# U.S. Department of Education

# Office of Postsecondary Education

# International and Foreign Language Education (IFLE) Office

# Title VI Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language (UISFL) Program

# Assistance Listing Number 84.016A

# Grantee List and Project Abstracts

# Fiscal Year 2022

# List of FY 2022 UISFL Grantee Institutions and Award Amounts

# California Lutheran University

## Embracing Spanish for the Professions at Home and Abroad

### Project Director: Rafaela Fiore Urizar, rfioreur@callutheran.edu, 805-493-3476 Co-Director: Ryan Medders, rmedders@callutheran.edu, 805-493-3681

California Lutheran University (Cal Lutheran) is situated in Ventura County, California, between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. The University’s undergraduate student population comes from across the U.S. and 59 countries, and represents a diversity of faiths and cultures. The proposed Embracing Spanish for the Professions at Home and Abroad (ESPHA) program comes out of recent strategic planning efforts that reveal a need for the University’s academic program to be more closely linked to vocational discernment and career preparation. Given that the first part of Cal Lutheran’s mission is to “educate leaders for a global society ...,” campus-wide leadership intends to more strategically infuse international studies and foreign languages into curricular and co-curricular activities to prepare our students for an increasingly diverse workplace and civic life. The University’s undergraduate population is 39% Hispanic and Ventura County is 43.2%, resulting in many of Cal Lutheran’s graduates entering a workforce that requires Spanish- language skills and a deep understanding of Latin American culture and history.

The ESPHA program is a collaborative effort between the Languages and Cultures department and the Communication department to pursue three goals: 1) improve instruction in interdisciplinary courses in global studies and languages by embedding travel components into an existing course, Race and Ethnicity in Latin America, and a planned course, Spanish-language Media; 2) provide culturally inclusive, affordable language instructions materials for five Spanish for the Professions courses through an open-access archive, as well as free language proficiency testing; and 3) offer field trips and educational workshops that will further prepare students for diversity in their future workplaces and civic life.

As a Hispanic Serving Institution, 60% of Cal Lutheran’s undergraduate student population is non-white, 38% are eligible for Pell grants, and 34% are first-generation college students. All Cal Lutheran undergraduate students need to fulfill a foreign language proficiency as part of the general education requirement, yet only 4% of our students study abroad. Given the proven benefits of study abroad programs, the ESPHA program is embedding travel components into two courses and providing stipends to assist with affordability. We intend to serve 20 students each year through these courses. The ESPHA program will also work with faculty to prepare open-access instructional materials for five courses that will collectively serve approximately 80 students a year: Spanish for Business, Spanish for the Health Professions, Introduction to Translation, Bilingual Teaching, and Spanish Language Media. Open-access materials will also be developed for a professional development course offered to staff and faculty (typically 15 per year) titled Spanish for University Professionals, and free language proficiency testing will be offered to Spanish majors and minors, and students in the Bilingual Authorization program, serving approximately 30 students a year. Lastly, the ESPHA program will offer field trips to sites such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Modern Art, Olvera Street, Univision, and a local nonprofit that serves farmworkers, as well as workshops on teaching foreign languages for aspiring teachers and Spanish language media. These events will engage approximately 100 students each year.

The ESPHA program addresses both competitive preference priorities as Cal Lutheran is a Hispanic Serving Institution that requires entering students to complete two years of high school course work in the same foreign language.

# Cornell University & Tompkins Cortland Community College

## Renewing, Re-branding, Re-engaging: Strengthening Undergraduate Latin American and Caribbean Studies

### Ernesto E. Bassi, Project Director 190 Uris Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853; eb@cornell.edu; tel. 607-255-1468

Turning Cornell’s recently renamed Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program (LACS) into an attractive space for undergraduate students is one of the key priorities of the program’s new leadership. We see UISFL as our most important external partner in this endeavor. The seed money we received from UISFL in the previous application cycle helped us position LACS as one of Cornell’s international programs with more visible presence on campus. Our close work with undergraduate student organizations, particularly Contigo Peru and the Caribbean Students Association (CSA), has been critical in shaping our priorities and initiatives and in helping our undergraduate students embrace the idea that they not only count with LACS as an important ally but also that they are critical stake holders that can actively shape the present and future of the program. As we prepare for this new application cycle, we envision a renewed partnership with UISFL that would allow us to revitalize Cornell’s historical connection with the Andean region, launch a variety of initiatives to turn Cornell into a key site for Caribbean studies, and continue offering opportunities for our students to learn about Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Colombia, and the whole region. In pursuit of this vision, we plan to enhance our Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) curriculum, expand undergraduate students’ professionalization opportunities, and turn Cornell into a dynamic hub for discussion of Latin American politics, economics, environmental issues, public policy, and culture. To achieve this goal we seek to:

Develop more courses, increase the number of students enrolled in our Latin American Studies minor, and create a Caribbean Studies minor

· Expand the number of internships, research grants, and courses with field components to enable students to gain direct experience in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)

· Promote discussion of the region’s current affairs among members of the Cornell community, as well as partners from the surrounding area’s community colleges and the general population interested in learning more about LAC

· Respond to Competitive Preference Priority 1 as a consortial application between Cornell University and Tompkins-Cortland Community College (TC3).

· Respond to Competitive Preference Priority 2 as the community college in our consortium, TC3, offer two years of postsecondary credit in a foreign language.

· Respond to Invitational Priority by proposing programs or activities focused on language training and the development of area or international studies programs focused on contemporary topics or themes in conjunction with training in any modern foreign languages of Quechua and Portuguese.

# Delaware State University

## Certificates in Multiliteracy: Growth and Competencies for International Studies, Language Content for Professional Purposes and Less Commonly Taught Languages

### Co-Project Director: Brody Bluemel, PhD (bbluemel@desu.edu / (302) 857-6560 Co-Project Director: Joseph Fees, PhD, (jfees@desu.edu / (302) 857-7594

The Department of Languages and Literatures at Delaware State University (DSU) is applying for $198,914 over two years through the UISFL grant to expand language competencies among its diverse student populations by developing components for a Certificate in Multiliteracy with proficiency badges. Additionally, this funding will add new language courses including advanced classes for Chinese, provide additional teacher training, and develop course offerings of less commonly taught languages. DSU is an HBCU and a minority-serving institution. This proposal is being submitted under Competitive Preferences #1 and #2 and addresses the FY 2022 Invitational Priority.

Delaware State University’s renewed focus on globalization emphasizes an education that empowers students to compete in an increasingly globalized marketplace. In the past two years, the Department of Languages and Literatures has grown its programs and language offerings. It implemented an International Studies minor and major, offered a new Intercultural Communication course, and Medical Spanish. The department is poised for substantial development and growth in the next several years, particularly as it seeks to provide opportunities for additional segments of the student and university community. Building on these recent department enhancements, the department will develop a holistic Certificate in Multiliteracy program and focus on three aspects of program development for this grant project:

1. Innovative Content-Based Language Curriculum for Chinese and Spanish: This project will develop advanced courses for Chinese and create a new minor in Chinese. It will also develop additional Chinese and Spanish courses for professional purposes.

2. Training for Less Commonly Taught Languages: This project will expand faculty training for course development with the ACTFL OPI and proficiency standards through OPI workshops, content workshops and course material review. Newly revised language courses for Arabic, Portuguese, Chinese, Bambara and Haitian Creole will also be developed and offered.

3. Extracurricular Learning and Study Abroad Programs: This project will fund an International Studies Culture and Language speaker series as well as the research, development, and implementation of two short-term study abroad programs for service learning, professional purposes, and experiential learning.

External evaluators will review the progress of the program, course materials, and assessment data each semester in four activity domains: command of genres and genre moves, depth of content information, quality of language use at the discourse, sentence and lexico-grammatical levels, mastery of content skills and strategies, and student reflection on learning. The implementation of this project will lay the groundwork for further development and permanent program implementation, beyond the years of grant funding, as the Department of Languages and Literatures expands its footprint and promotes equal access to international study and language use throughout the university.

# Goshen College

## Equipping Scholars for Globally Engaged Learning

### Project Director: Jan Bender Shetler; jans@goshen.edu; (574) 535-7108

Goshen College is experiencing a critical need to revise its long-standing global studies curriculum to meet the needs of the current student body. In Fall 2021, a Global Education curriculum change proposal was approved by faculty and administration. The revised curriculum, which will be implemented for new students entering in 2022-2023, will continue to require the equivalent of a semester of global education. With the curricular redesign, there are now two alternatives for fulfilling the global education requirement: 1) a traditional immersive Semester Study/Service Term (Semester SST) in one of five locations in the developing world (Ecuador, Tanzania, Senegal, Indonesia, and China); or 2) a Sequential Study/Service Term (Sequential SST) that requires completion of four globally themed courses where the first and the last are on campus, and the middle two take place off-campus, either abroad or in the US, for immersive experiential learning. To ensure that each student participates in a high-quality transformational global experience, Goshen must engage in a comprehensive faculty development program. The Equipping Scholars for Globally Engaged Learning (ESGEL) project will develop a global engagement ethos among faculty who will build language skills, specifically in the critical languages (as defined by the Department of Education) of Indonesian, Swahili, and Mandarin, and cultural knowledge in these countries (Indonesia, Tanzania, and China, respectively). ESGEL will also train faculty members in globally engaged pedagogy. The goals of the ESGEL project are to 1) prepare faculty to lead travel programs with the language and cultural pedagogy skills that they need; 2) infuse global engagement learning throughout the campus and share that knowledge with the larger academic community; and 3) develop language skills among students and faculty. At the end of the program, students will demonstrate improved language competence; improved cultural knowledge before departing for study away programs; increased confidence in their preparation for a new experience; and awareness of the importance of critical reflection and other culturally relevant learning activities to be used in the global education pedagogy. Goshen is a Hispanic Serving Institution, with 28% of the undergraduate student body identifying as Latinx. Goshen’s admission requirements recommend two-four years of college preparatory language instruction.

To achieve ESGEL objectives, the project team will complete five program activities: 1) develop an immersive in-country program to develop language skills in faculty who will lead SST programs; 2) improve instruction in critical less taught languages and cultural differences through a visiting global scholars program; 3) design and implement a summer SST Course Development Institute to directly train faculty in best practices for global engagement pedagogy; 4) create a digital library for ease of access for faculty considering ways to incorporate global learning into their courses or scholarly activity; and 5) update the existing faculty and student orientation programs and provide dedicated time for new SST leaders to develop their courses.

This UISFL proposal meets the requirements for both competitive preference priorities. The project’s focus on the critical, less taught languages of Indonesian, Mandarin, and Swahili meets the requirements for the invitational priority.

# Green River College

## Preparing Students to Succeed in Internationally Related Careers

Green River College submits this proposal to receive a single-institution award from the UISFL Program. Green River is a Washington State public community college and Minority- Serving Institution that grants credentials up to the baccalaureate level. The proposed project will address critical gaps in Green River and other regional colleges and universities’ ability to collectively prepare their students to succeed in internationally related careers. The project meets the UISFL Program’s two Competitive Preference Priorities and its Invitational Priority.

Participating colleges and universities are located throughout Oregon and Washington. No grant funds are budgeted for subrecipients in this proposal.

At least 40% of the jobs in Green River’s service area are tied to international trade. Residents of Green River’s service area are an overlooked labor pool for globally oriented businesses. Thirty-nine percent are multilingual. Over 100 languages are spoken in local homes, but only 28% of youth earn college degrees by their mid-twenties. The proposed project will enable Green River College and other participating colleges and universities to add an international studies and foreign language dimension to multiple courses. These courses will be jointly designed and taught in tandem with universities abroad, a process termed “virtual exchange.”

The proposed UISFL project has three goals. Goal #1 is to perform a comprehensive regional assessment of colleges and universities’ use of the Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) model of virtual exchange. Goal #2 is to supply professional development to faculty and staff throughout the region to expand their use of COIL within international studies and foreign language courses. Goal #3 is to monitor and evaluate participating institutions’ use of COIL. Each institution will implement a “COIL development plan” using the Stevens Initiative’s Connected Classrooms Growth Framework. UISFL GPRA Measures will be performance indicators in every plan. As part of Green River’s plan, 10 international studies and foreign language courses will be matched with international partners via COIL.

While Green River is eligible for a full waiver of the UISFL Program’s matching requirement, it has secured institutional partners to limit Federal funds to essential expenses. These include the Stevens Initiative at the Aspen Institute, Title VI National Resource Centers at the University of Washington’s Jackson School of International Studies, and the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges’ Educational Technology and Open Education office.

The UISFL project will guarantee equal access and benefits for students of all abilities. Its key activities will be sustained after the grant. Its data and deliverables will be disseminated nationwide to enable the replication of successful activities by other institutions. This is imperative in a time when the pedagogical resources to be developed by the project will render students able to receive a global education, regardless of their financial means, and without the complications of traveling abroad in a time of worldwide instability.

# Jamestown Community College 

## Comprehensive Globalization Initiative: Regaining and Sustaining Our Momentum

### Project Director: Theresa Baginski theresabaginski@mail.sunyjcc.edu 716.338.1159

JCC, a rural community college in southwestern New York recognized for quality academic offerings, seeks funds to further its commitment to comprehensive globalization of the JCC experience, assuring that every graduate is equipped to understand and function with a global context. The proposed project will encompass four sub-goals 1) Student-Focused: Expand undergraduate experiences and opportunities to engage in global learning and world languages. 2) Faculty-Focused: Provide JCC faculty with opportunities for teaching, research, curriculum development, professional development, and faculty training in the U.S. or abroad. 3) Curriculum- Focused: Globalize the curricula with new and revised courses in international studies, area studies, global languages, and global sustainable development goals. 4) Community-Focused: Establish and/or strengthen local and regional partnerships to enhance global knowledge and skills.

Key factors underscoring the critical need for this project at this time are 1) the absence of study abroad opportunities during the COVID-19 pandemic, 2) recent and pending retirements of key personnel responsible for leading the college’s study abroad initiatives, 3) growth within the college’s concurrent enrollment program (College Connections) to the point where concurrent enrollment students account for a full 48% of the JCC’s full-time equivalent enrollments, 4) a heightened emphasis on applied learning experiences across the curriculum, and 5) an increasingly diverse population within the college’s service area and regional workforce.

The project is both efficient and sustainable as activities will affect all future students within JCC’s global studies program as well as potentially thousands of students enrolled in other programs who will benefit from the infusion of global concepts and competencies across the curriculum.

A seasoned team of faculty and staff will implement project activities with a seasoned foreign language and study abroad expert engaged as an external project evaluator. In addition to partner concurrent enrollment high schools, regional and national entities including the Universal Human Rights Initiative (UHRI), International Institute of Buffalo, YWCA of Jamestown, Jamestown Islamic Society, Journey's End Refugee Services, and the internationally-acclaimed Chautauqua Institution have engaged as partners.

To ensure the project’s success, JCC is fully committed to using its own resources, including faculty, staff, administrative time, and designated scholarship funds, to augment and complement those provided by the U.S. Department of Education.

# Le Moyne College

## Developing Learning Pathways around the Middle East and Islamic Studies

### Dr. Douja Mamelouk, Associate Professor of Arabic and French, mamelodm@lemoyne.edu, (315) 445-4541.

Le Moyne College (Le Moyne), located in Syracuse, New York, respectfully requests a single institutional award from the Department of Education to establish the “Developing Learning Pathways around the Middle East and Islamic Studies” project under the Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Languages program. Founded in 1946, Le Moyne offers nearly 40 programs to 2,713 undergraduate students, as of the 2021-2022 academic year, and 588 graduate students.

The project objectives are to (1) develop and offer new curricular opportunities to engage with Middle East and Islamic Studies (MEIS); (2) increase students’ competency and proficiency in Arabic language and Arab culture; and (3) strengthen institutional support, recognition, and interest in MEIS and attract more students to the study of the Middle East and North Africa and the Arabic language.

To meet these objectives, Le Moyne will (1) create a new degree track, “Middle East and Islamic Studies”, to be included as part of the existing peace and global studies major; (2) develop five new courses and revise two existing courses to be offered with this track, as well as two new first-year seminar courses focused on the Middle East and North Africa; (3) provide professional development opportunities for faculty from diverse departments to create or revise courses for this new track; (4) develop a new study abroad program with the Institut Bourguiba des Languges Vivantes (IBLV) in the Republic of Tunisia, enabling students to study Arabic through an intense, world-renowned, summer immersion program, as well as an orientation course to help prepare students who enroll in this program; (5) recruit students into the new track and Arabic language courses through the launch of a language-learning community (LLC) and accompanying living-learning community that will allow residential students and commuter students to come together for common educational and social experiences built around Middle East and Islamic studies; (6) plan a series of cultural and educational activities in conjunction with the new LLC that feature local immigrant and refugee communities; and (7) improve the rigor and quality of Arabic instruction through offering Arabic proficiency tests on campus by training the project director to serve as an ACTFL Certified Tester for Arabic.

This project meets the growing national need for experts in the Middle East and North Africa and for qualified Arabic linguists, as well as the growing demand for more courses on this region and culture on the Le Moyne campus. In particular, the partnership with IBLV will enable students to study Arabic in an immersive setting at one of the leading institutions in the world. It will also result in the ability to receive ACTFL OPI certification in Arabic on campus and will serve more students with varying proficiency levels in Arabic. Students who successfully complete the study abroad program and achieve proficiency in Arabic can expect to be well- prepared for numerous career opportunities such as intelligence officers, foreign service officers, translators and interpreters, and development program officers, as well as other positions in international business and finance, education, law, international health, the United Nations, and the non-governmental organization sector.

The project fulfills this year’s Invitational Priority, “training in less commonly taught languages or a thematic focus on area studies or international studies programs.” Arabic and the study of the Middle East and North African have been identified by the federal government as having critical strategic importance. 

# Maryville College

##  Global+ Engage!

### Project Director: Dr. Lori Schmied, Professor of Psychology and Chair of the International Programming Committee, lori.schmied@maryvillecollege.edu.

Maryville College, a private, liberal arts college located in Maryville, Tennessee, respectfully requests $200,000 through the Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Program for a proposed project entitled Global+ Engage! This proposal seeks to plan, develop, and implement new programs to enhance Maryville’s international academic disciplines, with the aim of increasing and broadening participation in international studies and foreign languages.

Global+ Engage! responds to several identified needs. Only 5.6% of all Maryville students are pursuing a major or minor in international studies or foreign languages. This is largely attributed to faculty’s insufficient training and preparation to advise students, especially first- year students, about the value of international studies, foreign languages, and study abroad programs. Only 48% of all 75 faculty members have reported a significant international experience with students, resulting in several academic programs at Maryville that do not have faculty developing study abroad programs. Finally, an analysis of Maryville’s language lab grades showed a stark need to revamp the way these labs are taught; 30% of students received a “C” or below. Through Global+ Engage!, Maryville College will strengthen its international studies programs, increase the number of undergraduates pursuing international studies and foreign languages, enhance faculty advising concerning global competencies integrated with their major course of study, and build faculty capacity to develop and launch new study abroad programs. The proposed project encompasses three objectives: (1) Strengthen and expand international studies and foreign languages by engaging students in first-year programming through the new Global Scholars Program; (2) Improve instruction in foreign languages through applied learning experiences; and (3) Engage faculty in international studies and experiences through the new Faculty Global Fellows Program.

The proposed Global Scholars Program for first-year students will develop and implement an extended orientation prior to the beginning of the fall semester; an internationally oriented, theme-based housing community; an interdisciplinary, first-year course that nurtures global competencies, prepares students for travel abroad, and builds community among the cohort; co- curricular programs; and, to complete the freshman year, a first-year study abroad experience.

Global Scholars will also benefit from a curriculum redesign for foreign language learning. This redesign, an applied and immersive approach, emphasizes ‘real world’ experiences, peer-to-peer learning, and promotes intercultural understanding. Finally, Global Faculty Fellows will gain training in integrated advising and global competencies, including best practices in leading study abroad programs.

A single institutional request, the proposed project builds on the 2020 UISFL-funded project, Global+: Global Competencies Across the Curriculum, aimed to address weaknesses related to the College’s international education identified in a 2018 comprehensive review by the College’s International Programming Committee. Based on the successes and findings of Global+, Maryville College seeks to build additional capacity, improve and enhance College-wide coordination, develop new pedagogies and modalities for learning languages, and enhance the consistency of its program offerings. The proposed project is responsive to Competitive Priority 2: Foreign Language Requirements for Entering Students. Dr. Lori Schmied will be the Global+ Engage! Project Director. She will be responsible for grant administration, overseeing project activities, and ensuring progress against objectives, and will be the primary contact and liaison with UISFL. Dr. Schmied is a Professor of Psychology and serves as Chair of the International Programming Committee at Maryville College. She has 35+ years in international educational program expertise. Her contact information is lori.schmied@maryvillecollege.edu.

# Pennsylvania State University

## Immersive Korean: Language and culture spanning generations and lifestyles 

### Jayoung Song, jayoung.song@psu.edu

The project intends to address Competitive Preference #2 and the invitational priority. Penn State University requires entering students to have successfully completed at least two years of secondary school foreign language instruction or requires each graduating student to earn two years of postsecondary credit in a foreign language (or have demonstrated equivalent proficiency in the foreign language). It also meets invitational priority by offering a language and culture training program in less commonly taught languages.

The program is a two-year project centering on an innovative and immersive curriculum, designed to support the development of foreign language education at the 3rd semester of Korean language study at Penn State. The program is a hybrid onsite 15-week Korean language course (3 credits) coupled with a short-term study abroad experience in Seoul (.5 credit) during spring break. The project objectives are threefold:

· Design and create a curriculum for the teaching of language that is necessarily intertwined with 1) authentic discourse samples in Korean (adapted where necessary) culled from a variety of genres and communicative environments to be used as pedagogical materials, immersing students in Korean language, discourse, and virtual reality experiences as they gain language proficiency, 2) a short-term immersive study abroad course, where students meet and interact with Korean citizens spanning lifestyles and generations, 3) National Standards-based objectives for materials design and proficiency assessment.

· Conduct evidence-based research on the effectiveness of these curricular initiatives targeting the development of students’ linguistic and cultural proficiency in Korean.

· Widely disseminate instructional materials (syllabi, lesson plans, activities) from onsite and embedded courses as open resources and share qualitative and quantitative results from the research. The PIs will facilitate dialogue between research and pedagogy on innovative approaches to language teaching as it relates to Korean as well as other less commonly taught languages, which lack innovative teaching resources and approaches.

This project will make practical and theoretical contributions in four distinct ways. Firstly, it will establish best practices for and application of less traditional approaches to a less commonly taught language. The proposed curriculum incorporates authentic conversation data to engage students with the critical analysis of language as well as innovative technologies such as virtual reality and augmented reality to immerse students in their learning experiences. Secondly, the study abroad component of the course will provide students with a unique opportunity to learn and develop their ability to work with people different from them and learn about the fluidity of linguacultural norms. Thirdly, the program will benefit a significant number of Korean major/minor students who otherwise would not be able to have a semester-long study-abroad experience due to financial constraints or schedule conflicts. Lastly, the research on the effectiveness of innovative curricula on students’ learning gains will fill gaps in the literature, especially in relation to short-term study abroad experiences and non-textbook-heavy teaching approaches.

# Rochester Institute of Technology

## Interdisciplinary Entrepreneurship Curriculum for Applied Modern Language and Culture Rochester Institute of Technology

### Project Director: Sara Armengot, Associate Professor and Chair Department of Modern Languages and Cultures, 92 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623, phone: (585) 475-4343, email: seagsl@rit.edu

The number of U.S. institutions offering bachelor degrees in foreign languages has decreased in the past 5 years. However, the need for a highly educated, multilingual citizenry and workforce continues to grow. Students at career-oriented universities today including Rochester Institute of Technology anticipate learning from and working with people from around the world, even though an estimated 75% of the world does not know English.

At Rochester Institute of Technology, students can integrate their study of STEAM or business with the study of foreign language and culture through the B.S. degree in Applied Modern Language and Culture, beginning in 2018. However, despite growing capacity and student interest in foreign language study at RIT, student demand for interdisciplinary language and culture curriculum has not been met.

Therefore, this project takes a deliberate and transformational approach to making high- quality interdisciplinary language and culture education accessible across five languages in the undergraduate curriculum by integrating language and culture with business. The hands-on, team-based approach to integrating language and culture education with entrepreneurial creativity and innovation in the settings of specific linguistic communities will inspire students to participate directly in the collaborative, solutions-focused, “maker” culture of international entrepreneurial leadership.

The project will directly support curriculum in the following languages: Chinese, French, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish. There are three goals: (1 ) Develop an interdisciplinary general education course that integrates language and culture with entrepreneurship; (2 ) Create entrepreneurship site visits in three world regions: Asia, Europe, and Latin America by working with partner institutions, incubators, and alumni and (3) Strengthen and expand student learning and professional potential in languages and business. The project is a collaborative effort of the faculty of Modern Languages and Cultures and Business, Offices of RIT International and Global Education, and Cooperative Education and Career Services. For these activities, we request summer stipend for course development, travel stipend to develop site visits, and support to pilot the study abroad component.

This project will build capacity for language and culture education at RIT and become a signature experiential learning pathway available annually for students of these five languages. Our goal is to educate students, including heritage learners, BIPOC, women, first generation, students with disabilities, LGBTQIA, and low-income students, to engage effectively with speakers of languages other than English and actively apply their knowledge of language, culture, and entrepreneurship as leaders and innovators in their careers.

# Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

## Strengthening Middle East Studies - Arabic Language Initiative at Rutgers University -- Newark

### Project Director: Dr. Amir Moosavi; email: amir.moosavi@rutgers.edu; Phone: 718-207-0813 360 MLK Jr. Blvd, Newark, New Jersey 07102

The goal of this project is to expand the offering of Arabic language instruction at Rutgers University-Newark (RU-N), grow related opportunities for student language proficiency, cultural competency, and professionalization through study abroad and internship programs, and develop more courses and create more on-campus programming for students in the Middle East Studies Minor (MEIS) at RU-N.

With UISFL funding we will establish a scaffolded curriculum in Arabic language by creating courses in intermediate and advanced Arabic to complement the existing course in elementary Arabic. We will also create an Arabic language course for Heritage Speakers, as well as a course on Arabic Translation and Interpretation. The Arabic Language Initiative (ALI) at RU-N will also offer opportunities for language immersion though the creation of new short-term (summer) study abroad programs in Arabic language, as well as opportunities for student internships in translation and interpretation through a collaboration with Lives in Translation Program at RU-N.

Leveraging our diverse pool of students interested in Arabic language and the history, politics, cultures of the Middle East, the aims this program are three-fold: 1) to increase the number of students enrolled in Arabic language courses by providing more offerings both at RUN and internationally; 2) to increase the number of students enrolled in the Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies minor; 3) to create a new track in Arabic language and culture specialization within the MEIS Minor.

The outcome of this course of study, on the one hand, will be a coherent, multi-level program in Arabic that allows students to develop language skills that will prepare them for professions that include translation and interpretation in the fields of legal, business, and health professions, employment in the government and private sectors, as well as graduate programs in the humanities and social sciences. On the other, it will encourage students to gain valuable cultural competency through immersion in study abroad programs and local internships that will offer opportunities to engage with people of this region, while also providing more opportunities to hear from scholarly and professional guest speakers addressing contemporary aspects of the Middle East on-campus.

The population served by this grant are the approximately 9,300 undergraduate students of RU-N, which is consistently rated one of the most diverse universities in the U.S. RU-N students are an overwhelmingly first-generation and come from low-income backgrounds: 57.8% of our undergraduates are Pell-eligible; 34.5% are first-generation college students; 40.9% of RU-N students join the university having transferred from a New Jersey community college. As a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI), Rutgers University-Newark is a Minority Serving Institution and meets the UISFL Competitive Preference Priority 1.

# Salem State University

## Creating Equitable Pathways for Global Engagement

### Project Director: Dr. Julie Whitlow, Vice Provost for Faculty and Global Engagement, cwhitlow@salemstate.edu, 978-542-7107

Salem State University (SSU) was founded in 1854 as Salem Normal School and has evolved into a comprehensive regional public university that has four academic colleges or schools and a school of graduate studies. SSU is applying for a single institution UISFL award to develop and strengthen equitable pathways for global engagement for all students through interdisciplinary international curricular options through the creation of a Global Engagement Seal, Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL), travel opportunities across all schools and colleges, and expanded curricular and co-curricular language options. Funding will allow us to develop capacity through four interrelated objectives that support UISFL GPRA targets 1 and 2 and which help allow for meaningful international experiences for all students across disciplines. Our project has a unifying theme of equity and opportunity, and we build on prior work to expand opportunity in COIL, study-travel, and language exposure for our students. As an emerging HSI with close to 40% of our students from underrepresented groups, we take our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion seriously.

Our four project objectives are:

1. Expansion of Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL): This project would allow us to expand fund faculty who are trained to develop a COIL component; an additional 14 COIL courses would build on existing COIL courses developed over the past two years. This would allow students in departments without COIL to have this valuable experience. This supports UISFL GPRA target 1 with the enhancement of 14 courses with international content.

2. Develop and promote a Global Engagement Seal (GES)which would be available to students in any discipline who pursue this curricular credential by completing the requirements of the GES which include study of courses with global content, faculty-led study-travel or COIL, and language study. Akin to a certificate (see below), this supports UISFL GPRA Target 2.

3. Support the development of faculty-led study-travel courses that will enhance existing courses in the schools of Business, Health and Human Services (healthcare studies and social work), and Education. The expansion of this model will allow for equitable opportunity for international study-travel in courses across the curriculum. This supports UISFL GPRA target 1 with the enhancement of 5 courses with international content and a travel component.

4. Develop a Spanish for Educators course and short-term co-curricular immersion courses in Chinese, Korean, and Spanish for those preparing to participate in faculty-led study- travel courses to regions that speak these languages. We anticipate that the short-term immersion courses can also lead to greater participation in language courses and the future development of additional courses in Chinese or Korean for Business as part of our extended plan. These courses would build on our existing interdisciplinary course in Spanish for Healthcare Professionals. This supports UISFL GPRA target 1 with the creation of a course with international content.

The potential impact of expanding international curricular and co-curricular opportunities will be very impactful and will lead to greater opportunities to secure funding for these project objectives well beyond the scope of this funding.

# Seton Hill University

## Bridges to Understanding: African, Latin American, and Caribbean Languages and Cultures

### Project Director:	Debra Faszer-McMahon, Ph.D., 724-552-1735, mcmahon@setonhill.edu

Seton Hill University, a Catholic, liberal arts institution established by the Sisters of Charity, embraces all people in the pursuit of its mission to educate students to think and act critically, creatively, and ethically as productive members of society, committed to transforming the world. This proposed project aligns with this mission as well as the University’s strategic goals to broaden global perspectives and foster greater Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion across the curriculum. Funding will be used to:

1. Expand International & Global Studies, especially African and Latin American/Caribbean Studies, at Seton Hill University by developing an African Studies Certificate Program, developing a Latin American/Caribbean Studies Certificate Program, and supporting faculty development for creating new courses and substantially revising existing courses focused on regions outside of the United States and Western Europe, especially in Africa and Latin America/the Caribbean.

2. Expand foreign language curriculum at Seton Hill University, especially critical and less commonly taught languages by creating new courses in African languages (Swahili and/or Yoruba) and Latin American and Indigenous languages (Portuguese and Quechua and/or Nahuatl).

3. Expand opportunities for study abroad, especially outside of Western Europe, via support for faculty-led travel to Africa and Latin America/the Caribbean as well as by providing staffing needs for study abroad programs and developing a manual of guidelines for best practices for development of faculty-led study abroad.

The project has support across campus from administrators to faculty from the Schools of Natural & Health Sciences, Business, Visual & Performing Arts, Education & Applied Social Sciences, and Humanities and is designed to build on the University’s existing programs, including the recently initiated major in Global Studies, and strong Foreign Language offerings (particularly in Critical and Less Commonly Taught Languages), as well as the Global Perspectives Curriculum, which is part of the liberal arts core.

The project title, Bridges to Understanding: African, Latin American, and Caribbean Languages and Cultures, pays tribute to the history of Pittsburgh, known as the City of Bridges. The Southwestern Pennsylvania region, where Seton Hill is located, also was an area where many immigrants from Western Europe settled in the late 1800s and early 1900s. We now look to bridge understanding for our region to new areas with a focus on Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

# University of Colorado at Boulder 

## Strengthening the Latin American Indigenous Languages and Cultures Program at the University of Colorado

The Latin American and Latinx Studies Center at CU Boulder is seeking UISFL funding for the purpose of strengthening its Programs in Latin American Indigenous Languages and Cultures through the attainment of three specific, vital objectives: 1) hiring a full-time Instructor to teach Quechua and new cultural content courses; 2) developing specialized materials for Quechua instruction, including the creation of a textbook; and 3) enhancing its curriculum with expanded course offerings, study abroad opportunities, and event planning to better support Colorado's growing Latinx population. A full-time Instructor in Indigenous languages and cultures whose job includes service is crucial for community building within these Programs as well as for outreach. Such an Instructor can also significantly strengthen the Quechua Language Program (now approved to satisfy CU Boulder’s foreign language requirement) and the Certificate Program in Latin American and Latinx Studies by complementing their Quechua teaching with cultural content courses focusing on areas where Quechua is spoken. The development, incorporation, and circulation of specialized materials for Quechua instruction is critical for effective, university-level foreign language teaching. With UISFL funding, we will create the first-ever textbook for Quechua instruction, making it more feasible for language learners and teachers in Colorado and across the US. Finally, an enhanced interdisciplinary and international curriculum is essential to better serve Colorado’s population (21.9% of whom identify as Latino/a/x) and better reflect the plurality of languages and cultures in Latin America that are ever important to the political, economic, and cultural practices of millions of Latin Americans.

# University of Texas at San Antonio

## Global Competency in Health Humanities: Internationalizing UTSAs Medical Humanities Program

### Project Directors: Dr. Glenn Martinez, glenn.martinez@utsa.edu Dr. Şerife Tekin, serife.tekin@utsa.edu

The proposed project aims to enhance the global competencies of the students enrolled in UTSA's Medical Humanities Program. One of the largest and most disciplinarily diverse undergraduate programs of its kind in the US, the Medical Humanities Program prepares students to pursue careers in healthcare professions at the postgraduate level. UTSA’s Medical Humanities Program is an interdisciplinary undergraduate degree drawing upon the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, and arts disciplines to prepare students for careers in medicine and health. Given its thoroughly interdisciplinary nature and its considerable reach among UTSAs undergraduate pre- health population, Medical Humanities Program is an ideal location to pursue undergraduate internationalization efforts at UTSA. Internationalizing this program will help build a diverse healthcare workforce committed to the values of transculturalism, translingualism, diversity, inclusion, and empathy in healthcare settings.

The proposal to internationalize UTSA’s Medical Humanities Program aims to (i) increase students’ global competency through knowledge and understanding of the diversity of Communities and Cultures; (ii) enhance students’ knowledge of facts and theories in their own academic discipline and enable them apply this knowledge to civic engagement and participation globally; (iii) strengthen students’ civic identity by exposing them to a variety of health situations in different parts of the world to help them develop empathy, tolerance, and commitment to public action beyond geographical, political, social and linguistic barriers; (iv) improve students’ language competency to enable them to develop effective communication strategies; (v) improve students’ capacity to develop reflective insights about the aims and accomplishments of their actions; and (vi) enhance students’ ability to collaboratively work across and within diverse communities and international settings.

Our project seeks to achieve these goals by rejuvenating the Medical Humanities curriculum, developing a variety of high impact practices in the program including undergraduate research international field schools and study abroad, and supporting the development of extracurricular service opportunities. The elements of the proposed internationalization effort include, (i) renaming the Medical Humanities program Health Humanities program to highlight the value of understanding health and illness in its transnational and cross-cultural diversity; (ii) innovating the existing curriculum by revising the existing courses, i.e., SPN 3053 Spanish for Healthcare Professionals and COM 3493 Global Health Communication and creating new courses, i.e., Epidemics in History: Black Death to COVID-19; Mental Health Ethics on the Borders Language; Latin American Philosophy; Culture and Identity. (iii) creating high impact practices such as Mexico Field School, Study Abroad Programs, and Vocalize San Antonio initiatives that will give students exposition to and appreciation of international contexts of health, community, healing, and flourishing (iv) organizing a Global Health Symposium to provide knowledge access and facilitate exchange among scholars and stakeholders in healthcare; (v) collaborating with other departments to start joint minors such as Global Health or Health without Borders.

# West Virginia State University

## Strengthening International Studies and Foreign Languages at West Virginia HBCUs: A New Consortium Model

### Project Director: James J. Natsis natsisja@wvstateu.edu

West Virginia is ranked 50th in population speaking a language other than English, 50th in foreign-born residents, 46th in per capita Hispanic population, and only 3% of its total population is African American. Given this context, two HBCUs in West Virginia offer undergraduate degrees in International Studies, but struggle to provide their majors with opportunities to develop foreign language proficiency at an advanced level, and engage in international internships, co-curricular activities, and study abroad opportunities.

Competitive Preference Priority I: The Consortium of West Virginia State University (WVSU), the lead applicant, and Bluefield State University (BSU), will partner with West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission (HEPC) to achieve the following goals:

· Increase student and faculty participation in international studies and foreign language courses and programs;

· Develop “introductory international experience” study away opportunities with partners in North America;

· Develop study abroad opportunities with partners in North and Central America for the purpose of increasing proficiency in Spanish or French languages;

· Develop internship resources and opportunities for IS majors in domestic, overseas, and virtual settings

· Expand the consortium model to include other institutions, disciplines, and internationalization activities to ensure program is sustainable and impactful

International experiential activities will be infused into the existing undergraduate International Studies (IS) degree programs at WVSU and BSU and supported administratively with an innovative “Global West Virginia Mobile Study Abroad Office” that will supplement and strengthen the academic programs, provide opportunities for IS majors to attain advanced level proficiency in Spanish and French, and offer professional development opportunities for faculty. Grant-funded activities will specifically focus on the following:

· Develop a 3-credit hour course to introduce Freshmen to Spanish and French languages and cultures and the opportunities available to them to study abroad, major in International Studies, and acquire proficiency in a foreign language.

· Develop a cultural-linguistic module series "Dimanche Francophone" and "Domingo Latino" with existing North and Central American partners.

· Organize and implement a one-week international “study away” experience in Washington DC., and Ottawa and Quebec City, Canada.

· Establish agreements with partners in Quebec, Canada and Puebla, Mexico to provide 6-12 credits of intensive French and Spanish courses that will allow IS majors to have a minor in Spanish or French.

· Collaborate with Career Services Offices to identify international internship opportunities.

· Provide faculty professional development opportunities.

· Develop a statewide Global Competence Certificate.

# Western Illinois University

## WIU Global Citizens: Illinois International Scholars Initiative 

### Project Director: Hector Maymi-Sugrañes

Western Illinois University seeks to empower students to lead dynamic and diverse communities by providing them innovative teaching grounded in multidisciplinary, regional, and global perspectives (Strategic Plan 2022). To further strengthen this global perspective, this project proposes a partnership with an educational nonprofit (Competitive Preference Priority 1) with the goal of strengthening and improving undergraduate instruction in international studies and foreign languages featuring a theoretically sound, cross-regional international studies perspective that incorporates Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Europe. A more specific goal is planning for the establishment of an international studies learning community in cross-regional studies titled WIU Global Citizens: Illinois International Scholars Initiative (IISI). This project has the following objectives: Objective 1. Establish the foundation for the structure of the future IISI on international and cross-regional studies; Objective 2. Prepare scholars and librarians for the future IISI program by increasing their knowledge on the use of the new library collections related to area studies for teaching and research projects focused on cross-regional studies and for providing services to immigrant, refugee, and Limited English Proficiency (LEP) popula- tions; Objective 3: Develop the curriculum for the future IISI program by enhancing and increasing the cross-regional and global nature of the area studies curriculum and incorporating community services and civic engagement activities; Objective 4. Prepare the study abroad opportunities for the future IISI by expanding and enhancing study abroad opportunities in new destinations in four world regions that include a community service experience; Objective 5. Create language opportunities for the future IISI program by expanding and enhancing less commonly taught languages (LCTLs) Swahili and Chinese (Invitational Priority).

To establish this program, WIU will (1) Develop an Area Studies Research Center and Collections, and (2) Develop and plan the new Latin American and Cross-Regional Studies minor in which all the courses will be taught in Spanish both at WIU and in Argentina and Spain. This project will establish the foundation for this IISI program and will develop the following activities: (a) Learning communities: Study of model learning communities and preparation of community service and civic engagement activities. (Sec. 658.11.a); (b) Expansion of the use of library and teaching resources of area collections (Sec. 658.11.b.1); (c) Revision and develop- ment of curricular materials in the existing minor in international studies to cross-regional comparisons and community service components (Sec. 658.11.b.3; (d) Development of study abroad program in new locations in Argentina, Tanzania, China, and Spain (Sec.658.11.g.1) that integrate new regions and community service experiences (Sec.658.11.j); and (e) Development of courses of LCTLs Swahili and Mandarin Chinese (Sec. 658.11.c) (Invitational Priority).

# Worcester Polytechnic Institute

## Integrating Japan Area Studies into the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) STEM Curricula

### Jennifer deWinter, jdewinter@wpi.edu

The primary goal of this single institution UISFL proposal is to implement undergraduate instruction in the Japanese language, create a Japan studies curriculum to support existing project centers in Japan, and integrate Japanese cultural understanding into WPI’s engineering curriculum by creating multiple, reinforcing pathways of exploration that will globalize existing WPI STEM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math). WPI, one of the nation's oldest engineering and technology universities, has 18 academic departments with more than 50 undergraduate and graduate programs. WPI historically sends more STEM students abroad than any other engineering school, now supported by a universal Undergraduate global scholarship.

This proposal builds off WPI’s Global Perspectives Program and growing faculty interest in Asia. With this UISFL grant, we intend to expand and systematize our incorporation of Japan as a major area of strategic engagement by establishing an East Asia Hub toward the following:

Programmatic & Curricular Goals

· Curricular Development:

· Create and implement a 4-course Japanese language sequence;

· Create 4 Japan content courses: US-Japan-China Relations; Japanese Pop Culture; Contemporary Japanese Studies (HU3900); Fieldwork in Japanese Studies;

· Develop Japan related, discipline-specific modules for STEM courses. We will first target Mechanical Engineering, CS, and Environmental Studies. Faculty will be prepared to deliver content with a Japan component.

· Programmatic Development:

· Integrate Japanese cultural proficiency into WPI’s 4 projects: 1st-year Great Problem Seminar (GPS), 2nd-year Humanities & Arts Requirement, 3rd-year Interdisciplinary Qualifying Project (IQP), and 4th-year Major Qualifying Project (MQP).

· Integrate Japan and East Asia content into the existing International and Global Studies Program, allowing a major and minor concentration in Japanese Studies.

· Project Center Creation and Support:

· Establish as permanent a Humanities and Arts Project Center in Japan, through which students will study in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and Hiroshima;

· Develop online language and cultural content modules to prepare students going to Japan to work on a Junior-level IQP project in Kyoto and 2 Japan Modules to support senior year STEM-sponsored MQP projects done on site in Tokyo and Osaka: “PQP Cultural Training for Japan Project Work,” “Working in Japan’s scientific and engineering labs and NGOs”;

· Expand the senior MQP offerings to include Robotic and Environmental Engineering projects in Japan, joining majors in Computer Science, Media, and Materials Engineering.

· Faculty Development & Support

· Development: Host Japan-topic seminars and workshops to foster campus-wide knowledge and interest in Japan and encourage related teaching and research;

· Support: Provide travel grants for training and research to develop Japan modules/courses.

· Outreach and Cultural Development

· Expand WPI’s China Hub into an East Asia Hub to reflect the growing number of faculty with research and teaching interests in both Japan and China;

· Contribute to nascent Transregional Studies programs at WPI. Support Japan-related cultural events and lectures for the WPI and local communities.

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