Category: Featured News
Four UNC-Chapel Hill Faculty Members Receive Fulbright Scholar Award
June 19, 2023Four UNC-Chapel Hill faculty members have received Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program awards for the 2023-2024 academic year from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Patrick Davison, Anthony Hackney, Carissa Hessick and Pamela Lothspeich are among more than 800 U.S. citizens who will teach or conduct research abroad in this cycle. Fulbright scholars engage in cutting-edge research and expand their professional networks, often initiating research collaborations abroad and laying the groundwork for partnerships between institutions. “The Fulbright Scholars Program provides an invaluable opportunity for UNC faculty to expand their horizons and to present their scholarship on … Read more
US Department of State Awards UNC-Chapel Hill Grant to Build Study Abroad Capacity
June 19, 2023UNC-Chapel Hill has been awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of State’s Increase and Diversify Education Abroad for U.S. Students (IDEAS) Program to develop and expand international education. The 34 U.S. colleges and universities that received grants this year will develop new international partnerships, train faculty and staff, internationalize curriculum, engage diverse students in study abroad, broaden the destinations where U.S. students study, and create virtual and hybrid exchanges. With the IDEAS funding, UNC-Chapel Hill and Durham Technical Community College will implement a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) course in partnership with Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) in Morocco … Read more
Center for Slavic, Eastern European & Eurasian Studies Receives $600,000 with National Resource Center Designation from US Department of Education
June 19, 2023The Center for Slavic, Eastern European & Eurasian Studies (CSEEES) at UNC-Chapel Hill has been designated as a National Resource Center (NRC) for language and area studies by the U.S. Department of Education’s International and Foreign Language Education office. With this designation, all six of UNC-Chapel Hill’s area studies centers are NRCs, more than any other university in the U.S. Southeast. The Center will receive $642,000 in funding over the next three years to support language and area studies coursework, programming and events, and outreach across North Carolina and institutions beyond the state, including minority-serving institutions (MSIs) and community colleges. … Read more
A Record-Breaking Nine UNC-Chapel Hill Students Win Boren Awards
June 8, 2023Nine Tar Heels have received scholarships and fellowships from the federal Boren Awards, breaking UNC-Chapel Hill’s previous record of five finalists in 2003. Carolina is now positioned as a 2023 top-performing institution for combined total Boren Awards and for Boren Scholarships. Boren Awards provide U.S. undergraduates scholarships of up to $25,000 and graduate students fellowships of up to $30,000 to study less commonly taught languages in areas of the world that are deemed critical to U.S. interests. As part of their awards, Boren recipients agree to work in qualifying national security positions in the U.S. federal government. “The high number … Read more
21 Students Win Gilman International Scholarship, New UNC-Chapel Hill Record
May 31, 2023Twenty-one UNC-Chapel Hill students received the U.S. Department of State’s Gilman International Scholarship for study abroad this summer and fall. The number of awardees is a new record for Carolina, three times higher than the usual count of recipients in an award cycle compared to pre-pandemic numbers. The Gilman program enables students with financial need to study or intern abroad, gaining skills the State Department deems critical to national security and economic competitiveness. The Carolina recipients will study abroad in 16 countries, and more than half will study languages including Arabic, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian and Spanish. Collectively, the … Read more
‘Beethoven in Beijing’ Screening, Discussion Touches on 50 Years of Cultural Diplomacy through Classical Music
May 11, 2023For the final event in Carolina’s second annual Diplomacy Week, the Office of the Vice Provost for Global Affairs partnered with Carolina Performing Arts to screen the documentary film “Beethoven in Beijing” followed by a Q&A with the film’s producer and co-director. The 2020 film shows the role that cultural diplomacy played in breaking through decades of U.S.-China isolation. After President Richard Nixon’s historic visit to China in 1972, he secured an invitation for the Philadelphia Orchestra to visit its capital, Peking (now called Beijing). “The Philadelphia Orchestra’s 1973 tour was a tentative gesture of cultural diplomacy that resonates yet … Read more
UNC’s Chief Global Officer Joins World Leaders to Mark 25 years of Peace in Northern Ireland
May 10, 2023Barbara Stephenson, UNC-Chapel Hill’s vice provost for global affairs and chief global officer, joined current and former world leaders in Belfast, Northern Ireland April 17-19 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. A former U.S. ambassador, Stephenson served as U.S. consul general in Belfast from 2001-2004. The Good Friday Agreement, signed April 10, 1998, ended decades of political violence known as the Troubles in Northern Ireland and opened the way to peace and new economic development. “The peace process in Northern Ireland is widely seen today as a triumph of modern diplomacy,” said Barbara Stephenson. “The 25th … Read more
Students Explore Global Problem Solving in Second-Annual Diplomacy Week
May 9, 2023During UNC-Chapel Hill’s second-annual Diplomacy Week April 17-21, students learned about cultural diplomacy, including its role in U.S.-China relations, and the role of diplomacy in solving global challenges such as climate change. They also explored careers in international affairs and showcased their global problem-solving skills. Rachel Hatfield ’25, a political science major, was selected as the winner of this year’s Policy Brief Competition. Part of Diplomacy Week, the competition challenges Carolina students to prepare visually appealing, concise policy briefs that recommend solutions to pressing global issues. Hatfield’s brief, titled “Addressing Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in the Russian Invasion of Ukraine,” … Read more
Chancellor Presents 2023 Faculty Awards for Global Excellence
May 8, 2023Three UNC-Chapel Hill faculty members received the 2023 Faculty Awards for Global Excellence in a ceremony at the FedEx Global Education Center on May 2. The annual awards, administered by the Office of the Vice Provost for Global Affairs (OVPGA), recognize faculty contributions to advancing the University’s global vision articulated in Carolina Next: Innovations for Public Good. Gina Chowa, Robert Jenkins and Tori Smith Ekstrand were selected from nearly 40 nominees. “The three faculty we honor today embody relationship-building, a commitment to a global mindset and a dedication to teaching the next generation of global leaders,” said Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz, … Read more
Rana Foroohar Argues for a Post-Global Economy
April 11, 2023It’s time to start making decisions that create a form of capitalism that benefits everyone. That’s according to Rana Foroohar, Financial Times columnist and CNN analyst, who called for economic localization during a keynote held March 9 as part of the Global Research Institute conference on the future of global capitalism. Foroohar’s talk covered the themes of her latest book, “Homecoming: The Path to Prosperity in a Post Global World,” where she counters the theory put forth by Thomas Friedman that the world is flat. Friedman’s theory, which asserts that money, goods and people can move seamlessly around the world … Read more