Raval Awarded Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad (GPA) Grant
Vaishali Raval Awarded Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad (GPA) Grant to enhance cultural competence of educators in the Global Miami Plan.
Raval Awarded Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad (GPA) Grant
Vaishali Raval Awarded Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad (GPA) Grant to enhance cultural competence of educators in the Global Miami Plan.
The Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad (GPA) Program recently awarded funding to a short-term project proposed by Professor Vaishali Raval (Psychology). The project, Enhancing cultural competence and integrating international perspectives in the redesign of Global Miami Plan Courses through explorations of diverse subcultures of India, is designed to enhance cultural competence and integrate diverse international perspectives into global perspectives courses across a variety of humanities and social science disciplines. The project will send 12 educators who teach global perspectives courses in the Global Miami Plan to India for four weeks in summer 2022.
"I am very excited about this opportunity for faculty development that allows us to help identify colonial, Euro-American foundations of scholarly knowledge in our fields, as well as curricula and teaching practices, and be able to work with colleagues from our longstanding partner Christ University and other institutions to develop teaching materials and methods that incorporate global perspectives,” said Raval.
The pre-departure phase includes instruction in Hindi, the national language of India, and an overview of historical and cultural topics. In the overseas phase, participants will travel across the country to Bengaluru, Pune, Vadodara, and Delhi to engage in academic and cultural activities. In the follow-up phase, participants will complete a curricular revision or innovation project, which includes expanded focus on India in their courses, and preparing materials for dissemination at conferences and/or through publication.
Asian Indians are among the fastest-growing ethnic groups in the US. At Miami, students from India are the third largest group of international students, making it particularly relevant for educators to learn about India. The diversity within India also provides a rich context to explore intersecting influences of language, religion, region, gender, and socio-economic class, among other dimensions.
Karla Guinigundo, Director of Global Partnerships in Global Initiatives, will serve as project assistant for this grant.