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International Classroom Partnering Grants

The Office of the Vice President for International Relations invites faculty applications for $3,000 classroom partnering grants. This is an opportunity to collaborate with faculty at Northwestern's international partner institutions and at Northwestern in Qatar (NU-Q) to provide cross-cultural, global opportunities for virtual student learning and engagement during the academic school year.

Short-term goals

  • Deepen relationships with Northwestern's international partners.
  • Provide Northwestern students (graduate or undergraduate) with cross-cultural, curriculum-based experiences with their peers abroad.
  • Recognize faculty commitment to providing Northwestern students with opportunities to gain the competencies necessary to become engaged global citizens.

Long-term goals

  • Create regularly offered courses that will provide students with opportunities to build their global perspectives and intercultural competencies "at home." Such courses could provide greater access to global learning for students lacking the financial means or the time in their programs to spend a quarter or more abroad. Or, as they build students' intercultural confidence and interest, these courses may become an entry point to study abroad for students who may not have previously considered it.
  • Increase the number of Northwestern faculty collaborating across borders, particularly with our partner institutions abroad.

Proposal considerations and criteria

  • Collaborative activities must involve faculty and students from one or more partner institutions (see below) and incorporate an international dimension to students' classroom experience.
  • Ideas for cross-institutional, cross-cultural experiences might include joint student discussions and discussion boards, joint assignments, peer tutoring (in language classes, for example), longer-term group projects (4-6 weeks, for example), or other relevant activities designed by faculty members.
  • Proposals for graduate or undergraduate courses are welcome.
  • Proposed faculty collaborators are not required to be teaching the same class, or to be teaching in the same disciplinary area.
  • Faculty partners need to discuss and plan for: academic calendars (including national holidays, etc.), communicating across time zones, language barriers, access to various technological platforms, and/or internet service.
  • Guest lectures by the faculty partners in each other's classes are encouraged.
  • Joint icebreaking activities for the students and faculty members are strongly suggested.
  • Recurring courses that faculty teach regularly are suggested. Courses must take place in the Fall, Winter, or Spring Quarters.
  • A small committee comprised of faculty and staff will review each proposal.
  • Kim Rapp, Assistant Vice President for International Relations is available to discuss ideas and help identify potential faculty collaborators at our partner institutions.

Partner institutions

Proposals to collaborate with institutions listed here or with universities that have the potential to become long-term partners within a multilateral framework will be considered, but NU-Q and the following partners with existing institutional and curricular relationships with Northwestern are preferred:

  • Chinese University of Hong Kong
  • Nanyang Technological University
  • National Taiwan University
  • Peking University
  • Sciences Po
  • Shanghai Jiao Tong University
  • Stellenbosch University
  • Tel Aviv University
  • University of Hamburg
  • University of Münster
  • Universidad Iberoamericana
  • Universidad Panamericana
  • Université Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3

Grant details

  • Classroom partnering grants of $3,000 each will be awarded to up to 10 Northwestern faculty members.
  • The grant will be paid in two installments: $2,000 at the time of the award announcement, and $1,000 at the end of the course, after receipt of a short evaluation of the project.
  • The grant will be awarded as either supplemental pay or research funds, subject to approval.
  • Grant funding will not be provided to the partner institution faculty member except in special circumstances.

How to apply

Submit proposals (maximum of two pages) by email to Kim Rapp, Assistant Vice President for International Relations.

Please include:

  • Existing (or proposed) Northwestern course number, title, description, and quarter to be taught
  • Partner institution name, faculty partner name, partner's course title, and description
  • Expected enrollment on both sides
  • Description of joint activities, including how students will engage with one another, online platforms to be used, the number and timing of meetings/activities, rubric for how joint projects will be evaluated/graded, and expected outcomes of bringing students from the different courses together.
  • A draft syllabus may be included as an addendum to the proposal, and thus exceed the two-page maximum

Deadline

Rolling, until funds are expended


Previous Awardees and Projects

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