Faculty Grant in Internationalizing Curriculum
The Penn State Abington Faculty Grant in Internationalizing Curriculum supports Abington faculty in all disciplines. The grant helps faculty 1) modify existing syllabi to best serve international students by incorporating culturally sensitive topics and activities, and 2) serve all students in our diverse population, by including global content and fostering global competency and global citizenship. Proposals are due to the Abington Office of Global Programs (OGP) by November 10, 2023
Grant Amount:
Grants are available in the amount of $5,000 per recipient. Grant funds are awarded upon completion of all program requirements.
Eligibility:
Abington College faculty members – tenured, tenure track and full-time are eligible to apply. We welcome all full-time faculty from the divisions of arts and humanities, science and engineering, and social sciences, business, and education.
The Objectives of this grant are broadly centered on:
- Understanding the diverse campus population that we serve and creating a more inclusive pedagogical environment, which involves acclimating, integrating, and teaching international students in your classroom using inclusionary pedagogy.
- Exploring existing curriculum and adapting it to be culturally sensitive and work for different levels while meeting the same learning objectives; developing lesson materials and activities that reflect a global perspective in a variety of content areas.
- Identifying an institution or faculty member at an institution outside the U.S. to collaborate with.
What can the grant do for you or your department?
The current Penn State strategic plan includes enhancing students’ global competency to prepare them for the workforce, as well as promoting global citizenship for all members of the campus community. As an example, future engineers will work in multi-cultural teams. Engineering faculty will learn strategies to incorporate cultural sensitivity and effective communication methods into their courses, so that they may better prepare their students to be “global-ready” engineers.
Grant Timeline:
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*The purpose of the grant award is to help fund projects, materials, or activities related to the revised course. Some examples of productive uses of funds: providing students with textbooks, activity handouts or other materials; inviting speakers to your class; purchasing tools such as the Intercultural Development Inventory. While OGP does not put stipulations on grant money spending, we cannot provide additional funding, outside the $5,000, for projects related to course revision.
**Our expectation is not only a revised syllabus but also a record of feedback on your revised course after you teach it.
What do past recipients have to say about the grant program?
“This was a great opportunity to learn more about internationalization... I am leaving this program with a new syllabus and a renewed sense of energy for teaching."
“The resources (readings, discussions, workshops, the wisdom of the entire group) were extremely helpful. In future instruction, I have a much better sense of how to integrate global perspectives into any course, not just the one currently targeted."
"I plan on utilizing the resources from Global Programming to continually build an international component to my course. If anything, I have been inspired to truly internationalize my curriculum despite any roadblocks I may encounter.”
Proposals might focus on (but are not limited to) the following:
- Develop a new/revised course syllabus that reflects culturally responsive pedagogy.
- Apply theory and research on internationalizing the curriculum.
- Partner with an institution or faculty abroad to enhance students’ cultural competence.
- Globalize the syllabus to include examples of readings, films, artworks, case studies, etc. from a variety of cultures.
- Incorporate global perspectives by having students analyze communication styles, literary techniques, etc. from cultures different from their own.
- Create a collaborative assignment or semester-long project with an international faculty member on campus or an equivalent course taught in another country.
Apply here by November 10, 2023.
For any questions, please email Melanie Boston at [email protected]. Learn more about our faculty grant at our OGP Open House on October 3, 11 a.m. - 2 p.m., in the Conference Center.
