IDEAS Grant
What is the IDEAS Grant
The U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ (ECA) 2023 IDEAS grant competition assists U.S. colleges and universities in creating, diversifying, and/or expanding their study abroad programming in support of U.S. foreign policy goals. Learn More
Expanding access to global education for underrepresented groups
This project aims to expand access to global education for these underrepresented groups by creating two new collaborative online learning (COIL) courses, which eliminate prohibitive travel requirements and costs, while expanding cross-cultural engagement opportunities to less-common overseas destinations – Belize and Azerbaijan. Once successfully implemented, the framework established by these COIL courses would be scalable and replicable across multiple disciplines.
Focusing on Azerbaijan, a country that is absent from traditional study abroad programs, and its long history of conflict with Armenia, the Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding COIL course will introduce students to peace and conflict studies. By engaging with students and faculty at a partner institution in Baku, the students will learn and practice conflict transformation skills and develop an understanding of the role of culture in conflict transformation and peacebuilding, while participating in a cross-cultural, educational exchange.
The Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding COIL course aligns with the Democracy and Human Rights Foreign Policy goal, in which a core objective is promoting “respect for human rights.” In Peace Studies, “peace” is defined not just as the absence of war, but also the presence of the conditions for a just and sustainable peace, including inviolable human rights. Conflict transformation by definition, considers the wider social, political, and cultural sources of conflict, including basic human needs and human rights.
Dr. Elmina Kazimzadeh from Baku, Azerbaijan
Professor Elmina Kazimzadeh’s Week at ACC
Dr. Khayree Williams, Dr. Elmina Kazimzadeh, and Dr. Shirin Khosropourthe at at Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation Campus Center (TRHT)
Guided Tour of the Art Galleries with Peter Bonfitto and Olivia Spiers.
Attending “Nothing to See Here, Folks”: The U.S.-China Relationship in 2023 at Neill-Cochran House Museum.
Visit the Agricultural Sciences program at ACC. Tour led by Department Chair Savannah Rugg.
Learning about ecological farming, quality of life, and farm profitability
Tuesday
- Meeting with International Programs’ Interim director, Sharon Miller
- Visit with Khayree and team at TRHT
- Guided Tour of the Art Galleries, Peter Bonfitto and Olivia Spiers
Wednesday
- Interdisciplinary Studies general meeting, with break-out sessions for each program
- Meeting with Grant Development office
- “Nothing to See Here, Folks”: The U.S.-China Relationship in 2023 at Neill-Cochran House Museum
Thursday
- Work session on joint sessions of the course where students will learn and practice conflict transformation skills and develop an understanding of the role of culture in conflict transformation and peacebuilding while participating in a cross-cultural educational exchange.
Friday
- Tour of Sustainable Agriculture program at the Elgin Campus with Department Chair Savannah Rugg
- Join Shirin in a meeting to prepare for a conflict transformation workshop.
- Finalize curriculum, outline, and lessons for joint sessions of our courses.