Five area study centers at Michigan State University have been awarded federal grants totaling more than $7 million to advance international education.
The competitive grants are funded by the U.S. Department of Education under Title VI of the Higher Education Act, and are awarded throughout a four-year cycle from 2014 to 2018.
“MSU has a tradition of excellence in international education,” said Steven Hanson, associate provost and dean of International Studies and Programs. “These awards reflect the strength of MSU’s global engagement and place MSU in an elite group of universities for international education and language study.”
The African Studies Center and the Asian Studies Center were each awarded grants, again designating them as National Resource Centers. Functioning as national resources for research, teaching and outreach in their focus areas, the NRCs at MSU support a variety of programs that continue to internationalize the curriculum and student experience on campus, encourage foreign language study and develop area study resources for the community.
Three centers — the African Studies Center, the Asian Studies Center and a partnership between the Center for Advanced Study of International Development in the College of Social Science and the Center for Gender in a Global Context — received grants under the Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships Program. FLAS allocates funding for MSU to provide fellowships to undergraduate and graduate students who are studying less commonly taught foreign languages and area or international studies.
The International Business Center in the Eli Broad College of Business received a Center for International Business Education and Research award. The center provides education, research and assistance to businesses, public policy makers, academics and students on issues of importance to international trade and global competitiveness. MSU is one of only 17 universities to be designated a CIBER university in this funding cycle.
The Center of Language Education and Research in the College of Arts and Letters received an US/ED Title VI Language Resource Center award. One of 16 LRCs nationwide, CLEAR develops materials for foreign language teaching and learning, conducts research on the teaching and learning of foreign languages and provides professional development opportunities for educators in the field.
“Title VI funding doesn’t come easy, ” Hanson said. “The grants are a testament to the dedication of our faculty and staff to providing comprehensive international education to our students and scholars.”