To strengthen student competence in an increasingly globalized world, Virginia Tech's Global Education Office is offering grants to faculty members to development an international component to their courses. To date, 19 faculty have been awarded grants.

 Several winning proposals will be incorporated into courses starting in the fall semester. The courses come from fields as diverse as engineering education, performing arts, finance, and geography. A full list of recipients can be found here.

"While study abroad and other international opportunities should be accessible to all Virginia Tech students, we recognize that it's not always a viable option," said Karl Markgraf, associate vice president for international affairs in Outreach and International Affairs. "For this reason, we encourage teaching faculty to consider applying for a curriculum globalization grant to propose fresh ideas on internationalizing their courses on the Blacksburg campus."

The program calls on faculty to develop teaching approaches that create student contact with issues, perspectives, or cultural phenomena from around the world. Faculty receive $3,500 for the modification of an existing course or $5,000 for the creation of a new course. A new call for proposals is expected in the fall.

"Since the program's launch last year, we've received strong interest and a competitive pool of applications. The proposals represent a diverse grouping of disciplines," said Theresa Johansson, director of Global Education.

The Global Education Office serves an average of 2,500 students annually, including exchange students from partner institutions around the world, and helps send roughly 1,200 Virginia Tech students abroad each year. In addition to the Curriculum Globalization Grants, the office offers grants for the development of study abroad programs. For more information, please visit the Global Education Office website.

Written by Rommelyn Conde Coffren

Share this story