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Funds for Internationalizing Curriculum

International Affairs will offer grants to faculty who are developing new courses or revising existing ones by inviting guest speakers or developing other initiatives that will bring an internationalized perspective to the subject.  The grants will help cover the cost of travel and related expenses for guest lecturers or other costs entailed with course internationalization initiatives.  All regular members of the Brown faculty are eligible to apply.

Your application should include:

  • Description of curriculum (2 to 5 pages): Include information about the kind of course you are proposing to develop; your pedagogical approach; whether this is an old or a new course; and how internationalization will enhance your department's and the university's offerings in this field.
  • If guest lecturers are part of the proposal, a description of their role in this course and plans for the guest speaker’s campus wide engagements outside the classroom.
  • Letter of endorsement from the chair of your department or unit.
  • Detailed budget
  • We ask all faculty who receive a grant to make a commitment to solicit course evaluations from students at the end of term that reflect on and assess the value and role of the contribution of an international perspective in the course.
  • Send to the attention of Matthew Gutmann, Vice-President of International Affairs, Box 1919 or Matthew_Gutmann@brown.edu

Text Box: How do you internationalize the curriculum? We anticipate that there may be different models for internationalizing courses. We include below some examples that have emerged in discussions with faculty as we have developed this program: Ÿ A faculty member may invite scholars who teach US history in other countries to participate in an American Studies seminar through the course of the semester. The guests will offer lectures on perspectives from these countries on US history; this lecture series will be integrated into the course plan. Ÿ A faculty member teaching a course on appropriate technology may utilize a travel or research grant to work with an NGO in Kenya to identify practical problems around which students’ class projects will be structured. Ÿ A faculty member may use video-conferencing and other technological initiatives that will enable a class to integrate dialogue with scholars and students in Australia. Ÿ An adjunct faculty member may be hired to add a course that will help internationalize the concentration’s course offerings the next semester. Ÿ A faculty member teaching a course on comparative urban planning may invite an urban studies scholar with specialized knowledge on urban planning in Mumbai, India. The guests will offer a series of short lecturers that will be integrated into the course. In cases that involve guest lecturers, we do not always expect that the guest lecturer is based in another country; rather, the focus is on the international dimension of the academic perspective that he or she will bring to the field of study. In addition to classroom responsibilities, the program will place a premium on proposals for visitor who will also engage with the campus at large through public lectures, meetings with graduate students in the field and such.