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GRANTS RECEIVED With the assistance of two major grants from the U.S. Department of Education, the UI is expanding on- and off-campus learning opportunities for undergraduates in South Asian studies and creating on-campus and study abroad courses in East Africa. Paul Greenough, of the South Asian Studies Program in International Programs (IP) and the history department in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, with an additional appointment in the Department of Community and Behavioral Medicine in the College of Public Health, is directing the innovative expansion in South Asian curricular experiences called “The Second Curriculum Project.” The core activities of the project include the development of new interdisciplinary courses, a student internship program and faculty development opportunities. James Giblin, co-director of the African Studies Program in IP and a history professor in CLAS, is directing the second grant titled "Integrating Kiswahili Instruction, African Studies and Study Abroad at the University of Iowa." This project will deepen curricular offerings by developing advanced courses in Kiswahili, offering students a new study abroad option in Africa, and giving undergraduates an intensive experience in learning about language and culture in East Africa. With support from IP, Margaret Mills, professor of Russian language and linguistics in CLAS, and Dan Berkowitz, professor of journalism and mass communication in CLAS, also received sizable grants to support their research projects. Mills and her colleagues in the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies are conducting a series of intensive Russian language seminars in the U.S. and in Russia that will dramatically increase language proficiency for the participating students. Berkowitz is researching the relationship between vocational education training and digital creative industry practice in hopes of bridging the gap between industry need and education provision.
IP also received two important grants from the U.S. Department of State in 2010. The Office for Study Abroad was awarded a capacity-building grant of almost $250,000, supplemented by an additional $139,000 from the UI, to develop a new study abroad program in Tanzania, which is the first semester-long UI study abroad program in Eastern Africa and one of the first of its kind in the nation. IP’s Office of International Students and Scholars was awarded a grant to serve as one of only eight universities in the nation to host a five-day orientation for international Fulbright students to prepare them for life and study in the U.S. This was the UI’s second year as a host institution for the Fulbright Gateway Orientation.
A TRIBUTE TO REX HONEY International Programs is grateful for the wide-ranging and intense commitment of faculty member Rex Honey to the study of international issues and the pursuit of a more humane world. He, and the joy he brought to those who worked with him, will be missed.
SPOTLIGHT ON STUDENT
IP FACULTY PUBLICATIONS On Legislatures: The Puzzle of Representation by Gerhard Loewenberg A sampling of the numerous publications of IP faculty can be found here: international.uiowa.edu/about/annual-report
NAME: Renugan Raidoo MAJORS: chemistry and anthropology GRADUATION DATE: May 2011 HIS STORY: Renugan was recently named a
2011 Rhodes Scholar – one of only 32 awardees in the nation and the first Rhodes Scholar at the UI since 1993. He participated in the Research Internship in Science & Engineering program in Germany last summer, organized by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). With the scholarship, Renugan will study social anthropology at the University of Oxford in England.
RESEARCH AND CREATIVE WORK
INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS ANNUAL REPORT