[Peace-discuss] Dialing diversity for global hegemonic dollars

[David Green]

"Federal funding for programs that study specific areas of the world grew
out of the *Cold War era, when emphasis was placed on understanding other
societies, cultures and histories*, Davila said."


UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

*Diverse *programs coming together

10 global studies units will merge as Illinois Global Institute

By JULIE WURTH

jwurth at news-gazette.com

URBANA — From Southeast Asia to Africa, from Latin American to Russia, from
arms control to international security, few universities have built broader
expertise across *diverse *areas of the world than the University of
Illinois, says UI Professor Jerry Davila.

The Brazilian history specialist says the “tremendous” reach of the UI’s
global studies and area studies programs gives students almost unlimited
ability to ask questions about their world and develop the tools, including
specialized language training, to pursue them.

Now the university is launching the Illinois Global Institute, pulling
together those units under one academic roof in the College of Liberal Arts
and Sciences to support work that fosters understanding of cultures around
the world.

Launched in August, and headed by Davila, the UI’s newest institute will
pull together 10 different programs: the Center for African Studies; the
Center for East Asian and Pacific Studies; the Center for Latin

Please see INSTITUTE, A-8


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INSTITUTE

Continued from A-*1*

American and Caribbean Studies; the Lemann Institute for Brazilian Studies;
the Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies; the Russian, East
European and Eurasian Center; the Center for Global Studies; the European
Union Center; the Program in Arms Control and Domestic and International
Security; and the Women and Gender in Global Perspectives Program.

Bringing the units together will give them visibility, foster collaboration
across campus on international programs, provide more organizational
support and could lead to new fundraising opportunities, UI officials said.

“This is a really exciting step for the centers and for international
teaching and research on campus,” Davila said.

The centers and programs are home to academic programs themselves but also
support work across campus, raising more than $2.5 million in grants, gifts
and endowment income that funds faculty research, academic and cultural
experiences for students, outreach, scholarships and fellowships, according
to the UI. Four are Department of Education National Resource Centers.

They bring together faculty and students from different departments who
might have a shared interest in a particular region of the world or global
topic. A professor in East Asian Studies, for example, might work with a
researcher in a different field who has a connection to that region — say,
a crop scientist who collaborates with a colleague in China.

The centers also support students and professors who want to add an
international component to their work in agriculture, economics,
engineering or another field.

Many students have received funding to study a language over the summer,
such as Korean or Wolof, a West African language, to help prepare for their
doctoral research on those regions, Davila said.

The centers also bring speakers to campus, organize symposia and support
course development and teaching.

The idea is to provide an environment where people can develop expertise in
regions of the world that are “frequently under-studied on American
university campuses,” Davila said.

Scholars in almost every part of campus do work that has an international
dimension to it, Davila said. They may collaborate with researchers in
other countries, have a formal relationship with a lab or foundation
overseas, or supervise students who come from other parts of the world.

The UI is also known for fostering interdisciplinary collaborations between
scholars in different fields. Both approaches bring new perspectives to
their work, new ways of approaching problems and “a fresh set of eyes, and
our work is enriched by that,” Davila said.

The institute will help strengthen those connections and give the programs
more visibility, Davila said.

Federal funding for programs that study specific areas of the world grew
out of the Cold War era, when emphasis was placed on understanding other
societies, cultures and histories, Davila said.

That work “is as relevant today as it’s always been,” he said.

Interpreting things that happen around the world is “a really critical role
for a public university to play,” he said, and “I think we do it really
well.”

A 2018 task force recommended that the 10 units be brought together.

Feng Sheng Hu, dean of the College of LAS, said the new institute will help
promote cultural awareness and support the UI’s mission to “create and
educate global citizens.”
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