The inaugural Global Experiential Learning and Teaching grants will allow faculty to design courses with a travel component and will provide travel support for a faculty member and 12 students.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — The Office of Global Engagement at Brown, in partnership with the offices of Academic Development and Diversity, the Dean of the College, Dean of the Faculty, and the School of Professional Studies, has announced recipients of its inaugural Global Experiential Learning and Teaching (GELT) grant program, unveiled in the summer of 2014. The GELT program provides support for faculty to embed an education abroad component into an on-campus course.

Grant recipients receive funds for advanced seminars or capstone courses at the undergraduate or graduate level that include international travel prior to, during, or at the end of the course. Regular members of the Brown faculty with an established relationship with colleagues at a university, cultural/historical organization, NGO, for-profit, or government entity abroad are eligible for the award. There are two forms of support: Phase one provides up to $4,000 for the development of a new course with a travel abroad component, and phase two provides up to $35,000 to support travel, accommodations, and related costs, for one faculty member and up to 12 Brown students to a destination that complements the topic studied during the semester.

More information about the program is available online.

Four GELT grants will support phase one curriculum development in the 2014-15 academic year:

  • James Green, professor of Portuguese and Brazilian Studies, for a course on “Brazil Under Vargas: Shaping a Nation”;
  • Amy Nunn, assistant professor of public health, and Timothy Flanigan, professor of medicine, for a course on “Local and Global Community Engagement to Reduce Health Disparities,” with a focus on either Ghana or Brazil;
  • Dietrich Neumann, professor for the history of modern architecture and urbanism, for a course on “Berlin: Architecture, Politics and Memory”; and
  • Peter van Dommelen, professor of anthropology, for a course on “Cities, Colonies and Global Networks in the Western Mediterranean,” with a focus on Spain.

Five GELT grants will support phase two curriculum implementation in the 2014-15 academic year:

  • Sheila Bonde, professor of history of art and architecture, for the course “The Medieval Monastery,” and travel to France;
  • Erik Ehn, professor of theatre arts and performance studies, for the course “Special Topics in Playwriting: Guhahamuka,” and travel to Rwanda and Uganda;
  • J. Timmons Roberts, professor of sociology, for the course “Climate and Development Lab,” and travel to Peru;
  • Stephen Kinzer, Watson Institute visiting fellow, and Claudia Elliott, senior lecturer in international studies and faculty fellow at the Watson Institute, for the course “International Journalism,” and travel to Nicaragua;
  • David C. Jacobson, professor of Judaic studies, for the course “The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict: Contested Narratives,” and travel to Israel and Palestine.

The Office of Global Engagement will announce the second round of the GELT grant competition in late fall.