The Office for Global Engagement [OGE] is pleased to announce that the first inaugural Awards for Global Engagement have been given to Janet Theiss, Director of the University of Utah’s Asia Center, and Juan Carlos Claudio, of the Modern Dance Department.
Sabine Klahr, Deputy Chief Global Officer of the University of Utah was pleased with the opportunity to finally make the Award for Global Engagement a reality, with it’s emphasis on making internationally significant impact both on and off the university campus. This marked the first year that the Award for Global Engagement was offered.
“The University of Utah has a long history of global engagement which has been driven by faculty and staff in various disciplines and administrative units whether it relates to learning abroad opportunities for students, internationalizing the curriculum, language study, global research collaboration and service, capacity building abroad, or welcoming international students and scholars on our campus. Through the Award, the Office for Global Engagement intends to recognize individuals in our campus community who have made extraordinary contributions to advance the U’s global dimension,” Klahr said.
As for the nominees who took home the awards this year, Klahr said she was particularly satisfied with the faculty selected for this year’s award.
“I am especially pleased that Janet Theiss, Director of the Asia Center, and Juan Carlos Claudio, Modern Dance, received the inaugural Global Engagement Award. Both have been instrumental in expanding global and intercultural learning on our campus, collaboration with entities around the world, funding for global initiatives, and have contributed to enhancing the diversity among faculty and students on our campus.”
In addition to the Awards for Global Engagement, The University Teaching Committee and the OGE have selected three grant proposals to receive this year’s Global Learning Across the Disciplines [GLAD] Grants.
“The Global Learning Across the Curriculum grants are intended to advance curricular revision to develop students’ intercultural skills and global knowledge within their major or in interdisciplinary programs. All students at the U should have the opportunity to gain intercultural and global competency as part of their academic experience at the U and to effectively navigate in a multicultural and interconnected world,” Klahr said.
This year’s GLAD Grant recipients include Steve Burian from Civil & Environmental Engineering, Johanna Watzinger-Tharp from International Studies, and Bill Johnson from Geology and Geophysics.
“We are extremely pleased in the Office for Global Engagement that the University Teaching Committee received a number of strong proposals from multidisciplinary and departmental teams to integrate global learning into the curriculum. The grant recipients span a wide range of academic disciplines from the humanities, sciences, social sciences and engineering. It is exciting that the quality of the grant proposals this semester compelled us to fund three rather than the planned two projects per semester,” Klahr said.
Nominations for the next set of Awards for Global Engagement will begin in early Spring 2016. The announcement for GLAD Grant proposals will go out in Fall 2015.