture for graduate and 

advanced undergraduate students. With this grant, CASA will now better address the long-term, unmet 

national demand for training its MENA academics. The program is located in Jordan which is in the 

center of the strategic Levant area and one of the rare MENA destinations still safely open to American 

students. Qasid’s excellent record of excellence combined with its partnerships with academia and the 

community ensures a high-quality CASA II experience. CASA is administered by a Governing Council 

representing the consortium, a Stateside Director who is responsible for all its operations, and an 

Executive Director who manages the on-site day-to-day of the program. CASA Scholars will be selected 

from a pool of graduate applicants who respond to a nationwide call. The selection committee evaluates 

candidates based on their language proficiency test scores, research projects, and statements of 

purpose. All chosen fellows are American citizens or permanent residents of the US and may but do not 

have to be CASA I graduates. CASA adheres strictly to the principles of equal opportunity, and diversity 

and inclusion in its admissions.
16

The University of Georgia 

Language and Cultural Immersion for K-12 Technology and Engineering Curriculum 

Development Project for Tanzania

Project Director: Dr. John M. Mativo

Type of GPA Project: Short-Term – Curriculum Development

Participants: 12 participants plus one director (13 total). Participants are K-12 in-service teachers, preservice teachers (undergraduate and graduate students), and administrators

Competitive Preference: The proposal addresses Absolute priority, priority 3, priority 4, and priority 5

The University of Georgia is applying for a short-term curriculum development 2022 Fulbright-Hays 

Group Project Abroad Program. This project will engage 12 participants from one or more of the 

following areas of education: K-12 teachers, K-12 pre-service teachers (undergraduate and graduate 

students) and educational administrators. The participants will hold at least a bachelors’ degree or be 

current undergraduate students. The absolute priority project will take place in the United States of 

America (USA) and in Tanzania. The proposed project will allow participants to travel to Tanzania for the 

purpose of collecting teaching materials for the development of rich program projects that can be 

shared with other teachers of K-12.

The project will build upon the successful program implemented during 2019 to participants using 

robotics curriculum and indigenous technical knowledge in addition to language and area studies.

The proposed project meets Competitive Preference Priority 3, which awards projects that offer 

Substantive Training and Thematic Focus on Priority Languages. This project qualifies for this priority in 

that it will offer intensive Swahili language training; at least 50% of the time allocated for the preimmersion, immersion, and post-immersion periods of the project. The rest of the 50%, although 

labeled indigenous knowledge and robotics, emphasizes Kiswahili. A particularly innovative aspect of 

this program will be the development of unique Kiswahili words used to express language associated 

with robotics and intelligent machine systems.
17

University of Hawai’i

Filipino Language and Indigenous Cultural Heritage 

Project Director: Federico V. Magdalena, PhD, Faculty Affiliate, Asian Studies Program & Assoc. 

Director, Philippine Studies, Tel. (808) 956-6086; Email: fm@hawaii.edu

Type of application: FH-GPA Short-Term Seminar Project (18 Months)

Number & Education of Participants: 12, all college graduates and above

This project will provide knowledge of basic (conversational) Filipino language, fortified by area studies 

focusing on the cultural context of the Philippines. Twelve American K12 teachers will participate in a 

Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad (FH-GPA) for 18 months (short-term). They will be drawn from 

Hawai’i and California, states known for diverse populations and large concentration of Americans with 

Filipino ancestry. This FH-GPA program will be implemented in Iligan City, on Mindanao Island, 

Philippines. Goals. Its goals are two: First, provide Level I competency in Filipino language, the national 

language of the Philippines. And second, broaden knowledge of participants on area studies of 

Mindanao, featuring indigenous cultural heritage. Here, Filipino language and indigenous culture are 

viewed in harmony, reinforcing each other while promoting identity and consciousness.

Plan of Operation. Mindanao is rich in indigenous cultural heritage, such as artworks, clothing, and 

literature. It is where Filipino language has taken roots in education, business, and communication. The 

participants will be selected based on FH guidelines and a clear post-training plan to utilize their 

knowledge to improve their school’s curriculum in global/social studies. They will train at Mindanao 

State University-Iligan Institute of Technology, an institution with strong Department of Filipino and 

Other Languages, recognized nationally as a Center of Excellence.

Significance. Linguistic knowledge and understanding of Mindanao cultural setting will enrich the 

capacity and world outlook of the participating teachers. With it, they will acquire pedagogical skills, 

improve their school curriculum in global/social studies, and promote intergroup relations among 

students of varied ethnicities. The project will also boost the global image, and strengthen the BA 

curriculum of the University of Hawai’i - the only institution with such program in the USA. It may break 

new ground in modern foreign language teaching in tandem with area studies in Southeast Asia.

Method. Teaching Filipino language will entail immersion for about 80-hours of contact, complemented 

by lectures on unique topics with area studies grounding. Monitoring and evaluation will be conducted 

through Zoom, social media (Facebook), and emails to track down accomplishments of participants. A 

“before-after” statistical comparison (by t-test, using Wilcoxon formula) of knowledge acquisition will be 

performed. Data analysis also includes curriculum application, and actual field involvement of 

participants to provide qualitative measures of project impact. This proposal will address absolute and 

competitive preference priorities number 1, 3, 4, and 5.
18

William Rainey Harper College

Teaching Africa Today: Environmental and Sustainability Issues in Kenya and Uganda through a 

Social Justice Lens

Project Director: Dr. Richard Johnson, Professor, Director, Office of International Education

Project Co-Director: Mukila Maitha, Associate Professor, Geography Department

Participants: 14 educators (including Project Director and Co-Director) from postsecondary and 

secondary educational institutions

Competitive Priorities Addressed: Priority #1 (Application from Selected Institutions and 

Organizations); Priority #3 (Substantive Training and Thematic Focus on Less Commonly Taught 

Languages); Priority #4 (Inclusion of K-12 Educators); Priority #5 (Thematic Focus on Academic Fields)

Harper College is seeking a Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad grant to fund a six-week professional 

development field seminar to Kenya and Uganda entitled Teaching Africa Today: Environmental and 

Sustainability Issues in Kenya and Uganda through a Social Justice Lens for 10 educators and two 

Seminar leaders from post-secondary and secondary educational institutions in Illinois. This project has 

three principal goals: Goal One: To develop a cohort of teaching experts on the social, cultural, 

economic, and political economic impacts of climate change and environmental issues in East Africa 

(Uganda and Kenya) through a social justice lens by connecting high school and community college 

educators with a range of individuals, institutions, and initiatives, including representatives from 

academia and civil society in those countries. Goal Two: To create innovative international and 

intercultural curricula that draw on the participant immersion experience in Kenya and Uganda and to 

facilitate inclusion and dissemination of this curricula in Harper College courses, partnering and regional 

institutions, and surrounding secondary and postsecondary institutions. Goal Three: To foster among 

participants and affiliated institutions an understanding and appreciation of Kiswahili as an indigenous 

language and its relationship to cultural preservation and community identity, and thus, a recognition of 

the importance of language preservation. Through concerted study of the Kiswahili language, we aim to 

improve the intercultural competencies and communication skills of the participants (and by extension, 

their students). This may include the development of a credit-bearing Kiswahili language course at 

Harper College. 

The experiences and contacts resulting from this program will have these additional impacts on Harper 

College and its district schools: 

• Regular faculty-led study abroad programs to East Africa for students, which would align with a 

shared goal to increase the number of faculty-led programs. Students enrolled in the program 

will be required to enroll in a general education course that is tailored for this global experience.

• Deeper professional connections and partnerships between Harper College faculty and K-12 

educators in disciplines that teach sustainability topics. 

• Professional development workshops on globalizing curriculum for K-12 educators in the 

districts served by Harper College.

• Faculty exchanges between our colleges and Kenyatta University for professional development, 

shared teaching, and educational research opportunities
19

Yuva Hindi Sansthan

Hindi Language Curriculum Development Project – Sustainable Practices and Way of Life in 

India: Impact of the changing environment on local culture and lifestyle, and community 

response

Project type: (2) Fulbright-Hays GPA short term curriculum development project (4 weeks) that 

provides participants opportunities to acquire resource materials for curriculum development in Hindi 

with multi-disciplined studies: Culture and Ecology. Usage and dissemination in the United States (34 

CFR 664.12) 

Host country: India

Duration Study Tour in India: 4 weeks

Participants: 12 Educational level of participants: Community and K-12 instructors who teach 

Heritage, Non-Heritage learners enrolled in Elementary, Middle and High Schools in the USA; K-14 

faculty members and students enrolled in Community Colleges and Universities with a major in 

Education or any other discipline, electives in Hindi, South Asian studies. 

Number of Project leaders to accompany the study tour: 2 (Program Director and Program 

Consultant); Program Director/Team Leader/Administrator: Ashok Ojha, President and Director of 

Programs, Yuva Hindi Sansthan

Competitive priority areas: Absolute Priority-South Asia; (1) New applicant; Non-profit with 501-(C)-

(3); (3)Thematic focus on Less Commonly Taught Language, Hindi (4) Inclusion of K-12 teachers; (5) 

Thematic focus on academic fields-Culture, Environmental Science.

Yuva Hindi Sansthan, Inc. (YHS), a NJ based non-profit educational organization with 501-(C) (3), 

supported by a partnership with three US, two Indian universities plus a host of non-governmental

Indian organizations, is applying for Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad (GPA) Curriculum 

Development Project for a 4-week study tour to India with 12 participants. YHS’s partner institutions 

are: New York University (NYU), University of Texas Austin (UTA), Michigan State University (MSU), 

Kumaun University, Nainital (Uttarakhand), University of Lucknow, ‘Earth University, Dehradun (Founder 

Dr. Vandana Shiva), Tarun Bharat Sangha (founder Magsaysay Awardee Rajendra Singh) and Indian 

National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH). NYU, UTA and MSU are helping us in curricular 

design and teachers training. 

YHS Fulbright-Hays GPA Short-Term Curriculum Development Program, open to all educators in USA, is 

led by Project Director Ashok Ojha and Project Consultant. Prof. Gabriela Nik Ilieva (NYU). The program 

is designed to teach Hindi language, India’s culture to U.S.-based K-14 instructors employed in schools 

including community schools, community colleges and universities. Participants learn India-related area 

studies, improve socio-linguistic competency, collect new authentic resources for developing new 

curricular materials and for use and dissemination in the United States (34CFR 664.12). These materials 

expand available curricula with new content related to the environmentally sensitive lifestyles resilient 

to climate and ecosystem change of several underrepresented and marginalized communities.
20

LONG-TERM PROJECTS
21

American Councils for International Education

Advanced Russian Language and Area Studies Program (RLASP) in Moscow, Russia

Project Director: Dr. Dan E. Davidson, President Emeritus and Senior Academic Advisor,

The 2018 National Security Defense Strategy identifies Russia as a primary threat to U.S. prosperity and 

national security. At the same time, there can be no doubt that Russia also remains a potential source of 

vital collaboration in global efforts to combat terrorism, manage political instability, and address 

deepening environmental and health crisis. However, current data indicates that far too few U.S. 

students are studying abroad in Russia or the Russophone world to develop the linguistic and cultural 

proficiency required to meet the many geopolitical challenges emanating from Russia and its turbulent 

border regions. To address this critical need, American Councils is pleased to submit this proposal to the 

U.S. Department of Education for Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad (FH GPA) Long-Term Advanced 

Overseas Intensive Language Training Projects funding for 2022, seeking support for 26 fellowships for 

advanced language students participating in the Advanced Russian Language and Area Studies Program 

(RLASP) in Moscow, Russia – the heart of the country’s political, economic, and cultural life; or Almaty, 

Kazakhstan – a rich Russophone environment offering students unique insights into one of Central Asia’s 

most important countries, as well as Russia’s ongoing efforts to extend and maintain its regional 

influence. Program features include:

• Intensive language classes conducted by leading Russian and Kazakh faculty designed to

strengthen reading, writing, listening comprehension, and essential speaking skills;

• Content-focused seminars exploring Russian or Kazakh mass media and contemporary society;

• Weekly cultural excursions and extended travel to maximize exposure to historical sites and 

provide additional opportunities to interact with peers and host-country nationals;

• Housing with Russian or Russian-speaking Kazakh host families and weekly meetings with 

conversation partners to maximize linguistic and cultural immersion; 

• Ongoing logistical support, guidance, and assistance from a full-time U.S. Resident Director with 

expert knowledge of the host-country language and culture;

• Full academic credit for work completed overseas through Bryn Mawr College;

• Pre-and post-program reading, listening, and speaking tests to measure linguistic gains; and

• Active alumni networks to support program graduates in professional networking and career 

searches, and engage them in outreach to potential future program participants.

American Councils will conduct a national outreach campaign to encourage advanced students of 

Russian across the U.S. to apply. An external selection committee comprising at least two experts in 

Russian language will review all applications. Participants will join a pre-departure orientation in 

Washington, DC, and complete pre-and post-program surveys to measure language gains.

Recognizing that COVID-19 and world events continue to require maxim flexibility in planning and 

logistical support overseas, American Councils has developed extensive protocols to ensure student 

health and safety abroad, as well as virtual programming options to maintain instructional continuity in 

the event of travel delays or onsite disruptions. 
22

American Institute of Indian Studies

Advanced Language Programs in India

Project Director: Professor Rebecca Manring, Dept of Religious Studies, Indiana University, 

Bloomington, IN 47405. Email: aiis@uchicago.edu

The objective of this proposal is to continue and further strengthen the American Institute of Indian 

Studies (AIIS) Advanced Language Programs in India (ALPI), which provide intensive advanced-level 

training in Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, and other modern languages of 

India. AIIS is a consortium of ninety U.S. colleges and universities that have significant programs on 

South Asia. Through its junior and senior research fellowship programs, its many services to American 

scholars working in India and to US study abroad programs, its two research archives, and its language 

centers, the AIIS enjoys wide recognition as the pre-eminent institution promoting informed knowledge 

of South Asia in the US.

This application meets Competitive Preference Priority 3 established by the U.S. Department of 

Education as the AIIS ALPI programs provide superb advanced-level immersion training in ten out of the 

78 languages included on the Department of Education’s list of Less Commonly Taught Languages and 

offer the only well-established programs for advanced immersion study in South Asian languages that 

are rarely taught in the U.S., including Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu. Scholars 

who have obtained language training with AIIS have been instrumental in expanding the scope of South 

Asian Studies in the US to encompass all areas of India. The GPA-funded fellowships would provide 

maintenance stipends, all program costs and round-trip travel to India to about 22 language fellows who 

have had a minimum of two prior years of study in the target language. These fellows would pay no 

tuition.

Building on six decades of experience and with partial support from previous GPA awards, AIIS has 

created a unique infrastructure of language training centers and has assembled a cohort of gifted 

instructors who are regularly trained in current Second Language Acquisition methodology and 

innovative approaches to language teaching. ALPI language fellowship recipients are selected through a 

national competition. Successful applicants plan on academic careers which require proficiency in Indian 

languages or area studies, or careers in government service, public health, private sector, and NGOs. 

AIIS has been exploring and implementing measures to develop a diverse pool of applicants, including 

from communities that have not typically considered careers requiring proficiency in the languages of 

India. Each ALPI language is taught through an intensive immersion approach, in a well-equipped center 

located in a city in which the target language predominates. Rigorous classroom instruction is 

supplemented by field trips, community and independent study projects, accommodations with native 

speaker families, and a wide range of cultural and social activities. Periodic evaluations by students and 

teachers, proficiency-based testing, and site visits by language pedagogy specialists and program officers 

monitor students’ progress and enable the fine-tuning of instruction. 

The success of these methods is demonstrated by generations of AIIS-trained teachers and other area 

specialists, who represent a national pool of expertise that enhances our nation’s security as well as its 

economic, political, and cultural relations with India, and that promotes intercultural understanding 

within the U.S. The relatively low cost of living in India and careful management of finances by AIIS 

insures a highly cost-effective use of the requested GPA funds, which provide only a portion of the total 

expense of running the ALPI.
23

Howard University

Intensive Advanced Kiswahili

Project Director: Dr. Leonard Muaka, Leonard.muaka@howard.edu

Participants: 15 university students with one to two years of Swahili language

Howard University seeks to apply for the current Fulbright-Hays GPA Study Abroad grant to run a longterm advanced Swahili study abroad project in Kenya for 8 weeks for two consecutive years. Howard is 

applying as a Minority Serving Institution (MSI) and focuses on Swahili as a less commonly taught 

language. Howard is an HBCU institution that admits students from all over the world. The current 

project has four major objectives: 

1) To provide participants with intensive advanced training in Swahili in a Swahili speaking 

environment; 

2) To develop participants’ conversational skills (i.e., listening, comprehension and speaking) to 

advanced level; 

3) To develop participants’ communicative competence to function in a Kiswahili speaking 

community; and 

4) To provide opportunities for the participants to experience East African culture. 

The first 3 weeks participants will be in Athi River near Nairobi and then travel to Kilifi for 5 weeks. This 

plan will allow participants to experience the diversity of the Kenyan society linguistically and culturally. 

Participants will also experience an actual homestay while abroad. Participants will take advantage of 

the rich Swahili settings to solidify their Swahili language skills and appreciate how a typical day for 

ordinary Kenyans begins and ends. The proposed project is a continuation of earlier successful Swahili 

Study Abroad programs. Howard’s intention to apply for the grant and direct the program in 2022 

through 20224, is seconded by the College of Arts and Sciences and the Center for African studies at 

Howard, African Language Teachers Association (ALTA), Coordinators of African Language Programs, and 

the Global Promotion of Swahili Association (CHAUKIDU), which brings together teachers and scholars of 

Swahili language across the world. The project will admit students from all parts of the U.S. without 

discrimination to enable even those with less opportunities advance their proficiency in Swahili and play 

a major role in America’s international relations and research in the region. 

The program will admit students who have at least two years of learning Swahili. At the end of the 

program, the students are expected to have reached the advanced level which can allow them to 

function in the target language on a variety of subjects. To measure their success, students will be 

assessed using ACTFL scales to determine their level at the beginning, at midpoint, and at the end of the 

program. Participants will receive 16 hours of pre-departure orientation sponsored by the Department 

of World Languages and Cultures and the Ralph Bunche International Affairs Center. These orientation 

sessions will consist of important information about the host country, specific knowledge, and general 

orientation about studying abroad in Africa. This orientation will take place via zoom, and it will be held 

on four weekends (four hours each month of February, March, April and May). The in-country 

immersion program will be hosted by Daystar and Pwani universities which are located in great locations 

for Swahili learning. Absolute priority and Competitive preference priority 2 and 3 will be addressed in 

this application.
24

Northern Illinois University

The Philippines Coffee and Carabao Culture and Language: Tagalog Language Immersion in 

Northern and Southern Rural Philippines

Project Director: Rodalyne Gallo-Crail

Participants: 12 NIU and Community College Language Learners 

Educational Level: Undergraduate and Graduate students who are majors in Social Sciences,

Education, World Language or Humanities with at least a minimum 150 hours of Tagalog 

Language Instruction or equivalent to Intermediate High Level (2+) in ACTFL/OPI 

Competitive Priorities: Absolute priority (strategic world area – Southeast Asia, Philippines);

Competitive preference priority 1 (state educational agency, inclusion of minority serving institution 

and recruitment of participants from community colleges); Competitive preference priority 2 (6 

participants will be recruited from Minority Serving Institutions and community colleges); Competitive 

preference priority 3 (Less Commonly Taught Language – Tagalog/Filipino). 

The Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS) at Northern Illinois University (NIU) proposes a LongTerm Language Intensive Language Fulbright-Hays Group Project Abroad program entitled “The 

Philippines Coffee and Carabao Culture and Language: Tagalog Language Immersion in Northern and 

Southern Rural Philippines.” The 18-month program will begin in September 2022 and will end in late 

March 2024. The project will offer two semesters (150 hours) of asynchronous and synchronous 

language training at NIU for potential participants, a two-day pre-departure orientation, an eight-week 

in-country intensive language program, and 2 two-day follow-up programs for program evaluation and 

for the participants to polish, receive feedback on their curriculum modules stemming from the program 

and present these to local communities. The Project Director is Rhodalyne Gallo-Crail, senior instructor 

at NIU for the past 25 years. She has experience in co-directing a Fulbright Small Project in the 

Philippines. She is also currently the Program Director for the Philippine Youth Leadership Program at 

NIU. She will primarily work with the in-country coordinators, both former Fulbright Scholars (FLTA 

Program), to deliver a high quality instructional and experiential Tagalog Language and cultural learning 

program for 8 weeks. The in-country program coordinators are Prof. Ken Calang from Central Luzon 

State University (CLSU), the location for the Philippine Center for Carabao research; and Prof. Lady 

Aileen Orsal from Cavite State University (CavSU), the location of the Center for Philippine Coffee 

Research. Both will be responsible for overall co-coordination of the overseas program and for the 

language and cultural curriculum that will focus on agricultural Philippines.
25

University of Arizona

Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA) Advanced Arabic Language & Culture Training at AALIM 

Institute, Morocco 

Project Director: Dr. Sonia Shiri, CASA Director, School of Middle Eastern Studies & North African 

Studies, University of Arizona, Email: soniashiri@arizona.edu Tel: 520-626-7667 

Group Projects Abroad Type 4: Advanced Overseas Intensive Language Training Project Competitive 

Pref. Priority 3: Substantive Training & Thematic Focus on Priority Languages 

The Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA), based at the University of Arizona, is seeking funding to 

open a new site at AALIM in Meknes, Morocco to support 18 academic-year fellowships to provide study 

abroad opportunities to Advanced-level students of Arabic aiming to reach a professional level of 

proficiency (ILR Level 3 and beyond). CASA’s proven training methods and results-driven methodologies 

are crucial for meeting the nation’s strategic, economic and educational needs for advanced-level 

speakers of Arabic. CASA, a consortium of 30 American universities, was formed in 1967. CASA has since 

provided advanced-level Arabic training to over 1,800 American students initially attending the 

American University in Cairo, Egypt for nearly four decades then expanding to Damascus, Syria for 

several years. Since 2012 and due to safety and security concerns, the program has moved to the Qasid 

Arabic Institute in Amman, Jordan and operated there continually. With this grant, CASA will now 

expand its numbers to better address the long-term, unmet national demand for its training and will do 

so in North Africa, an area that has recently become even more critical to the international scene. CASA 

is administered by a Governing Council representing the consortium and a Stateside Director who is 

responsible for all operations. In Morocco, an Executive Director manages the day-to-day of the 

program.

CASA fellows are selected from a pool of applicants that respond to a nationwide call. The selection 

committee, consisting of the Stateside Director, three representatives of the Consortium institutions 

and the Executive Director, evaluate candidates based on their scores on the language proficiency tests, 

their academic achievements, commitment to the field, and statement of purpose. All chosen fellows 

are American citizens or permanent residents of the US, and CASA adheres strictly to the principles of 

equal opportunity, and diversity and inclusion in its admissions. 

CASA proposes a nine-month program beginning with a fall semester dedicated to training fellows in 

both Colloquial Arabic and Modern Standard Arabic, with courses that focus on topics related to Arab 

culture and society. Courses are offered at the advanced proficiency level in all four skills (listening, 

reading, writing and speaking). In the spring semester, the instruction is completely content based in 

areas such as history, economics, literature, politics, religion, and anthropology and fellows influence 

the choice of courses offered and their syllabi. Two components of the program occur outside of the 

classroom: weekly activities with language partners and internship or volunteer opportunities in the 

community. CASA has provided a measure of excellence that other Arabic programs have tried to 

emulate, thus raising the standards of Arabic teaching nationwide. CASA has directly impacted Arabic 

language education by encouraging Arabic programs throughout the country to stress the teaching of 

aural/oral skills, the development of testing tools for language proficiency in all modalities. Three factors 

drive CASA’s success: 1) the outstanding quality of the CASA faculty, 2) the excellence of the highly 

motivated CASA fellows, drawn from the nation's very finest advanced graduate and undergraduate 

Arabic students and 3) a commitment to a vibrant, comprehensive curriculum with well-defined learning 

outcomes, proven instructional methods, integrated course materials, and continuous evaluation.
26

University of Arizona

Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA) Advanced Arabic Language & Culture Training at Qasid 

Institute, Jordan

Project Director: Dr. Sonia Shiri, CASA Director, School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies, 

University of Arizona, Email: soniashiri@arizona.edu, Tel: 520-626-7667

Competitive Preference Priority 3: Substantive Training and Thematic Focus on Priority Languages

The Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA), based within MENAS at the UA, is seeking funding to 

support 17 academic-year fellowships that will provide study abroad opportunities to Advanced-level 

students of Arabic aiming to reach a professional level of proficiency (ILR Level 3 and beyond). CASA’s 

proven training methods and results-driven methodologies are crucial for meeting the nation’s strategic, 

economic and educational needs for advanced-level speakers of Arabic. CASA, a consortium of 30 

American universities, was formed in 1967. CASA has since provided advanced-level training in Arabic to 

over 1,800 American students initially attending the American University in Cairo (AUC), Egypt for nearly 

four decades and expanding to Damascus, Syria for several years. 

Since 2012 and due to safety and security concerns, the program has moved to the Qasid Arabic 

Institute in Amman, Jordan. CASA is administered by a Governing Council representing the 30 

consortium members and a Stateside Director who is responsible for all operations. In Amman, an 

Executive Director manages the daily functioning of the program. CASA fellows are selected from a pool 

of applicants that respond to a nationwide call. The selection committee, consisting of the Stateside 

Director, three representatives of the Consortium institutions and the Executive Director, evaluate 

candidates based on their scores on the language proficiency tests, their academic achievements, 

commitment to the field, and statement of purpose. All chosen fellows are American citizens or 

permanent residents of the US, and CASA adheres strictly to the principles of equal opportunity, and 

diversity and inclusion in its admissions. CASA proposes a nine-month program beginning with a fall 

semester dedicated to training fellows in both Levantine Colloquial Arabic and Modern Standard Arabic, 

with courses that focus on topics related to Jordanian culture and society. Courses are offered at the 

advanced proficiency level in all four skills (listening, reading, writing and speaking). In the spring 

semester, the instruction is completely content based in areas such as history, economics, literature, 

politics, religion, and anthropology and fellows influence the choice of courses offered and their syllabi. 

Two components of the program occur outside of the classroom: weekly activities with language 

partners and internship or volunteer opportunities in the community (CASA without Borders). 

CASA has provided a measure of excellence that other Arabic programs have tried to emulate, thus 

raising the standards of Arabic teaching nationwide. CASA has directly impacted Arabic language 

education by encouraging Arabic programs throughout the country to stress the teaching of aural/oral 

skills, the development of testing tools for language proficiency in all modalities. Three factors drive 

CASA’s success: 1) the outstanding quality of the CASA faculty, 2) the excellence of the highly motivated 

CASA fellows, drawn from the nation's very finest advanced graduate and undergraduate Arabic 

students who continually push the boundaries of language learning and 3) a commitment to a vibrant, 

comprehensive curriculum with well-defined learning outcomes, proven instruction methods, integrated 

course materials, and continuous evaluation.