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2008 Global Brandeis Fund Projects

Ten Projects Selected for the New Global Brandeis Fund

Grantees will develop campus and overseas relationships to strengthen the international research, teaching, and campus life dimensions of Brandeis

March 12, 2008

The Office of Global Affairs and the Office of the Provost are excited to announce that ten innovative projects have been selected for the new Global Brandeis Fund. The seed funding is designed to support and enhance the international research, teaching, and campus life dimensions of Brandeis. Project teams will work with the Office of Global Affairs to develop long-term, strategic aims for these initiatives.

Ranging from research collaboration on aging with the Chinese University of Hong Kong to a new campus global affairs forum featuring Wien International Scholars, the funded projects focus on cross-discipline and cross-cultural relationships. Project directors were instructed to either form partnerships with groups on campus, and/or begin to develop relationships with institutions and organizations abroad.

These proposals were submitted by teams of individuals from across departments, organizations, and schools. In each case the project director(s) is listed below to represent these teams. The funded projects for the calendar year 2008 are:

•    The Brandeis-Hong Kong Aging Research Exchange will support the training of students to conduct cross-cultural research on psychological processes related to successful aging. Students from labs at Brandeis and the Chinese University of Hong Kong will first be trained in their home lab and then will spend time conducting cross-cultural research on related processes at the other lab. (Project Director: Prof. Derek Isaacowitz, Psychology)

•    The Global Affairs Forum matches the student organization Gen Ed Now with the Wien International Scholars to create a comprehensive and ongoing foreign affairs dialogue with a true global perspective on campus. Its aim is to bring faculty and students from around campus together over a lunch table to discuss pertinent world issues - as proposed by Wien Scholars from those regions. (Project Directors: Benjamin Gorelick ‘11 and Jonah Seligman ‘10, Gen Ed Now; Prof. Sabine von Mering, GRALL; Sridatta Mukherjee ‘09, Wien Scholar Programming Committee; David Elwell, International Students and Scholars Office)

•    Prof. Bulbul Chakraborty will explore a partnership with the new Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in India. Partnership possibilities include setting up a research abroad program at IISER for Brandeis students and designing an internship program at Brandeis for IISER students. (Project Director: Prof. Bulbul Chakraborty, Physics)

•    As part of the existing MusicUnitesUS program, a new “Spotlight” series will be introduced that focuses on the experiences of returned study abroad students in that featured country. For the upcoming Intercultural Residency: Chinese Modulations, March 27-29, there is a photography exhibit: Spotlight on China, with digital photos taken by current Brandeis students who have traveled in China. The exhibit (March 24-April 7) is in the lobby of Slosberg Music Center with a reception and presentation by the students on Friday, March 28th. In addition, online slide shows can be found at the MusicUnitesUS website. A complete schedule of events associated with the residency, which include classes, workshops, film, concerts, and theater may be found here. (Project Directors: Prof. Judith Eissenberg, Music/MusicUnitesUS; Prof. Matthew Fraleigh, GRALL)

•    In seeking new perspectives and directions for global scholarship on transnational families, the Sociology Department’s Colloquium on Transnational Family Theory and Methods intends to promote dialogue between intellectual communities in different institutions. By holding a series of colloquiums, participants will focus on how local racial and ethnical hierarchies in various social and cultural settings shape the experiences and formation of transnational families in different ways. This project will also reach out to institutions in Taiwan and other areas to promote meaningful university-to-university connections focused on research on transnational families. (Project Directors: Prof. Karen Hansen, Sociology; Ken Sun, Sociology)

•    The Gesture Project aims to develop an on-line multi-cultural dictionary of commonly used hand, facial and body gestures that can be categorized by geographic region. Each gesture will have a video clip demonstration, explanation and include ratings in the following categories: Politeness, widespread knowledge of meaning and appropriateness for business. This online dictionary will be developed through interviews with international students and scholars at Brandeis, and returned study abroad students. (Project Director: Shohreh Harris, International Students & Scholars Office)

•    Congo in Our Minds is an initiative of the Gender Working Group at Brandeis to foster student and community activism, build effective collaborations, and diversify advocacy approaches to the humanitarian crisis and sexual violence resulting from the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The project will increase awareness of the situation in the eastern Congo through a network of advocacy campaigns across Brandeis and connect this network with national and international NGOs, coalitions, and grassroots initiatives in the Congo. (Project Directors: Prof. Kelley Ready, Programs in Sustainable International Development(SID)/Gender Working Group; Urjasi Rudra, MA Candidate, SID; Charlie Kabanga, MA Candidate, SID)

•    The student organization Positive Foundations will team up with the Programs in Sustainable International Development (SID) at the Heller School to form a Millennium Development Goals Working Group at Brandeis. Heller graduate students will share their expertise and experience with Positive Foundations, an undergraduate student group committed to advocating for the Millennium Development Goals to end poverty by 2015. Heller students will develop their mentoring skills while working with the undergraduate leaders of Positive Foundations to increase the effectiveness of their initiatives and bring vital cultural understanding to their work. (Project Directors: Charlotte Benham, SID staff; Allyson Goldsmith ‘10, Positive Foundations)

•    Building off of a highly successful Family Literacy Project in Lesotho, Africa, Global Family Literacy will attempt to connect various groups working on family literacy projects together in a virtual and physical network, including those based here in Waltham. (Project Director: Prof. Jane Hale, Romance Studies)

•    Another successful on-going project, the International Friends Program is a collaboration between SID and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Brandeis (BOLLI). The IFP matches U.S. hosts with graduate students in SID for cultural learning and sharing. A new enhancement to the program will increase the number of host families and reach out to new students, such as grad students in the Master’s Program in Coexistence and Conflict. The enhanced program will also share learning through campus events and publications. (Project Directors: Sharon Sokoloff, BOLLI; Doris Breay, SID staff)