**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; 84.021B**

**GPA Short-term and Long-term Grant Awards List and Project Abstracts**

**Fiscal Year 2023**

**Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad Program FY 2023 Grant Awards List**

2

# SHORT-TERM PROJECTS

## American Institute for Resource and Human Development

### Understanding the Interplay of Environment and Culture through Everyday Life in Tanzania: A Short-Term Curriculum Development Seminar for American Educators

The introduction of young minds to the international and interdependent dimensions of the modern world is a responsibility that an education system neglects at great cost. In the United States, the inclusion of Africa which has been much neglected in the past, has a special urgency, best measured by considering the alarming consequences of its exclusion. The child is father of the man, and the elementary school pupil encouraged to imagine a world in which Africa does not exist or is of no importance is a guarantee of adult ignorance. Perhaps even more harmful is the partial and distorted knowledge that passes through the teaching of Africa. In providing teachers with in-depth knowledge of Africa, or enhancing it where it already exists, our project has been concerned not only with introducing Africa in the school curriculum but also helping to improve sensibility and reliability in the handling and communicating of this subject matter.

To address these issues and objectives, the Center for International and African Studies Outreach (CIASO) of the American Institute for Resource and Human Development, Inc., (AIRHD), a non-profit 501(C)(3) educational organization, located in Georgia proposes to conduct, under the auspices of the Fulbright-Hayes Group Projects Abroad (GPA) program, a study tour of Tanzania, East Africa involving eighteen participants: ten K-12 in-service teachers; six community college and /university faculty members; a project director and a curriculum specialist in the summer of 2024. The proposed project will consist of three phases: 1) a four-day pre-departure preparation orientation phase at the AIRHD site; 2) a five- week overseas’ study, travel, research and curriculum development phase; and 3) a post seminar or fellow-up activity phase to take place over twelve weeks period after returning from Tanzania.   

The specific objectives for this Area studies short-term seminar project are: (1) to prepare and develop teacher-educators to understand multiple perspectives and demonstrate knowledge of different cultural understanding (beliefs, values, perspectives, practices, and products); (2) to study the impact of ecology and environment on cultures, people and history of Tanzania  to improve the quality of teaching about African Area Studies through development and acquisition of relevant teaching materials (artifacts, publications, interviews with local people and personal experiences) that only an in- country experience can provide; (3) to increase participants ‘global competence and expertise in designing culturally sensitive educational grade appropriate curriculum units and teaching strategies in Africa that contribute to fostering positive self-imagery on students; (4) to acquire Kiswahili language instruction in the environment where it is spoken and to give participants the first-hand experience and knowledge of Tanzanian history, geography, culture and  people; (5) to help participants develop an empathetic understanding of the people and places through the experience of living in that place and working with people; (6) to facilitate cooperation and promote closer communication between the American educators and their Tanzanian counterparts which will lead to mutual exchange of instructional materials, sharing of information, and teaching ideas in the future; (7)  to prepare and train the  participants to be mentors and information resource teacher consultants to disseminate the results of the project to their schools, districts, as well as for regional, state and national conferences. 

The principal activity in this project will be an integrated and comprehensive five-week program of instruction, field study, and cultural activities in Tanzania for the purpose of enabling the participants to develop curriculum materials for use in their respective classrooms. The group will receive Kiswahili language instruction within a cultural context that will enrich their learning and provide lasting impact. While in Tanzania, the group will be based at the University of Dar Es Salaam with organized excursions to Bagamoyo, Zanzibar, Arusha, and other places that illustrate the multicultural diversity of Tanzania. A significant part of the project offers participants the chance to stay with “adopted” families and have personal contact with people. Only through understanding the lifestyle of Tanzania can these educators most effectively share their language, history and cultural experience with students in their own classrooms.

Criteria for the selection of participants will include: 1) written support from the school system; 2) level of interest in Africa and willingness to integrate Africa into teaching; and 3) potential to initiate and lead in introducing and developing curriculum on Africa in local school systems/community, and in the regional and national educational setting through dissemination of the units and presentation at professional conferences. The application package will include an essay on reasons for participating in this project, experience in integrating Africa into a curriculum, a letter of support from a school administrator, and a preliminary plan for the development and implementation of an instructional unit on their return. Preference will be given to applicants who have not been to Africa before. Participants will be nominated by their school systems, selected with a commitment to include minority.

## Boise State University

### Forging the Future for Africa Through Sustainability: Lesson from Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park 

**Project Director:** Gonzalo R. Bruce, Ph.D.

This GPA proposal (hereinafter “Project”) is advanced by Boise State University and consists of a short-term curriculum development initiative to be sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education Fulbright Hays. The Project will take Idaho educators from universities and K-12 schools to Mozambique for a four-week immersive, experiential learning experience focused on Portuguese and African area studies centered around the theme of sustainability. While the planning of the Project will start in June 2023, the overseas portion will take place during 4 weeks in June 2024. 

The Project responds to Boise State’s needs for building capacity in the teaching of Portuguese language and area studies in African. Boise State has a department for World Language, a Global Studies department but is under-resourced in terms of academic capacity and course offerings focused on Africa. As African countries and their growing economies are becoming increasingly more interconnected globally, this Project aims to prepare more effectively the U.S. and Idaho’s future generations by promoting students’ competency in African languages and cultures. The Project involves substantive teaching of the Portuguese language during the time abroad. In addition, the program includes 8 lectures on Africa, Mozambique and the Gorongosa National Park. This Project will take participants to Maputo, for one week and to the Gorongosa National Park for three weeks, which will grant an urban and rural experience of Mozambique.  

Mozambique was chosen for several reasons. First, Mozambique was one of the last African countries to become independent; therefore, its recent decolonization process has been fraught with civil conflicts and wars. Despite the setbacks, Mozambique is now on a path of defining its future and its role in Africa and the world. Second, Idaho and Mozambique are intrinsically connected through the Idaho-based Carr Foundation. The Carr Foundation forged a partnership with the Mozambican government to restore the Gorongosa National Park and preserve African wildlife. Since its beginnings, the Gorongosa Project has developed research and development cooperation with Boise State University and other Idaho institutions, including the Boise Zoo. Third, the Gorongosa National Park has forged a sustainability vision with promising implications for Africa’s future. Its commitment to restoration, preservation and biodiversity are combined with innovative human development programs focused on health, education, women empowerment, and economic opportunities. Finally, the Gorongosa National Park has adequate infrastructure, experience hosting visitors, scholars and researchers from all over the world and a staff with the expertise required to secure this Project's success.

The Project builds capacity for the teaching of commonly less taught languages (Portuguese) and African regional studies. To that end, an experiential learning opportunity in Mozambique is essential. It will allow participants to develop curriculum and expand the number of courses with an African focus. By immersing in the biodiverse and cultural context offered by the Gorongosa National Park, participants will gain experiential learning, artifacts, and culturally appropriate teaching resources. The expected outcome is to strengthen language preparation and knowledge in the African region at Boise State University and in Idaho. Participants will compete for this opportunity with a curricular project which must be achievable and contribute to the educators’ community. Project participants will travel to Mozambique with a Boise State Clinical Professor (World Languages). This staff member will conduct daily instruction of Portuguese and weekly workshops focused on the representation of language and culture in the participants’ curriculum idea. 

## Eastern New Mexico University

### Online Open-Access Korean Study Course Design

**Project Director:** Dr. Jihyun Woo, Assistant Professor of Career and Technical Education, Jihyun.Woo@enmu.edu**Participants:** 1 Project Director-ENMU faculty, 1 Project Coordinator- ENMU faculty, 6 New Mexico K-12 In-Service Teachers, 5 ENMU Undergraduate/Graduate Students 

Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU) is proposing four weeks of the Fulbright-Hays Group Project Abroad (GPA) Curriculum Development in South Korea. ENMU received a GPA award in 2003. Due to the length of time since that award, ENMU is recognized as a ‘New Applicant’, and ENMU will be federally designated as a Hispanic Serving Institution (HIS) effective from July 1, 2023. 

ENMU’s mission links to fostering cultural diversity with respect and providing a rich educational experience. The proposed GPA curriculum development project aims to provide educational and research experiences to New Mexico pre- and in-service K-12 teachers to integrate these culturally diverse experiences into their classroom teaching. The output of the proposed Fulbright Hays GPA curriculum development is to design an open-access online course introducing Korea to collect firsthand resources from international travel. The objectives of this GPA project are to 1) gain a deeper knowledge and understanding of Korean culture and language, 2) design a Korea Study course with research and collect appropriate resources, 3) develop marketing plans for spreading the developed course to educators, and 4) demonstrate a gained global competence by sharing to the public.

A total of 12 members, excluding the project director, will conduct the curriculum development project, 1 project coordinator (ENMU faculty), 6 (50%) eligible New Mexico elementary or secondary teachers, and 5 ENMU students. The participants will be provided 25 hours of a professional learning course on the Korean language and culture at the Center for Korean Language and Culture (CKLC) at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS). 

The proposed Korea Study project’s academic nature and thematic focus is Education. Primarily to support New Mexico educators and students to promote their global competence in daily teaching and learning by providing resources for Korean language learning and culture study. Participants will have opportunities to teach Korean students to compare the educational setting between the U.S. and Korea. 

The GPA project of Korean Study will expose educators to how a historically homogenous country accepts diversity and develop inclusion strategies compared to the U.S. It will help educators create a respectful classroom environment. As a result, educator’s story of this international experience will motivate their students to open their eyes to the other sides of the world and promote critical thinking skills by paying attention to global issues. The participants will expect to gain professional and personal growth, such as cultural awareness and a greater appreciation of the importance of accepting diversity in their classrooms and life in general.

## Georgia State University

### Global Education Initiative: Fostering Afro-Brazilian International Studies in Atlanta Metro Public Schools and Universities

**Project Director:** Lakeyta M. Bonnette-Bailey, Department of Africana Studies, Co-Director, Center for the Advancement of Students and Alumni, lbonnette@gsu.edu, 770-906-8643 (mobile)

This proposed Fulbright-Hays Group Project Abroad (GPA) is a four-week seminar project for 16 primary, secondary, college educators and students in the humanities and social sciences disciplines. Georgia State University’s (GSU) Global Education Initiative (GEI) will study Afro-Brazilian culture and history for the purposes of integrating international studies in elementary, secondary, and collegiate classrooms within Atlanta, GA. This group study abroad will expose participants to Portuguese language and Afro-Brazilian cultures and history that will lead to increase cultural and linguistic knowledge among Georgia educators. GEI will promote global citizenship, enhance the global competency of educators, expand the African diasporic knowledge of teachers in the metro Atlanta area and enhance international studies within Georgia Schools. 

Through this program, participants will study Portuguese and learn about the culture, art, history, politics, and community of Afro-Brazilians to foster international area studies inclusive of Afro-Brazilian culture. Participants will attend lectures, seminars, cultural events, and culturally relevant excursions to become fully immersed in the culture of Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, a country noted as having the 2nd largest population of Blacks outside of Africa. Specifically, we will participate in experiential learning about history and culture in Brazil from Brazilian educators, activists, and other professionals. The specific objectives of this GEI are to: (1) enrich collaboration between world languages and other humanities and social science disciplines; (2) establish long-term associations with Brazilian educators; (3) broaden collaborations between elementary, middle, high school and college educators; (4) increase knowledge and understanding of Afro-Brazilian cultures and communities of Bahia among United States educators (5) develop the inclusion of Afro-Brazilian history and culture into international area studies courses (6) introduce Portuguese language study for research abroad and (7) encourage and support advanced undergraduates interested in pursuing graduate studies in modern foreign language or area studies. These goals will be accomplished through (1) pre-departure orientation workshops, seminars, and language instruction; (2) in-country language instruction, cultural experiences, seminars, workshops, and field experiences; and (3) and the completion of dissemination activities by the participants. 

Finally, this proposed GPA will meet the following priorities: (1) this application will satisfy Competitive Preference Priority One as Georgia State University is a Minority-Serving Institution (MSI); (2) participants in this program will be trained in Portuguese, a less commonly taught language, thus satisfying Competitive Preference Priority Three and (3) this project includes elementary, secondary, and collegiate educators, satisfying Competitive Preference Priority Four.

## Illinois College

### Interculturality, Education, and Indigenous Communities in Ecuador

**Project Director:** Dr. Steven Gardner, professor of global studies, Illinois College, 1101 West College Avenue, Jacksonville, Illinois 62650. E-mail: sgardner@ic.edu. Phone: (217) 245-3438. 

**Project Type:**1: Short-Term Seminar Project 

**Project Participants:**Fourteen individuals will participate in “Intercultural Education and Communication in Ecuador”: Project Director Steven Gardner, K-12 Curriculum Specialist; Isamar Chavez-Rodriguez; and 12 pre-service and in-service teachers. At least six of the 12 participants will be K-12 classroom teachers from west-central Illinois. Preference will be given to applicants who have studied Spanish through the equivalent of Illinois College’s first-semester, second-year Spanish 203 course or demonstrate equivalent proficiency. 

**Project Overview:**In partnership with the University of Cuenca in Ecuador, “Interculturality, Education, and Indigenous Communities in Ecuador” will explore issues related to comparative and international education from the perspective of interculturality, which the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defines as exploration of “the existence and equitable interaction of diverse cultures and the possibility of generating shared cultural expressions through dialogue and mutual respect.” The primary goals of the proposed project are to (A) prepare educators to integrate Latin American Studies into the social sciences and humanities curriculum in primarily rural school districts across west-central Illinois; (B) build culturally responsive teaching and leadership skills among pre-service and in-service K-12 educators; and (C) engage in deep study of Ecuador’s history, culture, and education system, especially as it relates to the experience of indigenous communities. Illinois College has developed the following five objectives for the group project abroad: (1) demonstrate increased understanding of Ecuador’s history, society, culture, and educational system among participating pre-service and in-service educators; (2) create at least 12 new classroom lessons focused on Ecuador (one per participant) for use in K-12 classrooms in rural communities across west-central Illinois; (3) ensure that all participants teach at least one classroom lesson or activity about Ecuador and/or participate in outreach and dissemination activities within six months of returning to the U.S.; (4) ensure that 100% of participants report (a) a better understanding of interculturality and (b) greater confidence in their ability to teach in a culturally responsive way; and (5) sustain relationships and virtual engagement between west-central Illinois and Ecuadorian teachers following the travel phase. During the 31-day travel phase, participants will spend two weeks at the University of Cuenca, visit the Saraguro Indigenous Community, and travel to the Ecuadorian Amazon. 

**Competitive Preference Priorities:**The proposed project meets the absolute priority because it focuses on South America. Illinois College meets Competitive Preference Priority 1, because the College is a new applicant; Competitive Preference Priority 4, because at least six (50%) of the 12 participants will be K-12 classroom teachers from west-central Illinois; and Competitive Preference Priority 5, because “Interculturality, Education, and Indigenous Communities in Ecuador” has a thematic focus on the academic field of education, exploring comparative education from the perspective of interculturality.

## Marian University

### “Marian Wasomi,” a short-term group project abroad in Tanzania and Kenya

**Project Director:**Adrianna Ernstberger, Ph.D., Assistant Dean, School of Global and Cultural Studies, Assistant Professor of History. (317) 955-6522. aernstberger@marian.edu.

**Education Level and Number of Participants:**16, including four in-service teachers (two Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) students and two MAT alumni), four pre-service teachers (undergraduate elementary and secondary education majors), two M.A./Ed.D. organizational leadership/transition to teaching students, three undergraduate global studies majors, and three undergraduate social work majors, plus two faculty leaders (totaling 18 travelers). 

**Project overview:**Marian University, a liberal arts university located in Indianapolis, Indiana, proposes “Marian *Wasomi,*” a short-term group project abroad in Tanzania and Kenya in 2024. Marian *Wasomi*will be the pilot program of the *Marian Global Scholars*initiative, a five-year, language acquisition and pedagogy initiative with immersion partners in six countries designed to strengthen the state of global learning in Indianapolis schools. Building on a 2014 report published by the Indiana Department of Education emphasizing the importance of global competency in the K-12 education system, the **goal**of Marian *Wasomi*is to promote increased global awareness and understanding of global citizenship though multi-site immersive language instruction and global pedagogical training for undergraduate pre-service and in-service teachers, current and future education administrators, policy makers, and future local leaders. 

The project will produce *Wasomi*(meaning “scholars” in Kiswahili) with a deep understanding of and appreciation for the history and culture of Tanzania—and the East African region—that includes local perspectives on the legacy of colonialism and contemporary socio-political challenges such as material healthcare and water security. Marian *Wasomi*will serve as the pilot project for the *Marian Global Scholars*program, a five-year language-focused initiative with immersion partners in six countries that will contribute to broader efforts to strengthen the state of global learning in K-12 schools in Indiana. 

**Objectives:**Upon completion of the program, participants will gain the experience and training necessary to contribute to the expansion of global learning in Indiana in the following ways: (1) increase the capacity for developing language-based curricular and co-curricular engagement with Kiswahili for K-12 students in Indiana; (2) integrate global issues/perspectives, specifically those related to sub-Saharan African linguistic and socio-political realities, into current/future Indiana K-12 classrooms; and (3) demonstrate understanding and applicability of multiple pedagogical approaches to language acquisition. Participants will be trained not only in elementary Kiswahili, but also in comparative approaches to teaching Kiswahili in their own classrooms. An external evaluator with deep experience in Africa and program evaluation, will lead the assessment efforts in continued collaboration with the project director. 

**Competitive preference priorities:**This project addresses competitive preference priorities 1, 3, 4, and 5.

## Metropolitan State University of Denver

### State and Society in Modern Hungary for Colorado Educators – Senior level seminar

**Project Co-directors:**Dr. Sheila Rucki, Dr. Akbarali Thobhani, rucki@msudenver.edu and thobhana@msudenver.edu, (303) 907-0322 and (303) 615-1072

**Number of Participants: 12**(4 faculty members, 4 teachers and 4 pre-service teachers)

**Project Overview:**Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU Denver), in partnership with the Denver Center for International Studies (DCIS) proposes to conduct a four-week, short-term seminar on modern Hungary during summer 2024 for a team of 12 participants to include secondary educators from the Denver area, faculty from MSU Denver and pre-service teachers from MSU Denver. The seminar will be co-directed by an MSU Denver professor who possess expertise in Hungarian studies and an MSU Denver administrator with experience in conducting GPA seminar and study abroad courses. This project is designed to improve area studies curricula at the secondary and postsecondary levels and to better integrate international studies into the general curriculum. The academic focus of the program spans the humanities and the social sciences to include politics, history, language, culture, religion, geography, literature, and economics. Consisting of a total of 155 academic contact hours including the pre-departure orientation, the overseas experience and follow-up meetings, the seminar will result in enhanced knowledge among participating pre-service teachers, secondary educators and university faculty, and will thus improve the quality of instruction about Hungary in particular and area studies in general in Denver and Colorado. The project addresses the Absolute Priority in that Hungary is a priority country of study.

Specific goals are to: (1) Strengthen participants’ expertise and competence about Hungary and its politics, history and culture; (2) Enhance the quality of teaching about Eastern Europe through development and acquisition of relevant teaching materials (artifacts, publications, and personal experiences) that only an on-site experience can provide; and (3) Disseminate Hungary-focused knowledge and teaching materials to other educators through workshops, participation in professional meetings, and appropriate technologies and publications. These goals will be accomplished through an intensive program consisting of a three-day pre-departure orientation program, four-week on-site experience, and follow-up and dissemination activities.

This proposed seminar meets the following GPA Competitive Preference Priorities: (CPP1) MSU Denver is a Hispanic Serving Institution with over 25% Hispanic enrollment and students of color representing 54% of total enrollment (Fall, 2022). (CPP3) The seminar includes 15 hours of instruction in Hungarian language; (CPP4) The proposed seminar will enhance area studies at elementary and secondary schools by aiming to have teachers or pre-service teachers comprise 66% of our participants. The seminar includes 4 teachers from Denver Center for International Studies, a Denver public school. (CPP5) The seminar focuses on academic fields of political science, international relations, and development.

## Miami Dade College 

### Teaching Indonesian Culture and Language using AI 

**Project Directors:**Ms. Samila Sosic, Executive Director of International Education, and Dr. Adrianne Aiko Thompson, World Languages Professor 

**Competitive Preference Priorities:**Priorities 1, 3, and 5 

**Number of Participants:**12 MDC Faculty Members and 2 Project Co-Directors 

**Goals:**The proposed project will (1) increase participants’ knowledge about the methodology of teaching culture and language using AI technology, with an initial focus on Indonesia, (2) enhance the curriculum across multiple disciplines via curricular modifications in the teaching of culture and language using AI and the development of curricular materials to be used in courses throughout the identified disciplines at MDC, and (3) increase collegewide and community exposure to new cultures and languages via co-curricular opportunities focused on Indonesian culture and language and the use of AI. 

**Primary Activities:**Miami Dade College is proposing a 4-week curriculum development Group Project Abroad (GPA) in Indonesia (May 2024) for 12 faculty members and 2 co-directors in partnership with Universitas Airlangga in Surabaya, Indonesia. “Teaching Indonesian Culture and Language Using Artificial Intelligence (AI),” to be referred to as the Indonesia GPA Program in this proposal, will focus on the methodology of teaching Indonesian culture and the Bahasa Indonesia language using AI. Bahasa Indonesia is spoken by most of the country, but over 70% of Indonesians speak it as a second language,1 and Bahasa Indonesia has been identified as a critical language by the United States Department of State2. Bahasa Indonesia is mainly being learned as a second language in school, where educators have been embracing AI for teaching and learning activities. In terms of education, Indonesia has been noted as having the potential to become a regional leader in AI,3 and has been leading many efforts in the use of AI in teaching and learning activities in higher education. 

This Indonesian GPA Program bridges both the teaching of Indonesian culture and language and the use of AI in teaching culture and language through hands-on, real world educational and cultural immersions in Indonesia for Miami Dade College faculty members. Upon completion of the Indonesia GPA Program, faculty participants will be equipped with the appropriate Indonesian culture knowledge and AI skills and tools to enhance curriculum within their respective disciplines.

## Morgan State University 

### Colombia: Youth Social, Political and Civic Engagement, Peace Building, and National Reconciliation

**Project Director:** Mbare Ngom, PhD, Morgan State University, 1700 E. Cold Spring Lane, Baltimore, Maryland 21251-0001, E-mail: mbare.ngom@morgan.edu

**Number of Participants: 15:**two Morgan State University faculty**,**including the Project Director, eight K-12 teachers and administrators from Maryland school systems/districts in, two MSU students (one graduate and one advanced undergraduate) planning a teaching career, and one community college instructor. 

Morgan State University (MSU) seeks the support of the U.S. Department of Education to take 15 educators, including the projector director, on a five-week immersion program to Colombia to study issues related to history, culture and society, and to improve Spanish language skills. The specific focus will be on youth civic engagement and participation in post-conflict peace building and reconciliation. Special attention will be devoted to African Colombian and native Colombian youth and the effects of the armed conflict on these communities. Participants will prepare to design and implement effective ways of developing and enhancing the teaching of the history, culture and society of Colombia and Latin America in general, at MSU, in Baltimore City and at Maryland area public school districts/systems and Local Education Agencies(LEAs). 

This project would provide an opportunity for participants to study Colombia at a critical time of its history. The Havana peace agreement of 2016 ended over 50 years of internal violence, and started a process of national reconciliation. The rigorous academic program will include lectures and seminars at different Colombian universities and other public institutions, field study and research throughout the country, and a thorough follow-up program in June 2025 at MSU. We will bring together Colombian experts and stakeholders from a wide range of disciplines, professions, civil society organizations, and government agencies, to give participants a full insight into the history, culture, and society of Colombia during the conflict and post-conflict, and the role played by Colombian youth, including the peacebuilding and reconciliation process. The program will also offer community-based service-learning and individual research opportunities. The objectives of this Group Projects Abroad are to: 

· expose participants to high impact intensive experiential learning situations that will help them to improve their language and communicative skills in Spanish, and engage in service-learning activities; 

· help participants acquire knowledge of Colombian history, cultural traditions and ethnicities, and how they are relevant at this critical time. 

· provide participants with knowledge and tools to design and develop new curriculum materials about Colombia and Latin America and/or to enhance existing ones; 

· help participants improve and enhance their teaching skills and develop strategies and effective ways of imparting their knowledge capably and confidently about Colombia and other Latin American countries in general, to their students and members of surrounding communities. 

The proposed Group Projects Abroad meets the program preference priorities 1, 4 and 5.

## Rowan University

### Language, Literacy, & Culture in Oaxaca, Mexico: A Rowan Summer Experience for K-12 Educators & Administrators

**Project Director:**Stephanie L. Abraham, PhD, Associate Professor of Language & Literacy Education, Department of Language, Literacy, & Sociocultural Education, James Hall 2058, Glassboro, NJ 08028, 856-256-4500 x53833, abrahams@rowan.edu

**Dates:**June 24, 2024 to July 26, 2024

**Project Participants:** 12 Pre-Service and In-Service K-12 Educators and Administrators, enrolled at the undergraduate or graduate level, or employed full-time as an educator or administrator 

**Overview of Proposed Project:** In a five-week, immersive seminar in Oaxaca, Mexico, K-12 educators and administrators will study Spanish or Zapotec, and the related language, literacy, and cultural practices of Oaxacans. This will include attending lectures by local Oaxacan educators on indigenous education, local language practices, and current, public educational concerns. Participants will also visit local schools, the local, public university, and several grassroots organizations providing education and training to young Oaxacans. Finally, participants will visit local historical sites such as Monte Alban and Indigenous communities to further contextualize the long histories of the culture and language practices that they are currently witnessing and studying. 

**Competitive Preference Priorities:**Priority 3: Substantive Training and Thematic Focus on Less Commonly Taught Languages Priority 4: Inclusion of K-12 Educators Priority 5: Thematic Focus

## School for International Training

### Tuko Pa Moja: Tanzanian Creativity and Perspectives in an Era of Climate Change

**Project Director:** Dr. Jonathan Walz, Jonathan.walz@sit.edu

**Participants:** 12 U.S. educators: 6 high school teachers and 6 university instructors 

**Competitive Preference Priorities Addressed:**Priority 1: SIT is a new applicant to the Fulbright-Hays Program Priority 4: 50% of the project participants will be K-12 level (high school) teachers Priority 5: the project will be on African area studies with an emphasis on Tanzanian community-based approaches to climate change and sustainability 

School for International Training’s (SIT) proposal relates directly to the objectives of the Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad to promote and develop African Area Studies and Swahili language learning through focus on impacts of climate change on communities and people’s livelihoods in Tanzania. 

SIT’s program design for 12 U.S. educator participants, 6 high school teachers and 6 undergraduate faculty, on the 5-week program in-country in July-August 2024 will be fully engaging, immersive, and will provide the participants with the conceptual and practical tools and resources to integrate decolonized and indigenous epistemologies about Tanzanian community-based approaches to climate change and sustainability into their curricula and classrooms after their return home.

The program will be hosted by the SIT Learning Center in Stone Town, Zanzibar, where SIT also hosts graduate, undergraduate, and semester immersive programs. Utilizing SIT’s extensive network of contacts and experts, added to 30+ years of conducting programs in the country, SIT faculty and staff will lead the participants to site visits in the islands, Dar es Salaam, Arusha, and other areas. This project will be led by Dr. Jonathan Walz, Associate Professor and Chair of SIT’s graduate program on Climate Change and Global Sustainability and Academic Director of SIT’s undergraduate program in Zanzibar focused on Coastal Ecology and Natural Resource Management. 

SIT is a new applicant to the Fulbright-Hays Program and will bring not only its extended network of experts and resources in Tanzania, including local faculty/researchers, farmers, artists, community activists, etc., but will also share with project participants its experience in decolonizing the curriculum, creating inclusive learning spaces, and creating sustainability practices. A key component of the program design will have the participants (co)create an array of unique artifacts related to their learning experiences that they can use to infuse into their own curricula upon completion of the program. SIT has integrated the teaching of Swahili language and culture into the program, specifically related to deepening participants’ understanding of cultural concepts and the creative solutions that Tanzanians have created to tackle the critical global issue of climate crisis.

## St. John’s University

### A Language and Cultural Immersion Experience: An Overseas-based Short-term Seminar in India for New York City Educators

**Project Director:**Dr. Yvonne Pratt-Johnson, Professor of Education, The School of Education; St. John’s University, 8000 Utopia Parkway; Queens, New York 11439, Tel: (718) 990-2645; Fax: (718) 990-1614, Email: prattjoy@stjohns.edu

**Competitive Preference Priorities to Be Addressed:***1, 3, 4, 5*

The School of Education (TSOE) at St. John’s University (SJU) will lead a six-week Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad (GPA) Seminar to West Bengal, India, July 4 to August 11, 2023. The 15 participants will include the Project Director, nine New York City school teachers (three elementary, three middle, and three high school teachers), three pre-service teachers, a faculty member in TSOE at SJU, and a curriculum/literacy specialist. This GPA seminar will provide teachers with an unparalleled immersion experience in the Bengali language and West Bengal culture designed to promote their ability to deliver culturally informed and culturally relevant instruction and instructional support to students of Indian/Bangladeshi origin or ancestry. 

Specifically, the intention behind the project is four-fold: 1) to increase participants’ knowledge of the culture and language of West Bengal; 2) to develop lesson plans that support and enrich the curriculum for participants’ New York City students by integrating topics associated with West Bengal/Bangladeshi culture and language into content classes; 3) to develop intercultural competence skills, particularly for pre-service teachers; and 4) to develop a collaborative service-learning program involving SJU students and three New York City public schools that have West Bengal/Bangladeshi student populations. 

The seminar will unfold in three phases. The pre-departure phase will consist of three full days of orientation, covering aspects of West Bengal/Bangladeshi history, politics, religion, culture, language, and peoples. During the overseas phase, participants will receive intensive instruction (48 hours) in the Bengali language, participate in expertly guided field trips to sites of importance in culture, history, and the arts throughout the region, meet and converse with Bengali-speaking educators, and collect material for use in creating lesson plans with a West Bengal/Bangladeshi area-studies component. Finally, in the post-seminar phase, participants will debrief about and reflect on their experiences abroad, complete their lesson plans, and discuss how they will share the knowledge and experiences that they have gained from the project with their U.S. colleagues and students.

## State University of New York, Oswego

### Rebuilding Bridges with the Land of the Rising Sun

**Project Director:**Dr. Lisa M. Glidden, Professor of Political Science and Director of Global and International Studies, 435 Mahar Hall, #13, Oswego, NY 13126, (315) 746-0888,  lisa.glidden@oswego.edu

**Number of Participants:**13: 5 SUNY Oswego faculty, 7 K-12 teachers from Oswego County, and the Project Director

“Rebuilding Bridges with the Land of the Sun” takes educators to Japan for a 30-day program grounded in the political science subdisciplines of comparative politics and international relations for purposes of curriculum development. Our group consists of five faculty members from SUNY Oswego and seven from Oswego County schools whose curricula

include or could include the study of Japan. We will study Japanese domestic politics, the ways politics are reflected in cultural practices and pop culture, Japan’s role in global politics, and its contemporary political challenges.

Our project uses themes such as nationalism, imperialism, modernization, the role of the state, legitimacy, and globalization as lenses for our experiences. We visit Tokyo, Akita City, Hokkaido, Kyoto, and Hiroshima and experience a broad range of urban and rural life and the diversity of political arrangements and norms in Japan.

**Project Objectives:**

1. To give the cohort an understanding of Japan’s politics, contemporary political issues, and the ways in which global and domestic politics shape and are shaped by Japan’s culture and pop culture

2. To develop basic language skills in Japanese

3. To develop or revise lesson plans, modules, and develop a new course

4. To disseminate curricula and curricular materials to other faculty via a coordinated outreach campaign including workshops, podcasts, presentations, and posting course materials online.

**Competitive Preference Priorities:**CPP1: SUNY Oswego is a new applicant****CPP3: 30 hours of formal language training in Japanese****CPP4: To develop and improve area studies at the K-12 level. Seven (or 58%) of our participants are educators at the K-12 level****CPP5: This group project abroad is developed using approaches and tools of political science

## University of Arizona

### CASA II – Group Research and Language Training at Qasid Institute, Amman, Jordan

**Project Director:** Dr. Sonia Shiri, Center for Arabic Study Abroad (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 in 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 in 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 1,700 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 only 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 strategically important Levant area and one of the rare MENA destinations still open to American students. 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, 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, and statement 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.

## University of Arizona

### CASA for Scholars Group Research at AALIM Institute, Morocco

**Project Director:** Dr. Sonia Shiri, Center for Arabic Study Abroad (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 3:**Group Research or Study Project

**Competitive Preference Priorities 3 & 5:**Training and Thematic Focus on Priority Languages & on Academic Fields The Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA), based at the University of Arizona, is seeking funding for its newly launched training site at AALIM in Meknes, Morocco to support 8 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 1,700 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.

## University of California, Berkeley

### Global Health Citizen Diplomacy and Research on the West Bank

**Project Director:** Dr. Daniel Zoughbie, Email: danielzoughbie@berkeley.edu, Tel: 650.823.6599 

**Group Projects Abroad Type 3:** Group Research or Study Abroad 

**Competitive Preference Priorities:** 1, 3, 4 

The University of California, Berkeley’s Middle East and North Africa Diplomacy, Development and Defense Initiative (MENA 3D) at the Institute of International Studies in collaboration with the University of Arizona’s Arabic Flagship Program (AFP) and the American Center of Research (ACOR), which operates in Jordan and the West Bank, is requesting support for the establishment of a Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad (GPA) Short-Term Research Program focused on building linguistic, international, and area studies capacity vis-a-vis public health research. The project provides 10 U.S. students the opportunity to research global health in the West Bank while providing them with a chance to learn the regional dialect and live in the city of Bethlehem. The project is intended to expand access to international and area studies research for advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, and professional degree candidates at law, public health, medical, nursing, and dental schools across the country. It will do so through a multi and interdisciplinary lens, thereby drawing in students from professional, qualitative and quantitative disciplines who would have perhaps otherwise been less inclined to engage with global issues. The collaborators on this project are uniquely prepared to deliver a high-quality research program. The Principal Investigator, Dr. Daniel Zoughbie, UC Berkeley, has successfully led or co-led sizable U.S. “Virtual Exchange” initiatives focused on the Middle East, as well as large Title VI NRC/FLAS grants and global public health fellowship programs. The Language and Curriculum Coordinator, Dr. Sonia Shiri, University of Arizona and Director of several Arabic study abroad programs including the prestigious Center for Arabic Study Abroad, along with the Local Logistics Coordinator (Dr. Pearce Paul Creasman, American Center for Research – West Bank/Jordan), and the Local Academic Coordinator (Dr. Mohammad Tamimi, Palestine Polytechnic University) bring extensive experience in running high quality study abroad projects. The project team will name a committee to select the most qualified participants from all backgrounds and will collaborate closely on the implementation of the project, pre-departure, in the host country and post-program. An external evaluator will conduct a site visit towards the end of the program and attend the fellows’ presentations during the final symposium.

## University of Detroit Mercy 

### Art, History, Language and Culture: A Study of Brazil’s African Diaspora Voice

**Project Director:** Lara Wasner, University of Detroit Mercy

This Fulbright-Hays GPA Short Term Seminar Project, submitted with the support of University of Detroit Mercy (UDM) and Hillsborough Community College (HCC), meets the program’s competitive priority preferences of  3,  4, and 5. With the guidance of the proposed PDs, this program introduces a group of 12 participants, fifty percent of whom will come from elementary, middle school and high school, to a four- week study of Afro-Brazilian history, arts, and language. The other fifty percent of participants will be selected from across the nation and will comprise community college and university instructors whose instructional goals coincide with the goals of this GPA. 

The project recognizes the pervasive underrepresentation of non-Eurocentric voices in American education and argues that by bringing a focus to the African and Latinx voice, we meet the academic and emotional needs of our economically-disadvantaged students, most of whom are from black and brown backgrounds. This GPA focuses on providing teachers with the tools, experience, and skills necessary to re-imagine their classroom as a place where a diversity of voices are given equal time and where the classroom becomes, in part, an exciting exposure to Brazil’s majority minority culture. For this reason, we will also prioritize candidates from majority minority institutions. 

Involvement in this GPA will enhance the academic lives of participants through a lived exposure to the international world; in turn, they will appropriately meet the needs of their students who must learn to think about the world as an increasingly interconnected place. With this rationale as a guiding principle, this GPA focuses on the following goals: (1) to provide participants with an in-depth understanding of the importance of the history of the Afro-Brazilian diaspora and how it functions as a lingering social, political, and religious expression of the continuity of a people and place, (2) to immerse participants in the learning of language and culture of Brazil, (3) to strengthen the area studies competency of participants and engage their interest in curriculum development and internationalization, (4) to prepare participants to share their gained knowledge beyond the classroom. 

Hosted in conjunction with professors of Universidade Do Estado Da Bahia and Universidade Federal da Bahia, the program aims to provide participants an understanding of the literary, artistic, educational, and performative culture in Brazil, inclusive of the role each of the cities plays in creating (or negating) the voice for the marginalized and in honoring and privileging (or impairing) the diaspora community within the larger, more dominant, culture of whiteness. This study of the diaspora in Brazil will focus on the cultural history of Brazil and will prompt participants to ask questions about what diversity means in a Western society and about how the history of dehumanization and rehumanization affects race relations and the production of culture. It will lead participants to an understating of how heritage is preserved and respected and how the challenges associated with that preservation are documented through words, music, art, and tradition. Through the lived experiences, participants will come to an understanding of how discourses of race and class reflect national, regional, and personal philosophies and beliefs in preparation for the curriculum project they will design and submit by the end of the program.  

## University of Mississippi 

### Politics, Social Movements, and Cultures of the Andes:Experiential, Immersive Learning in Bolivia

**Project Description:** Dr. Kate McGurn Centellas, supported by the Croft Institute of International Studies, the Department of Sociology & Anthropology, and the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Mississippi, is proposing a 6-week (40 day, plus 2 travel days) Group Project Abroad (GPA) seminar program with 10 participants to Bolivia for June and July 2024. “Politics, Social Movements, and Cultures of the Andes,” hereafter referred to as the Bolivia program, will focus on contemporary social movements, political developments, and cultural practices in the Andes, with a focus on experiential learning in Bolivia. This thematic focus also incorporates a unit on public health system reform and pluralistic medical systems as an example of political and social demands leading to systemic change. The project also integrates 35 hours of Aymara language training.

**Activities Performed:** The project is divided into three phases: a pre-departure seminar that spans 15 weeks and introduces important academic content and the study of Aymara, the field seminar in Bolivia, and a post-departure seminar that supports participant reflection and dissemination of project related information. The PD is only requesting funds for the field seminar portion of the project. There are evaluations of each component, and Dr. Centellas will iteratively monitor participant knowledge and skill growth. The field seminar includes homestays in La Paz and excursionsthroughout Bolivia aligned with course content objectives. The PD will be on-site and accompany participants throughout the field portion. She will be assisted by Paola Zapata and Judith Valdivia, in-country project co-coordinators, and Vidal Usnayo Poma, instructor of Aymara.

**Goals:** The project goals are: 1. Increase linguistic competency in a LCTL (Aymara) 2. Improve cultural and educational exchange between Bolivia and the U.S., including ability to articulate of the importance of international experience and collaboration 3. Democratize access to international, experiential learning for first generation students and/or students of limited financial resources 4. Contribute to internationalizing the curriculum at the University of Mississippi, measured by understanding of the 6 course content objectives 5. Foster personal growth and resilience 6. Encourage students to pursue careers in international studies and/or education.

**Expected Outcomes & Contribution:** We expect that participants will gain competency in Aymara, increase their capacity cross-cultural communication and understanding, enhance their desire to pursue careers in international studies or education, and gain a better understanding of global social processes and diversity. The project will contribute to the University of Mississippi’s institutional goals of internationalizing education and educating global citizens. It will also support the development of a stronger infrastructure for faculty-led international education projects in the Deep South. Finally, it will democratize access to transformative international experiences for first generation and/or lower income participants.

## University of Pennsylvania 

### Sustainable Development in Post-Apartheid South Africa: Interface Between History, Environmental Justice and Social Equity

**Project Director:**Dr. Audrey N Mbeje, Department of Linguistics, 3401 Walnut Street | Suite 300 C, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6228 USA, Email: mbeje@sas.upenn.edu

**Project Type 2:**Curriculum Development Project

**Participants:**14 Participants plus Project Director

The University of Pennsylvania proposes a four-week Fulbright-Hays Group Project Abroad to take fourteen K-16 educators from the Greater Philadelphia Area (Camden NJ, Philadelphia, and Wilmington DE) to South Africa for curriculum development. Building on Penn’s rich resources on Africa as a former National Resource Center for two decades, the project will offer a rich experiential learning opportunity for participants to explore first-hand the topic of sustainable development in S. Africa with a specific focus on interface between history, environmental justice, and social equity for integration into their curriculum back in the U.S. The project will be based in Durban in affiliation with Durban University of Technology (DUT) and Chatsworth Teachers Center (CTC) and will benefit from the unique strengths of these two institutions which will provide access to high-quality academic and professional resources. Complementing lecture seminars will be educational tours to sites in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and Cape Provinces where participants will explore aspects of environmental justice and social equity through the uniquely distinct historical/cultural features of these three provinces.

The goals of this project are to:

1. *Increase linguistic and cultural competency among K-16 Africa Area Studies educators*through substantive, thematic standards-based Zulu language instruction for 15hrs/week (face-to face and asynchronously) to attain at least level 1 on the ILR Proficiency Scale.

2. *Enhance access to quality K-16 Africa Area Studies materials by developing 18 modules on aspects of history, environmental justice and social equity in South Africa.*Through lecture seminars and site visits, participants will assemble knowledge to use in creating 18 instructional modules (12 for K-12 and 6 for post-secondary levels) for dissemination nationwide.

To enhance our recruitment efforts, we will collaborate with the School District of Philadelphia and Community College of Philadelphia as well as with Penn’s Department of Africana Studies, Center for Africana Studies. For quality outcomes, we will employ rigorous evaluation systems to continuously improve implementation, maintenance and the sustainability of our fundamental objectives through the post-project phase. The project focuses on Africa (South Africa); offers substantive training and thematic focus on a LCTL (Zulu), ~72% (10 out of 14) of the participants will be from K-12 schools; and focuses on history, social studies, and environmental studies, and international development fields, thus meeting the FY 2023 Absolute Priority as well as Competitive Preference Priorities 3, 4, and 5.

## University of South Carolina Beaufort

### South Korean and Asian Literacy Education (SKALE)

**Project Administrators:**Project Director, Dr. Juanita Villena-Alvarez; In-Country Scholar-Escort, Dr. Greg Choy (UC Berkeley) 

**Project Type:**4-Week Short-Term Curriculum Development in Education (International) 

**Number of Participants:**12 + 2 including (6) K-12 educators; (4) USCB faculty; (2) USCB Education major students; (1) Scholar-Escort; and (1) Project Director 

The University of South Carolina Beaufort (USCB) recognizes expansive changes taking place in the region with the Oct. 2022 ground-breaking of a $5.54 billion Korean car manufacturing facility some 37 miles from USCB Bluffton main campus. To prepare for this, plans have been announced to lift the biggest bridge in the area to accommodate bigger ships in nearby Savannah as well as the arrival of the biggest port cranes in the entire East Coast of the USA in the same location. In that same month, the Korean Professional Golf Association Tour in South Korea was moved, due to COVID, to a golf club in Jasper Country, SC, the same county as USCB. Several dozen Korean and Asian guests were in the area at this sport tournament. USCB is proposing the *South Korean and Asian Literacy in Education*(SKALE) curriculum development project in an effort to have multicultural foresight to prepare student constituents of our region for the cultural, demographic, economic, and social changes that are underway. The Coastal Empire region of Savannah and the Lowcountry of South Carolina are neighboring areas that need more in-depth South Korean and Asian educational training to mitigate potential conflict, as has already happened in certain areas. This project will allow 12 participants and two project leaders the capacity to study and understand Korean society, culture, and language at USCB, in Seoul, and 5 other locations in South Korea for 4 weeks in collaboration with Korean partners such as Woosong University (Daejeon), Seoul National University of Education, Asia Campus-Incheon, and Mason Korea in Incheon. In addition, Dr. Greg Choy will serve as the project’s in-country Scholar-Escort. Dr. Choy is a Korean American faculty member at UC Berkeley, specializing in comparative ethnic studies and education pedagogy. 

This USCB SKALE project has three main goals with measurable objectives: 1) to successfully educate regional university and K-12 instructors and students on the language, history, culture, and economy of South Korea; 2) to effectively create and develop Korean/Asian curricular content in teachings at K-12 and university level; 3) to establish mechanisms for wide-spread dissemination and sharing of Korean and Asian materials created from the SKALE project through more than one educational event in the 6-month window after arriving back from South Korea (GPA GPRA Measure #2). 

With the support from USCB and regional K-12 administrators who foresee the challenges our region faces with these sudden extensive developments, the participants will incorporate the lessons learned from the study trip to Korea into their teachings and research. More importantly, USCB can partner with other regional higher education institutions to replicate the materials through workshops and collaborations. To guarantee goal #3 success, SKALE will schedule a Korean Cultural Studies Conference at the USCB Hilton Head Island Campus as the culminating activity at the end of this grant, with the hope of continuing this event yearly through collaboration. 

Project SKALE addresses **competitive priorities 1**(New applicant), **3**(Korean is an LCTL), **4**(50% K-12), and **5**(Education-International discipline).

## Virginia Union University 

### Africa Rising: Hip Hop, Politics, and Critical Resilience in Senegal

**Project Director:** Ima Hicks, Assistant Professor of Languages and Literature, E-mail: ilhicks@vuu.edu, Telephone: 804-257-5676

Virginia Union University (VUU), a private, historically black higher education institution located in Richmond, VA, proposes a short-term Group Projects Abroad program that will partner with the Richmond Public School System (RPS) to examine how young Africans use hip-hop to question traditional representations of Africa, imagine the continent’s future, and raise consciousness of globalization and (in)equality. A group of six VUU students and a Project Director plus six teachers from RPS will participate in a month-long project in Dakar, Senegal (one of the most innovative countries in Africa) in July 2024 focusing on how hip hop and urban culture associations in and around Dakar proper promote an environment for musical creation and social reconciliation for marginalized youth and how hip-hop artists in West Africa are challenging Eurocentric understandings of the world and redefining Africa from a decolonial perspective. Participants will engage with hip-hop artists, activists, and influencers to learn how they critique traditional understandings of Africa and African-descended peoples; and through the rap texts and commentary of hip hop actors, the group will examine the intersections of hip hop with the ideals of local and transnational musical practices and their narrative links with politics and environmental and socio-cultural issues. 

The short-term Group Project Abroad (GPA) will particularly focus on the ways hip-hop and urban cultures are changing the political, religious, and economic landscape in Senegal and, by extrapolation, in the African continent. It will look at the ways African urban hip-hop challenges the colonial matrix of power and participates in the consolidation of democracy in Senegal. Participants will examine the ways African urban hip-hop functions as decolonial pedagogical praxes and counterhegemonic movements against cultural and economic imperialism in the U.S., in Africa, and in Europe. Because hip-hop music often offers an immediate narrative of the political, group participants will explore further the ways hip hop and urban cultures function as political and aesthetic expressions against Empire and corrupted local elite. The GPA will similarly explore the role of hip-hop and urban cultures in the creolization of local cultures through a discussion of the ways it has led to modern and creole yet fundamentally African cultures thereby showing the complexity the very idea of root that traditionally constitutes the foundation of the idea of diaspora. 

Project participants will receive intensive instruction in Wolof and rudimentary instruction in French along with a course and lectures on hip-hop. The home base of study will be the West African Research Center.

## William Paterson University

### Enriching Education through Cross-cultural Exploration: Learning from Technology and Pedagogy Innovations in South Korea

**Director:**Carrie E. Hong, 973-720-2130, HongE1@wpunj.edu, Co-Director: Angie K. Yoo, 973-720-2743, YooK2@wpunj.edu

**Host Country:**South Korea 

**Number of Participants**: 12 (8 in-service teachers; 2 preservice teachers; 2 WPU faculty) 

**Description**: Building on New Jersey’s growing Asian American communities, William Paterson University (WPU) of New Jersey proposes a Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad (GPA) in South Korea focusing on 1) the historical and cultural dynamics of Korea, 2) the comparative exploration of education system, curriculum and instruction, 3) South Korea’s advances in technology, 4) critical issues in shaping the future of education, such as multimodal learning, interdisciplinary pedagogies, use of social media, virtual reality classes, artificial intelligence, and other advanced technology in education, and 5) citizens’ engagement with these issues. A total of twelve in-service, preservice teachers and WP faculty in area studies will participate in this project. Secondary school teachers will be recruited from WPU’s professional development school network as well as districts with significant populations of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students. Preservice teachers will be selected from WPU’s education majors. This project will emphasize experiential learning through interactions with local educators, visits to classrooms and educational institutions, and hands-on cultural and technological immersion. The GPA will enrich participants’ understanding of Korea with the overarching goal of improving curriculum development and lessons on Korean history and culture as well as contemporary South Korea, and providing various teaching materials which may not be readily available in the U.S. In addition, the GPA aims to build a network of K-16 educators connecting schools/universities in NJ and South Korea, thereby enabling them to continue to engage in Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) after returning from the trip. The term COIL broadly refers to diverse methods of technology-mediated classroom collaboration in which students in different countries communicate, discuss, and/or work together on common projects. Thus, the proposed GPA incorporates history, language and culture, pedagogy, educational advances, and a network of resources about the host country. Moreover, the GPA is designed to build a critical learning community of secondary teachers within New Jersey by encouraging leadership and initiatives to disseminate their learning in comparative education and technology through various professional development venues. 

**Competitive Preference Priorities (CPPs)**: Designated as an eligible Hispanic-Serving Institution of Higher Education by the United States Department of Education, we meet Competitive Preference Priority 1. The project will also address Competitive Preference Priority 3 (Substantive Training and Thematic Focus on Less Commonly Taught Languages), Competitive Preference Priority 4 (Inclusion of K-12 Educators: 66% of the participant group), and Competitive Preference Priority 5 (Thematic focus on academic fields: comparative education and technology)

## Wittenberg University**

### Exploring the tension between democratic pluralism and nationalistic exclusion of the “Other”

**Project Director:**Heather Wright, Ph.D., **Project Co-Director:**Michael Anes, Ph.D., Emails: hwright@wittenberg.edu and manes@wittenberg.edu, Phone: 937-823-7109, Address: PO Box 720, Springfield, Ohio 45501

**Project Type:**Short-Term Seminar Project (4 weeks)

**Participants:**3 higher education faculty + 7 high school teachers + 4 university juniors/seniors intending to become teachers (14 participants total) + Project Director and Co-Director

**Priorities Addressed:***Competitive Preference Priority 1: New Applicant******Competitive Preference Priority 3: Substantive Training and Thematic Focus on Priority Languages (Polish)******Competitive Preference Priority 4: Inclusion of K-12 Educators******Competitive Preference Priority 5: Thematic Focus on Academic Fields – Political Science******Competitive Preference Priority 6: Thematic Focus on Ukraine*

**Project Overview:**Wittenberg University is requesting $105,105 for a seminar in Poland, titled *Exploring the tension between democratic pluralism and nationalistic exclusion of the “Other”**,***which seeks to (1) create an in-situ experiential opportunity for participants to increase firsthand knowledge and understanding of (a) Polish history, culture, and language, (b) historical roots of current political forces in Poland, (c) the impact of present politics on various minority groups, immigration policies, and intergroup attitudes, and (d) opportunities and challenges brought by immigration with specific discussion of displaced Ukrainian people and middle-eastern people arriving via Belarus; (2) increase, strengthen and diversify the coverage of Polish issues, including the effects of Ukrainian immigration and coverage of the Holocaust, in Ohio public schools and at Wittenberg University by (a) increasing the number of Wittenberg faculty and Ohio high school teachers with expertise in these issues and (b) increasing the number of short-term curricular projects that educators have available to integrate into existing courses or around which new courses may be built; and (3) help 14 participants widely disseminate knowledge and materials resulting from the GPA by developing new curricular projects appropriate for each group of project participants (pre-teachers, high school teachers, and college faculty). Traversing the Polish landscape from Krakow and Zakopane in the south to Gdansk in the north, the group will interact with Polish scholars, politicians, and ordinary people via seminars, workshops, and site visits that will challenge and expand their understanding of the history, society, and culture of the host country. While exploring everything from traditional folk culture to contemporary popular culture, Poland’s ongoing political transition and  ideological complexity will provide the group with the ultimate political science text, ripe for analysis. The project will result in the following outputs: (1) a volume of 9-12 curricula (at least seven curricular modules), with contributions from project participants, for potential statewide distribution for use in social studies, political science, and Holocaust education in Ohio (available to download online); (2) six to eight new or revised courses focusing on Poland/Central Europe at Wittenberg. These courses can eventually lead to a new minor in Central and Eastern European Studies; and (3) a variety of in-person and online presentations by GPA participants to local and national audiences.

## Yuva Hindi Sansthan, Inc. 

### Living with Contentment in a Material World: Mindful Living and Wellness Traditions in India

Project type: (2) Fulbright-Hays GPA short term curriculum development projects of four to eight weeks in length that provide participants the opportunity to acquire resource materials for curriculum development in modern foreign language and area studies for use and dissemination in the United States (34 CFR 664.12); Area studies: Public Health; Host  country: India; Duration Study Tour in India: 4 weeks; Number of Project leaders to accompany the study tour: 2 (Program Director and Curriculum Consultant); Number of 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, 4 Melville Road, Edison, NJ 08817, Email: aojha2008@gmail.com; Tel. 732-318-9891 Program Consultant/Teacher Trainer/Internal Evaluator: Dr. Gabriela Nik Ilieva, Professor of Hindi, Department of Middle Eastern Studies, New York University, New York, NY, gni1@nyu.edu; External Evaluator: Bhavya Singh Rathod.

**Competitive priority areas:**Absolute priority-South Asia; (1) Second time applicant-was awarded this grant in 2022. 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, Public Health.

**Abstract:**Yuva Hindi Sansthan, Inc. (YHS), a NJ based non-profit educational organization with 501-(C) (3), supported by New York University (NYU), Yale, University of Texas Austin (UTA), Michigan State University (MSU) three Indian universities, Lucknow University, Lucknow, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Swami Vivekanand University, Kolkata, along with India based NGOs, 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 helping us in curricular design and teachers training. YHS-NYU Fulbright-Hays GPA Short-Term Curriculum Development Program 2023, 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.

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# LONG-TERM PROJECTS

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## American Councils for International Education 

### Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad Advanced Overseas Intensive Language Training Projects

**Project Director:**Dr. Dan E. Davidson, President Emeritus and Senior Academic Advisor, American Councils for International Education: ACTR/ACCELS (American Councils), 1828 L Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036; T (202) 833-7522.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has fundamentally altered the global threat environment facing the United States and will continue to shape U.S. foreign policy decisions far into the future. Beyond the pressing matter of Ukraine’s survival, there lies a host of critical questions regarding the security, as well as the social, economic, and environmental wellbeing of the larger East European-Eurasian region in the future, much of which is still Russian-speaking and all of which will demand responses from U.S. policymakers. 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 FY 2023 Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad (FH GPA) Long-Term Advanced Overseas Intensive Language Training Projects funding, seeking support for 26 fellowships for advanced language students participating in the Advanced Russian Language and Area Studies Program (RLASP) in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and Yerevan, Armenia. These safe, dynamic, and complex Russophone sites offer students unique insights into the culture and history of a critically important region and Russia’s ongoing efforts to extend and maintain its influence abroad. Program features include: ♦ Intensive language classes conducted by leading Kazakh and Armenian faculty designed to strengthen reading, writing, listening comprehension, and essential speaking skills; ♦ Seminars exploring Kazakh or Armenian mass media and contemporary society and opportunities to learn local languages (Kazakh or Armenian) in addition to Russian; ♦ 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-speaking Kazakh or Armenian 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 at each program site 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. 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 experts in Russian language will review all applications. Participants will attend a comprehensive (16 hour +) pre-departure orientation and complete pre-and post-program surveys to measure language gains. Recognizing that world events continue to require maximum flexibility in planning and logistics, American Councils has developed extensive protocols for health and safety abroad, as well as virtual programming options to maintain instructional continuity in the event of delays or disruptions. The Fulbright-Hays GPA project fulfills Competitive Preference Priority 3 by providing substantive training and thematic focus on any modern foreign language except French, German, or Spanish (Russian). American Councils requests $257,700 from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education, to fund 26 fellowships: 10 awards for summer at $6,070 each, 12 awards for semester at $10,250 each, and four awards for academic year at $18,500 during the project period (June 15, 2023 – June 15, 2025).

## American Councils for International Education

### Summer and semester intensive Chinese programs in Taiwan

**Project Director:** Dr. Dan E. Davidson, President Emeritus and Senior Academic Advisor, 1828 L Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036; T (202) 833-7522. 

In its October 2022 National Defense Strategy, the Pentagon identifies the People’s Republic of China as the single greatest challenge to U.S. national security. The importance of U.S.-Sino relations extends even beyond conflict and competition, however, as the successful resolution of a growing number of urgent global issues, including climate change, pandemic mitigation, the growth of religious extremism, and the war in Ukraine rests upon greater cooperation between the two superpowers. Notwithstanding, the number of U.S. speakers of Chinese qualified to fill language-designated positions in government currently falls far short of the expertise required. 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 Program, Long-Term Advanced Overseas Intensive Language Training Projects funding for FY 2023, for 25 fellowships to support advanced language students participating in its summer and semester intensive Chinese programs in Taiwan, hosted at three of the country’s leading universities – National Tsing Hua University (summer program), Tamkang University (summer and semester programs), and National Cheng Kung University (summer program). Program features at all sites include: 

· Intensive Mandarin language classes conducted by experienced local language teaching faculty, geared to the proficiency levels of U.S. students and designed to strengthen their language proficiency development across modalities and modes; 

· Special content-focused seminars exploring Taiwanese and Chinese cultures, mass media, contemporary society, and modern politics; 

· Ongoing logistical support, guidance, and 24-hour emergency assistance onsite from full-time U.S. Resident Directors with expert knowledge of the host-country language and culture; 

· Weekly cultural excursions and extended group travel outside the host city to maximize exposure to key historical sites and opportunities to interact with host country nationals; 

· Weekly meetings with peer language partners to maximize linguistic and cultural immersion and expand students’ social networks; 

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

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

· Active alumni networks to support program graduates in professional networking. 

American Councils will conduct a national outreach campaign to encourage advanced Chinese students across the U.S. to apply. An external selection committee comprising at least two Chinese-language experts will review all applications. Participants will complete 16 hours of online pre-departure orientation workshops followed by a comprehensive onsite orientation. 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 student health and safety abroad, as well as virtual programming options to maintain instructional continuity in the event of travel delays or onsite disruptions. 

American Councils requests $225,000 from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education, to fund 25 fellowships during the project period, June 15, 2023 to June 15, 2025 (15 summer fellowships of $7,000 each and 10 semester fellowships of $12,000 each). The proposed American Councils program addresses the Absolute Priority as it will take place in East Asia, and Competitive Preference Priority 3 as it focuses on high-level language acquisition offering intensive training in Chinese.

## 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.

## American Research Institute in Turkey 

### ARIT Summer Fellowships for Intensive Advanced Turkish at Boğaziçi University, Istanbul

**Project Director**: Dr. Sylvia W. Önder, Turkish and Anthropology, 210 Poulton Hall, Georgetown University, Washington DC 20057, onders@georgetown.edu, (202) 687-6175 

**Project Type**: Long-Term Advanced Overseas Intensive Language Training 

**Number of Participants**: 18 advanced undergraduate, graduate students, or faculty 

**Competitive Priority 3**: This project meets the Competitive Preference Priority 3: Substantive Training and Thematic Focus on Priority Languages: Turkish. 

Under this project, we seek to enable 18 university students and faculty to study advanced Turkish through an intensive summer language program utilizing the resources and facilities of Boğaziçi University (BU) in Istanbul, Turkey. This program was initiated by the American Research Institute in Turkey (ARIT) in 1982 and is designed to provide the equivalent of a full academic year course in advanced Turkish. Fellows, recruited nationwide, benefit from direct and constant exposure to the language and culture in its native setting, including multiple instructors in daily classroom hours of Grammar, Reading, Speaking, and Writing, along with laboratory exercises, work with native-speaker teaching assistants, and a full program of Turkish films and lectures. USED grant funds would be used to support the advanced level language training of eligible undergraduate and graduate students, as well as faculty. 

As a US and NATO ally connected to Europe, Eurasia, and the Middle East, Turkey plays an important economic, political, and strategic role in the region. Institutions in the US have rarely been able to create stable Turkish language programs that consistently enable students to reach the advanced levels. The BU program has proven to be an effective way to train students to advanced language proficiency useful in academic and other professional careers, allowing them to maintain and improve independently. The ARIT Summer Fellowship supports Middle East, Central Asian, and European Language and Area Studies Centers in the United States in attaining their primary objectives, that is, to prepare American students for teaching and other public and private sector careers related to the region. The program aids scholars from fields such as Anthropology, Economics, History, International Relations, Islamic Studies, and Linguistics while forging ties between the American and Turkish academic communities. Turkish has long been a research language useful to scholars of Greek, Armenian, Jewish, Kurdish and other minority groups in the Ottoman Empire and Republic of Turkey – as well as a link to the Turkic languages of Eurasia – and has more recently become an important research language for scholars of Arab Studies, Security Studies, Migrant and Refugee Studies, and other emerging regional topics. 

Under the directorship of Dr. Sylvia Önder, 160 fellows from 59 institutions have been supported in the 2013-2022 grant periods. 11 more should be supported in the summer of 2023. The purpose of this application is to secure support for this fellowship program for the next year, summer 2024. The project would again be administered jointly by ARIT and the American Association of Teachers of Turkic Languages (AATT), with administrative and project director support from Georgetown University.

## University of Arizona

### CASA Advanced Arabic Language & Culture Training at Qasid Institute, Jordan Group Projects Abroad 

**Project Director:**Dr. Sonia Shiri, Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA) Director, School of Middle Eastern Studies & North African Studies, 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 University of Arizona, is seeking funding to support 15 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 1,700 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.

## University of Arizona

### CASA Advanced Arabic Language & Culture Training at AALIM Institute, Morocco 

**Project Director:**Dr. Sonia Shiri, Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA) Director, School of Middle Eastern Studies & North African Studies, 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 at the University of Arizona, is seeking funding to support 16 academic-year fellowships at its newly opened site at AALIM in Meknes, Morocco 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 1,700 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 uninterruptedly. 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.

## University of Georgia 

### Immersion in the Russian Language, Communities, and Cultures in the Baltics: A thematically-organized program for Future Global professionals in Riga, Latvia

**Name and Contact Information of Project Director:**Victoria Hasko, Ph.D., Associate Professor of World Language Education, Russian Flagship Program Director; 706-542-4505, vhasko@uga.edu 

**Project Type:**Long-term Advanced Overseas Intensive Language Project 

**Competitive Preference Priorities Addressed:**#4, #5.****

The University of Georgia Department of Language and Literacy Education is submitting an application to the U.S. Department of Education for Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad Long-Term Advanced Overseas Intensive Language Training Projects funding, ensuring equitable participation by 20 university students in a rigorous disciplinary Russian immersion program and professional internships during a semester-long study abroad in Riga, Latvia. The program entitled Immersion in the Russian Language, Communities, and Cultures in the Baltics for Future Global Professionals is designed around a thematically organized curriculum focused on content-based Russian for students majoring in international affairs, political science, journalism and media studies, international development, history, and sciences in the context of the Baltic states, with rich opportunities for cultural learning through homestays, conversational partner and tutoring components, and participatory excursions. Professional internships will be integrated into the program design to maximize opportunities for contextualized use of Russian for Specific Purposes. In additional to advanced-level Russian skills, participants will acquire regional expertise in a strategically important geopolitical context of several NATO countries: Latvia will serve as the primary site for learning, with additional enrichment visits to the bordering Baltic states. The program’s multifaceted design targets development of nuanced intercultural competency for a range of communicative and professional workplace discourses aligned with participants’ majors.

## University of Wyoming

### Cultivating Advanced Spanish Language Proficiency, Intercultural Competency, and Regional Awareness in Costa Rica

**Project Directors:**Dr. Amy Roberts, Associate Professor, University of Wyoming, School of Teacher Education ****Dr. Dilnoza Khasilova, University of Wyoming, Global Engagement Specialist 

The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education advises that advanced proficiency in the Spanish language is essential for all K-12 Spanish educators. With the growth of Spanish-speaking populations in the United States (US) and diversities of cultures, teacher education programs are  responsible to ensure that these educators are better equipped for increased demands of language proficiency. In response, the University of Wyoming (UW) School of Teacher Education proposes a 2-year Fulbright-Hays Group Project Abroad (GPA) advanced intensive Spanish language project for pre-service and in-service educators and university students in Monteverde Costa Rica. The GPA fills an important gap for Wyoming State K-12 world language and area studies, and rural settings across the US. Teachers in Wyoming and beyond are motivated to implement world language education in classroom curriculums, yet they often lack the necessary foundation in the target language, daily cross-cultural experiences, and/or experience with development of content-based language curricula. This gap is compounded by geographical features and rural populations of states such as Wyoming. One half of all US schools are geographically isolated, meaning a lack of community interaction. The GPA offers a network, a platform for community building of Spanish language educators in Wyoming and across the US. Fourteen participants will be selected each year: 9-12 elementary/secondary pre-service and in-service teachers and 2-5 university students. Travel will be conveniently scheduled for teachers after the school year, approximately May 31 to July 20. The central aim of the GPA is to increase Spanish language proficiency with 180 hours of intensive instruction, as well as gains in intercultural competence and regional awareness of Costa Rica. The GPA provides scaffolding to apply the experiences, advance language study, and materials that resonate with the needs of US students for contemporary world language education. Participants will design classroom materials in the form of Spanish content units for use in K-12 US classrooms. This will enable classroom teachers, volunteers, and paraprofessionals to deliver high quality, standards-based instruction, inclusive of intensive Spanish language training, as a component that is urgently needed in response to mandated foreign language K-12 standards across the US. Program features include: 

· Intensive language classes conducted by credentialed Costa Rican faculty in Costa Rica, designed to strengthen reading, writing, listening comprehension, and essential speaking skills. 

· Content-focused seminars exploring Costa Rica and the Central American region. 

· Weekly cultural excursions and extended travel to maximize exposure to all dimensions of Costa Rica and provide additional opportunities to interact with peers and host-country nationals beyond the GPA experience. 

· Housing with Costa Rican Spanish only host families and weekly engagement in local service projects. 

· Ongoing logistical support, guidance, and assistance from 2 full-time US Project Directors with expert knowledge of the host-country language and culture. 

· Pre-and post-program reading, listening, and speaking tests to measure linguistic gains. 

· Active alumni networks to support program graduates in professional networking and engage them in outreach to potential future program participants and to develop awareness for world languages in US K-18 education. 

The UW will conduct a national outreach campaign to encourage advanced students of Spanish in Wyoming and across the US to apply. A selection committee comprised of at two experts in the Spanish language will review all applications. Participants will join a 40 hour virtual pre-departure seminar and complete pre-and post-program surveys to measure gains in the Spanish language and intercultural competence. Recognizing that COVID-19 and world events require maxim flexibility in planning and logistical support overseas, the UW will include 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.

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