Announcements for January 25, 2010

Welcome back to spring semester; I hope it will be most productive for everyone. 

1. Haitian Disaster
   The Haitian earthquake disaster reminds us of how fortunate we are.  Our hearts go out to the people of that wounded country, and to our colleagues at Lynn University in Florida, with six members of their campus community still missing:  four students and two faculty members who were in Haiti on a study abroad program have not yet been found. 


2. Cobb Fellowships:  deadline 02/12/2010
   The deadline to submit applications for the Cobb Fellowships this year is very near.  Please get completed proposals to International Programs by close of business on Friday, February 12.  For more information about the Cobb program, along with the required proposal format, please visit this site:  www.niu.edu/international/resources/lillian_cobb.shtm
   
   
3. CIEE IFDS Scholarships
   This year NIU will have two $1500 scholarships available for two NIU faculty attending International Faculty Development Seminar programs from the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE) in 2010.  Here’s the website for IFDS programs:  http://www.ciee.org/ifds/  The deadline to apply for the programs is March 1, 2010.  If you’re interested in applying for one of the two NIU scholarships, please write to me as well by March 1, listing the top five reasons you should be awarded a scholarship for the IFDS and noting which program you are applying for.  Please put “CIEE Scholarship” in the subject line of your e-mail and copy Sara Clayton on the note, as well.  dpierce@niu.edu and sclayton@niu.edu.


4. Call for Applications: European Union-United States Atlantis Program
   Application Deadline: April 8, 2010
   The European Union-United States Atlantis Program is a grant competition conducted cooperatively by the U.S. Department of Education's Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) and the European Commission's Directorate General for Education and Culture (DG EAC). The purpose of this competition is to promote a student-centered, transatlantic dimension to higher education and training in a wide range of academic and professional disciplines. The Atlantis Program will fund collaborative efforts to develop programs of study leading to joint or dual undergraduate or graduate degrees. The program will also fund a small number of policy-oriented grants and one-team mobility grants.
   
   The program supports projects that develop organizational frameworks for transatlantic student mobility, including work placements and internships that will provide adequate language preparation and full academic credit. Also supported are innovative curricula; teaching materials, methods, and modules; research internships; and teaching assignments.
   
   For more information, please visit: http://www.ed.gov/programs/fipseec/index.html (for U.S. Institutions) or http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/extcoop/usa/2010/call_us_eu_2010.htm (for European Institutions)


5. Student Fulbright Competition Opens May 1, 2010
   Please be thinking of strong students, junior year or above, whom you might recommend for the Student Fulbright program.  We will be offering a workshop for interested students later this semester.  Student Fulbright provides funding for graduate study, research, or teaching abroad.  If you would be interested in having a Fulbright representative visit one of your classes to provide information, please let us know.  For more information please contact Pamela Rosenberg, prosenberg@niu.edu or Sara Clayton, sclayton@niu.edu. 


6. Summer 2010 Washington Internship program, National Council on US-Arab   Relations.   Deadline:  March 15, 2010
   The National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations' Washington, DC Summer Internship Program provides undergraduate and graduate students a professional, academic, and career opportunity internship in the Nation's Capital. The program combines professional work experiences with a parallel two-month series of seminars. By design, the primary focus of the academic component of the program centers on a sub-region of the Arab countries, the Middle East, and the Islamic world: Arabia and the Gulf. Deadline:  March 15, 2010
   When: June 1 - August 6, 2010
   With Whom: The program is administered by National Council professionals and staff, together with more than two dozen of America's foremost scholars and leading foreign affairs practitioners. The programs, activities, and functions represented by the organizations and corporations that provide the professional work experience component of the program are varied. Included are educational development and exchange, bimonthly and quarterly publications, humanitarian relief, public broadcasting, academic area studies, international transportation, foreign trade, and peace and justice advocacy. An additional feature of the program is site visits to public and private sector institutions such as Arab embassies, energy corporations, congressional committees, and executive branch agencies.
   
    For more Information:  http://www.ncusar.org/programs/10-NCUSAR-Summer-Intern-Program-Application.pdf


7. FELLOWSHIP - 2010-2011 US Embassy Policy Specialist Fellowship
   Deadline:  March 15, 2010
   IREX is pleased to announce the 2010-2011 competition for the US Embassy Policy Specialist (EPS) Program.  EPS provides fellowships to US scholars and professionals for up to eight weeks to serve US Embassies in Eurasia as policy specialists on a chosen topic and while pursuing their own research project independently.
   
    EPS Grant covers the cost of travel and in-country housing and provides a stipend for living expenses.  Eligible Embassies and Fields (for more detailed descriptions of research fields please see application instructions posted on the link below):
   
   Armenia (US Embassy, Yerevan)
   • Economics
   • Anti-Corruption/ Economics
   Azerbaijan (US Embassy, Baku)
   • Economic Development
   • Alternative/ Renewable Energy
   • History
   Georgia (US Embassy, Tbilisi)
   • Higher Education/Public Policy
   • Civic Engagement
   • Higher Education
   Kazakhstan (US Embassy, Astana)
   • Civil Society
   • Foreign Relations
   • Politics
    Kyrgyzstan (US Embassy, Bishkek)
   • Foreign Investment and Trade
   • Labor Migration
   • Kyrgyz Attitudes towards the US
   Moldova (US Embassy, Chisinau)
   • Democracy Building/Civil Society
   • Transnistria
   Russia
   • History of US-Russia Relations (US Consulate, St. Petersburg)
   • Environment (US Embassy, Moscow)
   Tajikistan (US Embassy, Dushanbe)
   • Politics
   • Energy Economics
   • History
   Turkmenistan (US Embassy, Ashgabat)
   • Agriculture
   • Alternative Energy
     
   
   The EPS application and instructions are available on the IREX website:
   http://www.irex.org/programs/us_scholars/uss_info.asp
   
   Completed applications are due no later than March 15, 2010
   
   Scholars and Professionals with advanced degrees (PhD, MA, MS, MFA, MBA, MPA, MLIS, MPH, JD, MD) and US citizenship or permanent residency are eligible to apply for the EPS Program. Questions may be addressed to the EPS Program Staff at eps@irex.org or by telephone at 202-628-8188.  EPS is funded by the United States Department of State Title VIII Program


8. 2010 Faculty Research Grant for Taiwan Studies
   The Cultural Division of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago is seeking proposals for up to three weeks of research in Taiwan on topics related to Taiwan.  For more information please contact Deb at 753-1989 or dpierce@niu.edu.


9. Cross-cultural experience
   In cooperation with International Programs, Human Resource Services is offering a cross-cultural structured experience on March 1, 2010, 2:00 - 3:30 p.m., in 506 Holmes Student Center.  "From Cards to Cultural Understanding" will allow participants to experience directly what those who live and work in cultures not their own feel and think on a daily basis.  For more information please call 753-6000 or 753-9526.


10. Center for Women's Intercultural Leadership
    Proposal deadline -- March 1, 2010.
    The Center for Women's Intercultural Leadership (CWIL) is hosting a conference September 30 - October 2, 2010, on Women as Intercultural Leaders:  Imagination, Innovation, Integrity, at Saint Mary's College in Notre Dame, Indiana.  This ineractive conference brings together theorists, scholars, professionals, educators, community activitis, pracitioners, and students.  CWIL welcomes proposals for panels, individual papers, interactive workshops, roundtables, and posters.  Visit CWIL's conference web site at www.saintmarys.edu/cwil-conference to dowload the Conference Proposal Forms.

January 25, 2010