International Institute Wins $7 Million for Programs

The newly formed International Institute at the University of Wisconsin–Madison has been awarded grants that will bring almost $7 million to the campus over the next three years. The awards from the federal government and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation ensure that the institute will continue to have strong programs devoted to teaching about the world, its regions, and its languages through the year 2000.

Distribution of Federal Higher Education Act awards to UW–Madison international studies programs.

Seven of the awards are made under Title VI of the Higher Education Act in support of National Resource Centers and student fellowships. National Resource Center (NRC) status is awarded competitively based on the quality of the program’s content, faculty, academic programs, and outreach activities.

“These resources have wide-reaching benefits,” explains David Trubek, dean of International Studies. “When the Center for Southeast Asian Studies offers a summer outreach course on Southeast Asians in America, the community gains an understanding of the history and culture of almost a million refugees who have settled in this country since 1975. When the African Studies Program briefs a member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, our foreign policy-making process is enhanced. And when the NRC’s organize summer workshops for K-12 teachers, the education of countless school children throughout the state is enriched.”

An eighth Title VI grant was awarded to the European Studies Program and the School of Business for initiatives that integrate business, technology, and European studies. According to Gilles Bousquet, chair of the European Studies Program, the grant “represents an important opportunity to give UW–Madison students more academic and career options, and to enhance their opportunities to experience life and work culture overseas. If we help our students to understand the changes underway in Europe, we can better prepare them for life after graduation.”

In addition, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has announced a grant of $930,700 over three years to the Global Studies Program in support of its participation in the Consortium on International Peace and Cooperation (with Stanford University and the University of Minnesota). The consortium manages research and training programs on cutting edge topics related to international relations and global governance. “This grant will allow us to continue interdisciplinary graduate training on such urgent issues as sustainable development, reduction of ethnic and nationalist conflict, and the impact of globalization on labor,” says Gay Seidman, director of the Global Studies Program.

“We see these awards as an affirmation of the quality and strength of international programming at this institution,” says Chancellor David Ward. Six of seven (87.7 percent) UW–Madison applications for National Resource Center (NRC) status were funded. Nationally, only 67.7 percent of all applications received awards. This high rate of success for the UW–Madison reflects a shift in federal funding, according to Ward. “What we have seen over the past year or so is a focus of federal resources on demonstrated centers of excellence such as the UW–Madison.”

CONTACT: David M. Trubek, 608-262-9833