The U.S. Department of Education, International and Foreign Language Education (IFLE) office, is proud to announce the release of its first annual report, which provides in-depth information about the Fulbright-Hays and Title VI grant programs, along with program performance data, outcomes, and impact stories from grantees.

The purpose of Annual Report 2017 is to highlight the one-year results of IFLE programs and provide a snapshot of the ways in which funded programs have benefited the nation’s students, educators, institutions, and the nation at large. The Title VI and Fulbright-Hays grantee community is innovative and resourceful, leveraging federal funds with institutional and other external support to broaden the reach of these programs. The information in this report gives visibility to their project activities and their efforts to strengthen and maintain U.S. expertise in world languages, international studies, and global competitiveness, and to make international education and foreign language learning opportunities more widely available to the nation’s students, educators, and institutions.

IFLE is holding fiscal year 2019 (FY 2019) competitions for new awards for the following Fulbright-Hays programs:

• Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad (DDRA) Fellowship Program 
  Deadline to apply: March 25, 2019
  The DDRA program provides opportunities to doctoral candidates to engage in full-time dissertation research abroad in modern foreign languages and area studies. The program is designed to deepen research knowledge and increase the study of modern foreign languages, cultural engagement, and area studies not generally included in U.S. curricula.
  A webinar providing technical assistance for the FY 2019 DDRA application is now available to stream on YouTube.
  Contact: Pamela Maimer at pamela.maimer@ed.gov
  
  
• Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad (GPA) Program 
  Deadline to apply: March 25, 2019
  The GPA Program provides grants for overseas projects in training, research, and curriculum development in modern foreign languages and area studies by teachers, students, and faculty engaged in a common endeavor. Programs are designed to help integrate international studies and culture into an institution's or school system's general curriculum, to acquire resource materials for curriculum development and dissemination in the U.S., or to conduct group research or study projects abroad. This competition invites applicants to request support for either a Fulbright-Hays GPA short-term project or a Fulbright-Hays GPA long-term project. Please refer to the Federal Register notice inviting applications for new awards for more details on the different types of GPA awards.
  Contact: Cory Neal at cory.neal@ed.gov
  
  
• Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad (SA) Program
  (Estimated date for competition announcement, February or March 2019)
  The SA program provides short-term seminars abroad for U.S. educators in the social sciences and humanities to improve their understanding and knowledge of the peoples and cultures of other countries. Educational lectures and activities are designed specifically for each seminar group, including visits to local schools and organizations, meetings with educators and students, and visits to cultural sites. Participants draw on their experiences abroad to create new curricula for their classrooms and school systems back in the U.S. The FY 2019 seminars will be offered in Czech Republic/Slovakia, Taiwan, and Uruguay.
  Contact: Maria Chang at maria.chang@ed.gov

by Joe Russo

I have traveled with other teacher seminars in the past, but the Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad program is hands-down the best I have ever attended. Fulbright-Hays serves as the benchmark for overseas seminars: highly informative, adventurous, world-changing, paradigm-shifting, and a source for creative lessons to bring home to my students and colleagues.

The Fulbright-Hays experience in Ecuador was transcendent; I still think about Ecuador continually. The impressions that the people, places, and events made will be indelibly imprinted on me for the remainder of my life. Life-changing is really an understatement when referring to the Ecuador seminar experience. Academically, the trip produced reams of material for future lessons for my world history class and I will share other material with my colleagues who teach world cultures and world geography. The immense variety of activities and lectures throughout the trip were the inspiration for lessons ranging from history to politics to food. I have two full pages of ideas written down and have developed lessons for a third of them.

I loved the mix of Ecuador seminar activities organized around the theme of "Examining the Impact of Ecuador’s History, Biodiversity, and Cultural Diversity." Every day was an adventure. What made our itinerary so interesting was that we experienced Ecuador from so many angles, from classical music recitals, to amazing restaurants, to permaculture in the hinterlands. 

I have written a number of lessons whose inspiration came during the trip, such as a lesson on the woman's cooperative in Cotacachi. The opportunity to travel to La Costa (the coast), La Sierra (the central highlands), El Oriente (the eastern jungle), and the Galapagos was one of the greatest learning experiences of my life. Every lecture was interesting and quite informative. Reviewing my notes, I was amazed at how much we covered and how much I learned. And I love Quito, a beautiful and cosmopolitan city that should be at the top of anyone's itinerary when visiting South America.

I am talking up Ecuador to everyone who asks me about my trip. I am so, so very, very grateful that I had this opportunity to travel throughout the country with my colleagues and the sublime staff!

Joe Russo teaches history and world geography at Davidson River School in Pisgah Forest, North Carolina. Mr. Russo participated in the 2018 Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad program in Ecuador.

The Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad Program will hold a competition for summer 2019 awards. IFLE expects to make the FY 2019 application available in February or March 2019. Educators interested in applying may learn more at the Seminars Abroad program applicant info website.

In December 2018, a group of 13 K–12 teachers completed an intensive, year-long fellowship organized by the Consortium for Middle East Studies at Duke University and the University of North Carolina (UNC), the UNC African Studies Center, and Carolina K-12.

The Middle East and African Cultures Teacher Fellows Program was established to enhance teachers’ expertise in Middle East and African studies through site visits across North Carolina, paired with culturally relevant resources and pedagogy. Participants benefited from a two-day orientation workshop, and six field visits to explore Middle Eastern and African heritage in the state of North Carolina. The field visits included a workshop with the Iranian Cultural Society of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, a visit to a refugee resettlement agency in Greensboro, a tour of Middle Eastern and African food establishments in Charlotte, and a performance of Sudanese music in Durham by Alsarah and The Nubatones, among others.

According to fellow Jeff Crisp, a social studies teacher from Hibriten High School in Caldwell County, “The hands-on aspect of the site visits was the most valuable thing about this program. Most professional development does not provide opportunities to fully experience the food, music, people, and artifacts that this program has shown us.” For Wendi Pillars, an ESL teacher at Jordan-Matthews High School in Chatham County, the fellowship changed her perspective on teaching about the regions. “I know so many more aspects of Middle Eastern and Northern African cultures now that I never would have even known to ask about.” Pillars noted that the fellowship expanded her thinking and taught her nuances about the cultures.

Fellows were chosen from over 65 applicants across the state, and represent urban and rural districts, different grade levels, and various subject areas. As part of their commitment to the program, fellows created lesson plans and classroom activities with content on the Middle East and Africa that will be shared with teachers around the state, thereby broadening the impact of the program.

“The thematic, long-term nature of the teacher fellows program sets it apart from other professional development opportunities,” said Erica Luetzow, a cultural studies teacher at Club Boulevard Elementary School. “You really have the time to slow down, focus on topics, and actually increase your own academic knowledge.”

The program was supported by the UNC College of Arts & Sciences, Carolina K-12’s Warren A. Nord Endowment for Teachers, and grant funding from the U.S. Department of Education, made available to the Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies and UNC African Studies Center through their designation as Title VI National Resource Centers.

In October 2018, The Ohio State University's Center for Latin American Studies hosted the second Symposium on Indigenous Languages and Cultures of Latin America (ILCLA), organized in conjunction with the fourth Symposium on Teaching and Learning Indigenous Languages of Latin America (STLILLA 2018). This event brought together instructors, practitioners, activists, scholars and learners from across the hemisphere who study indigenous languages and cultures of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Symposium participants engaged in a hemispheric dialogue and now comprise a network for research on a wide range of issues from trans-disciplinary perspectives. Attendees from around the world had the opportunity to interact with leading experts in the fields of education, language policy, linguistics, cultural studies, ethnomusicology, anthropology, informatics, and other disciplines. The event included a feria de los idiomas (language fair), two pre-symposium plenary sessions, three keynote addresses, and over 40 panels and presentations by 55 conference presenters. The symposium also featured a film screening of Wiñaypacha, the first Peruvian movie filmed entirely in the Aymara language and a welcome addition to a growing canon of films that celebrate and revitalize indigenous languages.

The symposium successfully contributed to the teaching and learning, dissemination and preservation, and the study and advancement of indigenous languages and cultures of the region. One participant noted, “It was exciting to hear some of the talks by emerging scholars incorporating indigenous languages into their study. It was also fantastic to see the different projects connecting communities across boundaries.”

Over 120 attendees from 55 colleges and institutions from nine countries across the hemisphere attended the 2018 ILCLA/STLILLA event. Plans are already under way for The Ohio State University to host a third ILCLA/STLILLA symposium in autumn 2020.

This event was sponsored in part by a U.S. Department of Education Title VI National Resource Center (NRC) grant to The Ohio State University's Center for Latin American Studies, and supported by other 2018–2021 Title VI NRCs focused on the study of Latin America at Indiana University, the University of Georgia, University of Michigan, University of Texas at Austin, University of Utah, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Vanderbilt University.

At least a dozen students who have passed through the University of Washington (Seattle) (UW) in the last decade have some fluency in Inuktitut, the Inuit language, thanks in part to investments in language education under Title VI of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended.

UW's Canadian Studies Center manages an allocation of Title VI Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships that support the study of languages spoken in Canada, including French, along with indigenous languages like Blackfoot, Inuktitut, Nuu-chah-nulth, Salish, and Sekani. 

Historically, most students at the center chose to learn French, however, a student with an interest in the Arctic applied to learn Inuktitut about 10 years ago. With the help of the center's managing director, Nadine Fabbi, the student made a case for funding the study of Inuktitut. "Our argument was that it's critical, especially given all of the geopolitics today, that our students understand about the North," Fabbi said.

Since then, many other students have successfully applied to study Canadian indigenous languages. Fabbi said that's because international relationships are changing. She said good relations with Canada require an understanding of the indigenous cultural perspective on such issues as pipelines, softwood lumber and marine resources management.

The Canadian Studies Center, Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington is a Title VI National Resource Center and also manages an allocation of Title VI Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowships for the study of languages spoken in Canada.

The African Studies Center at Boston University is delighted to announce the launch of the Confronting Apartheid e-book, co-produced with Facing History and Ourselves. Through attentive historical analysis, Facing History encourages students to relate history to their own lives and understand their roles as members of a larger democracy. This project was supported with funding from the Title VI National Resource Centers program.

Available for free online, Confronting Apartheid explores critical moments in South Africa's history, including the period prior to European colonization, the period of colonization, the development of policies based on racial segregation, and the development of the apartheid state. It further discusses anti-apartheid movements and the institutions, policies, and principles put in place to facilitate the development of a non-racial democracy.

Lastly, this resource includes both the growth of race rule and resistance to white rule. In addition to a comprehensive historical introduction, each chapter also contains carefully selected primary source excerpts with thoughtful connection questions that can be used as stand-alone resources or in conjunction with other elements of the book.   

Georgia State University’s (GSU's) Center for International Business Education and Research is pleased to announce the 2019 International Business Pedagogy Workshops, to be held May 30 – June 2, 2019, at GSU’s Buckhead Center in Atlanta, Georgia.

Organized since 1992 by a consortium of U.S. Department of Education Centers for International Business Education (CIBE), International Business Pedagogy Workshops have trained hundreds of business faculty from around the U.S. and other countries.

These interactive workshops expose faculty to content, pedagogy, and resources for teaching international business. Participants meet others who are passionate about teaching, interact with master teachers, and take home a rich bundle of teaching materials for use in the classroom.

The early-bird registration fee is $699, and covers most meals, coffee breaks, and teaching resources. The application deadline for early bird admission is April 30, 2019. Several faculty fellowships are available, reducing the registration fee to $400. The deadline for faculty fellowships is April 15, 2019.

The International Business Pedagogy Workshops are a project of the Minority Serving Institution (MSI) Consortium, hosted by GSU-CIBER and sponsored by CIBEs at Florida International University, George Washington University, Indiana University, Loyola Marymount University, Temple University, Texas A&M University, University of Colorado-Denver, University of Maryland.

Mariam Motamedi began a semester-long internship with IFLE last month, and we are pleased to have her on board. Motamedi is an undergraduate student at the American University (Washington, D.C.), majoring in international studies. During her internship, she will participate in the full range of IFLE's pre- and post-competition activities, work on special projects, and engage with other Department offices and staff as well as external stakeholders.

IFLE is on Twitter with the latest from the world of international and foreign language education. Follow us @GoGlobalED and tell your friends! We'll see you in the Twittersphere!

We're on YouTube with informative webinars and exciting grant program videos. Subscribe to IFLE's YouTube channel to enjoy the latest content!

Have you received a Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowship or participated in a Fulbright-Hays grant program? Join our alumni groups on LinkedIn!

FLAS Program Alumni          Fulbright-Hays Program Alumni

We seek motivated students who are eager to learn and work as part of our team as an unpaid full- or part-time intern during the summer, fall, and/or spring. Visit our website for more information.

We want to hear from you! Do you have suggestions for webinar topics? Ideas for things to include in future newsletters? Send them to Carolyn Collins at carolyn.collins@ed.gov.