Pitt’s Global Studies Program Receives $1.5 Million Grant from U.S. Department of Education to Expand Programs

The University of Pittsburgh's Global Studies Program (GSP) within the University Center for International Studies (UCIS) recently received its first-time designation as a National Resource Center by the U.S. Department of Education, which includes a $1.5 million Title VI grant to expand programs and services over four years.

GSP, established in 2001, fosters interdisciplinary, comparative, and cross-cultural learning and research on critical global issues within the areas of the economy, health, security, and society. GSP currently grants undergraduate and graduate certificates and, in cooperation with the University Honors College, offers the Bachelor of Philosophy in International and Area Studies degree.

The federal funding supports such GSP initiatives as:

* Increasing opportunities for scholarship through research and conference support for 40 global studies scholars and cosponsorship of four major conferences on global issues;
* Expanding interdisciplinary course offerings in global health and the addition of global content to at least 20 courses, including 12 in Pitt’s professional schools;
* Opportunities for the advanced study of less commonly taught languages, specifically Turkish, Swahili, and Persian (Farsi);
* Developing a new global-studies-themed historical library collection at Pitt that’s accessible to the public;
* Offering both graduate and undergraduate Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships in Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, Hindi, Persian (Farsi), Portuguese, Swahili, Turkish, and Urdu;
* Global studies and language pedagogy training via professional development opportunities for K-12 teachers and postsecondary faculty; and
* Increasing global content in two targeted school districts serving a combined K-12 student population of approximately 27,000.

For more information about the Global Studies Program, go to www.ucis.pitt.edu/global.