Proposal to Launch an Institute for Global Humanities Initiatives and Program to Internationalize the Humanities Curriculum

FAIN: CZ-50300-13

Montgomery College (Rockville, MD 20850-1728)
Rita Kranidis (Project Director: February 2012 to May 2015)
Gregory R. Wahl (Project Director: May 2015 to July 2015)
Rita Kranidis (Project Director: July 2015 to April 2021)

Endowment and a spend-down fund for an Institute for Global Humanities Initiatives.

Seeking new ways to engage and retain students, Montgomery College seeks $500,000 in Challenge Grant funds to revitalize its humanities programs and implement an Institute for Global Humanities Initiatives, responding to the Endowment-wide Bridging Cultures theme. The Institute, under the leadership of a distinguished faculty member and with guidance from a board of global humanities experts, will serve as the locus for a series of dynamic new learning initiatives in the humanities, including a faculty development program in Internationalizing the Humanities Curriculum, intentionally designed to expand scholarly and public discourse of diverse countries, peoples, and cultural and intellectual traditions worldwide. The College will match the federal funds two-to-one, raising $1,000,000 over the six-year grant period, for a total budget of $1.5 million. A six-year spend-down fund and endowment will be created to launch the Institute and its activities with comprehensive force and scope.

Associated Products

Common Language Reading Group 2014 (Course or Curricular Material)
Title: Common Language Reading Group 2014
Author: Greg Wahl, Facilitator 2014
Abstract: In four spirited face-to-face and online meetings during fall 2014, sixteen faculty, staff, and administrators participated in the GHI’s Common Language Reading Group, discussing Manfred Steger’s Globalization: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford UP). Here are some excerpts of participants’ perspectives and debates on Steger’s Cultural Studies explication of the economic, political, cultural, ecological, and ideological dimensions of globalization.
Year: 2014
Primary URL: http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/EDU/Department4.aspx?id=59070
Primary URL Description: Global Humanities Institute Common Language Reading Group
Audience: Graduate

Common Language Reading Group 2015 (Course or Curricular Material)
Title: Common Language Reading Group 2015
Author: Cinder Cooper Barnes, Facilitator 2015
Abstract: The Spring 2015 Globalization Reading Group again chose Manfred B. Steger’s seminal work, Globalization: A Very Brief Intro-duction for the second time. This text is particularly appropriate for Montgomery College because of our location near the capitol and be-cause of our diverse student and employee body. Our students, even more so than other community college students, are diverse, coming from over 160 countries, the District of Columbia and surrounding counties. We work so hard to serve our students and community and awaken in them an appreciation of our discipline that we often take for granted our own growth. As such, the reading group was open to both faculty and staff from all three campuses. The Book Group offered Montgomery College employees the oppor-tunity to perspective take and think critically and civically about our place in the world. The diversity of the group allowed for dynamic in-teractions and discussions along with the sharing of useful resources. We had three face-to-face meetings lasting two hours each, and one virtual meeting via Blackboard Community. During each of these meetings, we discussed two chapters of Globalization: A Very Brief Introduction. We began each face-to-face meeting with each partici-pant sharing some thoughts, reactions, and questions about the chap-ters. For the virtual meeting, participants posted a response to a facili-tator prompt in the designated Blackboard Community and at least one original reaction / question / presentation of materials with ac-companying explanation, related to the chapters being discussed.
Year: 2015
Primary URL: http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/EDU/Department4.aspx?id=59070
Primary URL Description: Global Humanities Institute Common Language Reading Group
Audience: Graduate

GHI Fellows' redesigned global courses and learning communities (Course or Curricular Material)
Title: GHI Fellows' redesigned global courses and learning communities
Author: Greg Wahl, Facilitator, Individual Course Fellowship
Author: Marcia Bronstein, Facilitator, Learning Community Fellowship
Abstract: Two fellowships are being offered. Faculty can apply for fellowships focused on Revising Individual Courses or Creating Learning Communities. The Revising Individual Courses Fellowship will guide faculty through the process of globalizing a humanities course that they currently teach. The session series will be supplemented and enriched by stimulating guest speakers, readings, and discussions related to the interdisciplinary and global aspects of the humanities. In the Learning Community Fellowship of the Global Humanities Institute, faculty partners will integrate and internationalize a pair of courses in order for students to study a current or enduring “big question” of interdisciplinary humanities. Fellows will be guided in selecting a compelling theme for the learning community and identifying global and cross-cultural approaches to examining it.
Year: 2015
Primary URL: http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/EDU/Department4.aspx?id=52460
Primary URL Description: Links to Fellows' globalized courses and learning communities
Audience: General Public

2015 GHI Humanities Leadership Award Presentation (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: 2015 GHI Humanities Leadership Award Presentation
Abstract: The Global Humanities Institute and the Paul Peck Humanities Institute are pleased to announce this year's Humanities Leadership Award, Professor Joan Naake. Professor Naake has held every service position at the department and discipline levels, and serves the College community as coordinator of the Athenaeum Lecture Series. The presentation will take place on the Germantown Campus in PK2059, 11 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
Author: Joan Naake, 2015 Humanities Leadership Award Winner
Date: 04/17/2015
Location: Montgomery College, MD
Primary URL: http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/EDU/Department4.aspx?id=56894
Primary URL Description: Humanities Leadership Award

STEAMed Rice 2015 (Conference/Institute/Seminar)
Title: STEAMed Rice 2015
Author: Eliza Reilly, expert presenter
Abstract: STEaM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, arts, and Math. The STEaM Events at Montgomery College are designed to explore the intersection of STEM fields with the humanities through different topics. "Exploring the Intersection between STEM and Humanities Through Food occured Friday, March 27, 2015. Pairs of faculty (one STEM, one Humanities) served as table leaders. Each pair chose a topic related to Food, STEM and the Humanities. This pair of faculty facilitated discussion on the selected topic with the attendees at their table.
Date Range: Friday, March 27, 2015
Location: Montgomery College, MD
Primary URL: http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/EDU/Department4.aspx?id=80074
Primary URL Description: STEAMed Rice 2015

Exploring the Intersection Between Global Humanities and STEM Through Food (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Exploring the Intersection Between Global Humanities and STEM Through Food
Abstract: Keynote speech at STEaMed Rice workshop
Author: Eliza Jane Reilly
Date: 03/27/2015
Location: Montgomery College, MD
Primary URL: http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/EDU/Department4.aspx?id=52880
Primary URL Description: Distinguished Speaker Series

Cosmopolitan Sex Workers: Women and Migration in a Global City (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Cosmopolitan Sex Workers: Women and Migration in a Global City
Abstract: Dr. Christine Chin led a fascinating discussion of an unfortunate global phenomenon: human trafficking, particularly of women and girls. Dr. Chin, one of the many external advisors for the Global Humanities Institute, brings to Montgomery College her very latest findings, published in her new book, Cosmopolitan Sex Workers: Women and Migration in a Global City (Oxford University Press, 2013). This book highlights the ways human lives are at times compromised in the global economy.
Author: Christine Chin
Date: 03/05/2014
Location: Montgomery College, MD
Primary URL: http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/EDU/Department4.aspx?id=52880
Primary URL Description: Distinguished Speakers Series

Giving Students a Compass: New Directions for the Global Humanities (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Giving Students a Compass: New Directions for the Global Humanities
Abstract: Dr. Carol Schneider presented a rich, informative, and timely lecture on the value of the humanities and liberal arts in the world today from one of the country’s major educational leaders. Carol Geary Schneider is president of the Association of American Colleges and Universities. With nearly 1,300 member institutions, half public and half private, with members drawn from the entire higher education community, large, small, two-year, four-year, selective and open admissions, AAC&U is the leading national organization devoted to advancing and strengthening undergraduate liberal education.
Author: Carol Schneider
Date: 02/05/2014
Location: Montgomery College, MD
Primary URL: http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/EDU/Department4.aspx?id=52880
Primary URL Description: Distinguished Speakers Series

Why the Humanitites Need Global Studies (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Why the Humanitites Need Global Studies
Abstract: On Wednesday, January 23, Dr Peter Stearns, Provost and History Professor at George Mason University, delivered a talk sponsored by the Global Humanities Institute, Montgomery College’s new, NEH-funded initiative. The title of the talk, “Why the Humanities Need Global Studies, Why Global Studies Need the Humanities,” reflects the GHI’s mission, to facilitate integration of global approaches to teaching and learning in the humanities. More than 50 faculty, staff and administrators attended the event, and over an hour was devoted to questions, answers, and discussion of issues.
Author: Peter Stearns
Date: 01/23/2013
Location: Montgomery College, MD
Primary URL: http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/EDU/Department4.aspx?id=52880
Primary URL Description: Distinguished Speakers Series

Humanities Days 2014 (Conference/Institute/Seminar)
Title: Humanities Days 2014
Abstract: Humanities Days is a collaboration with other entities and many individual faculty and staff at Montgomery College to bring to each campus a film series and a full day of presentations and workshops. Humanities Days events culminate in a capstone event featuring a distinguished speaker and a performance.
Date Range: October 20-24, 2014
Location: Montgomery College, MD
Primary URL: http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/globalhumanities/humanities-day/
Primary URL Description: Humanities Days

Humanities Days 2013 (Conference/Institute/Seminar)
Title: Humanities Days 2013
Abstract: Humanities Days is a collaboration with other entities and many individual faculty and staff at Montgomery College to bring to each campus a film series and a full day of presentations and workshops. Humanities Days events culminate in a capstone event featuring a distinguished speaker and a performance.
Date Range: October 16-17, 2013
Location: Montgomery College, MD
Primary URL: http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/globalhumanities/humanities-day/
Primary URL Description: Humanities Days

Identity: Contemporary Interpretations of History, Place and Culture (Exhibition)
Title: Identity: Contemporary Interpretations of History, Place and Culture
Curator: Rita Kranidis
Abstract: The capstone event for Humanities Days celebrations, featuring more than 45 events college wide, took place on October 23rd in the lobby of the Cultural Arts Center. An art exhibit features work by faculty and staff at two of the Global Humanities Institute's academic partners abroad: Xian University of Arts and Sciences in China, and the University if El Salvador. Working with the GHI to create this exhibit have been art faculty from our three campuses.
Year: 2014
Primary URL: http://insidemc.montgomerycollege.edu/details.php?id=57788&title=Humanities_Days_Special_Event_Tonight!_International_Exhibition_Featuring_Art_from_China_and_El_Salvador
Primary URL Description: Identity: Contemporary Interpretations of History, Place and Culture

Free Speech, Whistleblowing, and Peacebuilding in a "Wikileaks" World: The Global Perspective (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Free Speech, Whistleblowing, and Peacebuilding in a "Wikileaks" World: The Global Perspective
Abstract: David J. Smith led a timely and invigorating discussion of free speech in today's complex social, political, and global environments. A lawyer by trade, Smith is also a community college educator whose resume includes U.S. Institute of Peace, George Mason University, Georgetown University, Fulbright Association, and Street Law, Inc. He is the editor of Peacebuilding in Community Colleges: A Teaching Resource (USIP Press, 2013). While at Harford Community College, he was a U.S. Fulbright Scholar teaching at the University of Tartu (Estonia) Law School.
Author: David J. Smith
Date: 10/02/2013
Location: Montgomery College, MD
Primary URL: http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/EDU/Department4.aspx?id=57002
Primary URL Description: Constitution Day events

Summer Research Grants 2014 (Course or Curricular Material)
Title: Summer Research Grants 2014
Author: Jean Freeman
Author: Elizabeth Huergo
Author: Alejandro Leopardi
Author: Meryl Shapiro
Abstract: Professor Jean Freeman, History; Women's Studies, Rockville - Research subject: Peggy Seeger: Music and Global Human Rights; Professor Elizabeth Huergo, English, Rockville - Research subject: Latina/o Literatures in the US; Professor Alejandro Leopardi, English, Germantown - Research subject: Latin American Literature: Focus and Exploration on a Vital Sector in Literature; Professor Meryl Shapiro, Performing Arts, TP/SS - Research subject: If Rhythm of Music and Human Motions Can Be Rooted Back to the Heartbeat, Why do Diverse Cultures Create and Evolve Rhythms Differently?
Year: 2014
Primary URL: http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/EDU/Department4.aspx?id=52470
Primary URL Description: Summer Research Grantees, 2014
Audience: General Public

New Course: Introduction to Global Humanities (Course or Curricular Material)
Title: New Course: Introduction to Global Humanities
Author: Rita Kranidis
Author: Joan Naake
Author: Ken Jassie
Author: Greg Wahl
Author: Nancy Nyland
Abstract: Study of the many humanities themes from the standpoint of global interconnections. Global Humanities 101 takes an interdisciplinary humanities approach to a number of themes. Specifically, it encourages students to consider a number of topics related to global issues using historical, literary, linguistic, and philosophical lenses. The course encourages students to recognize their responsibilities to society –locally, nationally, and globally--and to consider their academic and personal goals. Students will also consider current issues of global importance.
Year: 2015
Primary URL: http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/EDU/Department4.aspx?id=52873
Primary URL Description: New Course: Introduction to Global Humanities
Audience: Undergraduate

Memorandum of Understanding with Xian University (Conference/Institute/Seminar)
Title: Memorandum of Understanding with Xian University
Author: Global Humanities Institute, Montgomery College
Author: Xian University, China
Abstract: In September 2013, Dr. DeRionne Pollard, Montgomery College president; Dr Judy Ackerman, vice president and provost at the Rockville Campus; Dr Rita Kranidis, professor of English and director of the Global Humanities Institute (GHI); and other members of the College attended a meeting that forged a relationship with Xian University in Xian, China, home of the terracotta warriors. The partnership was initiated by Dr. Kranidis in the fulfillment of the institute's grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Montgomery County, which has selected Xian for its Sister Cities program, assisted with this effort in many ways. The Memorandum of Understanding includes provisions for a series of seminars and colloquia between humanities faculty at Xian University and Montgomery College, to be carried out when the GHI will sponsor travel to China for fifteen faculty, staff, and administrators. Topics for these discussions will include the cultural value of the humanities in China and in the United States, views on need for global curricula, and public arts and humanities programs. Additionally, the MOU opens the possibility of future student and faculty exchanges. Xian University has a strong commitment to history, cultural preservation and study, and is thus the ideal partner for the work of the Global Humanities Institute.
Date Range: 2013-2017
Location: Montgomery College, MD; Xian University, China
Primary URL: http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/EDU/Department4.aspx?id=57942
Primary URL Description: Memorandum of Understanding with Xian University

Global Virtual Exchange: Montgomery College and the University of El Salvador (Course or Curricular Material)
Title: Global Virtual Exchange: Montgomery College and the University of El Salvador
Author: Shelley Jones
Author: Carla Naranjo
Abstract: As one of the Global Humanities Institute’s (GHI) initiatives to bring the world to Montgomery College (MC) students, last semester Spanish learners engaged in a virtual cultural exchange with Modern Language majors from the University of El Salvador (UES). Born out of connections made during the July 2013 GHI workgroup trip to El Salvador, the effort was a collaboration between the UES Dean of Humanities, GHI Director Rita Kranidis, MC Instructional Designer Tom Cantu and the staff from Media Resources, two UES English professors and MC Spanish professors Shelley Jones and Carla Naranjo. MC participants included students from elementary through intermediate level Spanish while all of the UES students involved were English or Modern Language majors. Students from both countries posed questions in their native languages for their exchange partners to consider before the actual virtual meeting. In the case of the intermediate Spanish students, responses were given in Spanish, integrating language production practice with the cultural aspects of the exchange.
Year: 2013
Primary URL: http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/EDU/Department4.aspx?id=80309
Secondary URL Description: Global Virtual Exchange: Montgomery College and the University of El Salvador
Audience: Undergraduate

"Awakening Global Awareness in the Humanities" (Article)
Title: "Awakening Global Awareness in the Humanities"
Author: Marcia Bronstein
Author: Shelley Jones
Author: Sharyn Neuwirth
Abstract: The Global Humanities Institute is proud to announce the publication of an important article by Professors Marcia Bronstein, Sharyn Neuwirth (faculty fellowship leaders) and Service Learning expert Professor Shelley Jones. The article, "Awakening Global Awareness in the Humanities," appears in the DIVERSITY AND DEMOCRACY series of publications on the Association of American Universities and Colleges webpages. To access the article, which details the instructional methods that take place in our faculty fellowship, visit http://www.aacu.org/DiversityDemocracy/vol17no2/bronstein_jones_neuwirth.cfm The Association of American Colleges and Universities is widely considered one of the most important resources in higher education today, making available some of the best research on global studies and new directions for undergraduate education. Publication in this AAC&U journal is an endorsement of Montgomery College's and the Global Humanities Institute's work on globalizing the humanities.
Year: 2014
Primary URL: http://www.aacu.org/diversitydemocracy/2014/spring/bronstein-jones-neuwirth
Primary URL Description: "Awakening Global Awareness in the Humanities," AACU site
Access Model: Open access via Internet
Format: Other
Periodical Title: DIVERSITY AND DEMOCRACY series of publications on the Association of American Universities and Colleges webpages
Publisher: Association of American Colleges and Universities

Global Humanities Internet Resource Collection (Web Resource)
Title: Global Humanities Internet Resource Collection
Author: Global Humanities Institute
Abstract: A collection of web resources on the Global Humanities including readings, videos, lectures, and podcasts.
Year: 2013
Primary URL: http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/EDU/Department4.aspx?id=54692
Primary URL Description: Global Humanities Internet Resource Collection

Preparing Faculty to Facilitate Global Learning at Montgomery College (Web Resource)
Title: Preparing Faculty to Facilitate Global Learning at Montgomery College
Author: Association of American Colleges & Universities
Abstract: The GHI supports a range of programs at Montgomery, including course revisions, international partnerships, conferences, and public programs that address the humanities in a global context. One of the most significant projects so far has been the creation of a fellowship program in which faculty undertake a year of intensive study leading to the redesign or creation of new globally focused humanities courses. Through this more intentional focus on global issues and influences, the college hopes to create a curriculum and cocurriculum that better serves the diverse student body, says Rita Kranidis, director of the GHI. "We’re creating a pedagogy that integrates the global perspectives students bring into the classroom, and also meets the needs of American students."
Year: 2014
Primary URL: http://www.aacu.org/campus-model/preparing-faculty-facilitate-global-learning-montgomery-college
Primary URL Description: The Association of American Colleges & Universities (AACU) featured the Global Humanities Institute in the Campus Models and Case Studies section of their website.

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