The Department awarded more than $71.1 million in Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 new and non-competing continuation grants to help strengthen the capacity and performance of American education in world languages, area and international studies, and research. The grant programs are authorized under the Fulbright-Hays Act, also known as the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961, and Title VI of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended, and are administered by the International and Foreign Language Education (IFLE) office in the Office of Postsecondary Education.

Through these programs, the Department aims to prepare America's students with the global competencies necessary to become leaders who are highly competent in world languages, international studies, and the critical thinking skills to fill roles in national security, diplomacy, international business, and education. These grants support our students, teachers, faculty, administrators, and institutions of higher education as they engage in projects focused on international studies, world languages, cross-cultural understanding, and research.

The recipients of FY 2020 Title VI and Fulbright-Hays grant awards proposed a wide range of activities, including K–16 interdisciplinary curriculum projects, global competencies for pre-service teacher training, collaborations with minority-serving institutions and community colleges, outreach, and programs that expand global opportunities for K–16 educators.

The total amount awarded for FY 2020 new and non-competing continuation grants, by program, is as follows:

New Awards

Title VI Programs

• 15 new American Overseas Research Centers ($1,000,000)
• 15 new International Research and Studies ($1,291,046) 
• 4 new National Resource Centers ($853,250) (funding down the 2018 competition slate)
• 32 new Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language ($2,857,604)

Fulbright-Hays Programs

• 112 Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowships ($4,312,765)
• 25 Group Projects Abroad ($3,057,454)
• 3 Seminars Abroad ($667,500)

Non-Competing Continuation Awards under Title VI

• 15 Centers for International Business Education ($4,571,400)
• 106 institutional allocations of Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships ($31,236,116)
• 16 Language Resource Centers ($2,746,768)
• 96 National Resource Centers ($22,743,107)
• 1 Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language ($114,053)

For further details, visit the program "Awards" pages linked above to view grantee lists and abstracts, and explore the Google map of FY 2020 IFLE program grantees below.

Greg Hill, a high school teacher in Texas' Mesquite Independent School District since 2001 and alumnus of the Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad (GPA) Program, has been named 2020 International Educator of the Year by the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth. For more than 20 years, Hill has inspired his students to think beyond their hometowns.

Hill said that “service, leadership, and dedication” best describe his commitment to international education. He teaches AP Human Geography, World History, and American Cultural Studies at Mesquite's Dr. John D. Horn High School. 

Through his work and dedication, Hill not only inspires his students but also provides an example for other teachers to excite students about the world. He manages two Facebook groups for other educators, “AP Human Geography Teachers of Texas” and “World Geography Teachers of Texas,” which provide a forum for teachers to share teaching materials with one another to ensure their students are receiving the most engaging and interesting education possible.

In 2016, Hill was named a distinguished K–12 teacher by the National Council for Geographic Education. The following year, he spent a month in Ecuador and Peru as the only social studies teacher in the Fulbright-Hays GPA project organized by the The Ohio State University's Center for Latin American Studies. Hill has also traveled to multiple other countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America. He believes travel breaks down barriers and hopes that through opening the eyes of his students to new places that he can inspire them to open their minds to the world.

The University of Washington’s (UW) South Asia Center, a Title VI National Resource Center, conducted its inaugural intensive Nepali language workshop this summer, bringing together 26 language learners from across the country for two weeks of online learning sessions. 

Organized by the center’s Nepal Studies Initiative to prepare faculty and students planning to work, study, or conduct research in Nepal, the workshop was originally designed to be held in person on UW’s Seattle campus. The COVID-19 pandemic quickly put an end to international travel plans and in-person gatherings on campus, however, so the workshop was adapted to an online format using Zoom. Professor Binod Shrestha of the University of British Columbia led the workshop remotely from his home in Canada, with the help of Sauharda Rai, a UW Ph.D. student in international studies and a native of Nepal.

Shrestha and Rai developed a course plan that combined traditional grammar lessons with speaking and listening exercises held in Zoom breakout rooms, interactive games, and virtual visits from Nepali native speakers. Reflecting the new reality of online instruction in the time of COVID-19, the Center opened up admission to students and professionals from outside the UW community. The response was striking. The center received over 30 applications, and a cohort of 26 language learners joined the workshop.

In addition to current college students and faculty studying Nepali for research purposes, participants included nonprofit professionals working in global health and education, a COVID-19 contact tracer responsible for taking calls with Nepali speakers over the phone, and a filmmaker brushing up on language skills before returning to the field. Participant Elizabeth Dobbins received a Fulbright fellowship to teach English in Nepal next year and plans to use her Nepali skills to work with Bhutanese communities in her home state of Ohio upon her return. Christopher Kemp, Acting Assistant Professor of Global Health at UW, is part of a multi-year, multi-sectoral research project focused on improving food systems in the country. Christina Juan, an incoming Ph.D. student in global health at George Washington University, plans to conduct mixed-methods research on gender and adolescent mental health for her dissertation. 

“For anyone who plans to travel to Nepal or is interested in learning the language, I highly recommend this course,” said Juan. “It was well done, especially given all the complexities of piloting a course and, on top of that, transitioning everything to an online format during a global health crisis.”

The Atlanta Global Studies Center (AGSC) , a Title VI National Resource Center (NRC), is now home to a new global research and education collaborative that brings five Metro Atlanta colleges and universities together. The Atlanta Global Research and Education Collaborative (AGREC), composed of Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), Georgia State University, Emory University, Spelman College, and Agnes Scott College, will help connect the region's international assets through an emphasis on supporting "global at home" projects that serve students, faculty, and community partners and define the metropolitan area as a hub for global education and research. As part of its initial programs, AGREC offers grants to support collaborative, interdisciplinary, and cross-university research and education projects with a focus on global engagement. 

Leveraging its status as a Title VI NRC, the AGSC was able to secure seed funding from Georgia Tech and mobilize partners to launch the initiative, which will deepen internationalization efforts across higher education institutions in the Greater Atlanta region.

UT Hemispheres, the International Outreach Consortium at the University of Texas at Austin, is offering a free workshop for educators on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020 (10:30 a.m. to noon CT).

Turn your classroom into an immersive world journey through activities that encourage investigation and collaborative learning. Track everyday commodities across time and space to reveal enduring economic and social impacts. Leave with a complete investigative tool kit that will assist with enhancing students' critical thinking skills, decision-making skills, and a better understanding of geographic, historical, and cultural literacy.

FREE AND OPEN TO EVERYONE!

“Explorers, Makers and Merchants: An Investigative Journey into Global Commodities”

Saturday, Nov. 21, 2020

10:30 a.m. to noon CST

CPE Credits: 1.5

Hosted by: UT Hemispheres, UTeach Liberal Arts, and the Texas Council for the Social Studies

Registration: https://utexas.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIrfu6gqjMuE91ftoYeYqWhGeJKasYm5fTe 

(You must have a Zoom account to register. Create your free account here.)

Registration deadline: Friday, Nov. 20, 2020

UT Hemispheres is supported in part by funding from the U.S. Department of Education's Title VI National Resource Centers Program.

The University of Utah’s Center for Latin American Studies, Asia Center, and Second Language Teaching and Resource Center recently debuted a new resource website for world language instructors. The resources found on this website provide world language faculty and instructors in high school and higher education classrooms with strategies and resources for teaching world languages online. They were designed specifically to support instructors who follow a task-based, proficiency-oriented approach for language instruction. 

Topics include:

• general principles of online language teaching and online course design
• tools to teach grammar and vocabulary
• recommendations to engage students with the target language in interactive and communicative activities

Each section includes short videos, power point slides and assignments to engage you in developing your own approach to online or blended language instruction.

The University of Utah centers that developed this resource are recipients of U.S. Department of Education grants under the Title VI National Resource Centers and Title VI Language Resource Centers programs.

The George Washington University's East Asia National Resource Center, recipient of a Title VI National Resource Centers (NRC) grant for FYs 2018–2021, recently published “Language for Professionals” self-learning modules for Korean language study. These free and open-to-access modules for self-study are meant to serve as supplementary learning resources for language learners. 

The Center for Latin American Studies at The Ohio State University, a Title VI National Resource Center, has two new resources for educators: “Teach the Andes K–12 Repository” and “Global Teacher Seminar Lesson Plans: Where does our food come from? Global Agricultural and Economic Sustainability.” The new websites are both open-access resources for K–12 Spanish teachers or educators that would like to include Latin American content in their classrooms.  

“Teach the Andes K–12 Repository” utilizes an interdisciplinary approach to teaching and studying the region, offering resources that provide a critical understanding of the Andes in dynamic terms that bridge past and present, and modern and traditional. Through the curated resources, teaching the Andes can become a model for generating innovative approaches to K–12 education more broadly. 

“Global Teacher Seminar Lesson Plans: Where does our food come from? Global Agricultural and Economic Sustainability” inform K–12 teachers on issues related to global agricultural and economic sustainability by focusing on various global regions including Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East. Topics include agricultural trends and practices, food access and distribution, intersections with environmental and economic sustainability, and how it all relates to our own food decisions.

These resources were developed with grant support from the Title VI National Resource Centers program.

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 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.