Bloomington Leader

IU awarded $17.7M to support international education, national security, competitiveness

Indiana University has been awarded $17.7 million from the U.S. Department of Education to support research, instruction and training in world languages, regions and international business -- the highest total amount awarded to any university.

Eleven IU centers in the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies and the Kelley School of Business will receive grant funding from the Department of Education's prestigious Title VI program.

"Indiana University has been awarded the largest amount of Title VI funding given to any institution nationwide, reaffirming our university's position as a national leader in international education and business," IU President Pamela Whitten said. "We take great pride in this recognition for the centers in the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies and the Kelley School of Business that prepare our students to be leaders in business, policy, diplomatic relations and other crucial areas that contribute to our nation's economy and international security."

Title VI of the Higher Education Act builds American expertise in critical foreign languages, including less commonly taught languages, world areas and transnational trends. Sen. Todd Young introduced legislation, the Advancing International and Foreign Language Education Act, in 2021 to strengthen Title VI.  As a recipient of Title VI funding, Indiana University is a top producer of regional experts who are highly proficient in languages critical to U.S. security and global competitiveness.”As a recipient of Title VI funding, IU is a top producer of regional experts who are highly proficient in languages critical to U.S. security and global competitiveness.

In addition to faculty research, the grants support a variety of programs and student opportunities, including a recent summer language camp for 200 grade schoolers at the International School of Indiana. Another example is a recent symposium in Amman, Jordan, on constitutional courts, which gathered judges and lawyers from across the Middle East with professors from the Hamilton Lugar School and the IU Maurer School of Law. A Title VI grant also supported doctoral candidate Emily Stranger's work as a cultural instructor for the U.S. military, where she used the intercultural skills and advanced proficiency in Persian and Arabic languages that she developed at IU.

IU has been awarded four types of Title VI funding: Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowships and scholarships, and funding for National Resource Centers, Language Resource Centers and a Center for International Business Education.

"Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowships directly support graduate and undergraduate students, while our National Resource Centers position Indiana University at the center of advancing the research, instruction and training in world languages and area studies that will inform the next generation of global citizens," said Nick Cullather, interim dean of the Hamilton Lugar School. "I want to thank our faculty and staff for all their hard work and dedication to providing our students with the depth of knowledge and skills that will be necessary to serve our state and nation in the midst of a rapidly changing and unpredictable world."

Foreign Language and Area Studies scholarships give advanced training in critical languages to undergraduate and graduate students in all areas of study. Undergraduate and graduate students receive $7,500 for summer language training, while undergraduate students receive $15,000 and graduate students receive $38,000 for language and area studies training during the academic year. The Foreign Language and Area Studies awards will support instruction in 53 languages.

Language Resource Centers develop instructional materials, cultivate translation skills and serve as repositories of knowledge about strategic world languages. Two Language Resource Centers at the Hamilton Lugar School were awarded nearly $1.5 million total: the Center for Languages of the Central Asian Region and the National African Language Resource Center.

The Hamilton Lugar School's Language Resource Centers have provided important aid to state and federal agencies. In 2021, the Center for Languages of the Central Asian Region played a critical role in the resettling of Afghan evacuees through Camp Atterbury by creating Dari and Pashto phrasebooks and providing trained translators.

National Resource Centers support teachers and institutions, including elementary and secondary schools and minority-serving institutions. They provide expertise in the less commonly taught languages of Africa, Asia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Russia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. The Title VI funding for National Resource Centers also supports instruction and research in the study of world regions.

The following Hamilton Lugar School centers received a total of $8.6 million in Title VI Foreign Language and Area Studies awards, and six centers were also designated as National Resource Centers.

African Studies Program.

Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies.

Center for the Study of Global Change.

Center for the Study of the Middle East.

Institute for European Studies.

Inner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center.

Islamic Studies Program.

Robert F. Byrnes Russian and East European Institute.

The Kelley School of Business' Center for International Business Education and Research, known as CIBER, will receive nearly $1.4 million in Title VI funding, making it one of only 16 such federally funded centers. The grant will support a wide range of programs and initiatives, including:

An International Trade Certificate with the Kelley School of Business in Indianapolis.

A video series focusing on business-specific knowledge related to foreign languages.

International business research projects on innovation strategies and national innovation ecosystems, Indiana exporting and manufacturing, and cybersecurity.

The IU CIBER will also continue to provide broad support for minority-serving institutions and community colleges.

"Resources for global education, research and engagement are critical in an increasingly connected business world," said Ash Soni, interim dean of the Kelley School and the SungKyunKwan Professor. "This important grant will help continue Kelley's legacy of international involvement by building connections and cultural understanding for our faculty, Indiana businesses and students around the globe."

For about 30 years, Kelley's center has supported a national goal of the U.S. CIBER program to advance the study and teaching of international business and to support research that helps the United States remain competitive in the global marketplace. The program was created by the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 to increase and promote the nation's capacity for international competitiveness.

Original source can be found here.