Avila Now

November 18, 2016

Avila University Receives Fulbright-Hays Grant for Group Projects Abroad Program

Fulbright Logo
Fulbright logo.

Avila University has received a generous grant from the U.S. Department of Education and the Fulbright-Hays Projects Abroad group study program. As the only university in Missouri or Kansas to be awarded this Fulbright grant during the 2016 fiscal year, Avila will recruit K-12 educators to participate in a summer study abroad program to Rwanda.

The Fulbright-Hays grant is designated for strengthening the capacity and performance of American education in world languages, cultural understanding, international studies and research. Avila’s grant will fund the program: From Genocide to Regeneration: An Exploration of Rwandan Social Justice Issues through the Lens of Education. The initiative seeks to build on Avila University’s growing areas of international and global studies curricular offerings.

From Genocide to Regeneration will promote the integration of African studies into the K-12 curriculum at all levels. The goal of the program is to increase the cultural competency of American educators and students and provide an in-depth study of the culture and history of Rwanda through the lens of education and social justice issues.

Avila will select a total of 13 educators to participate on the project, along with the project director and scholar escort. The three-phase project will include a four-week study tour of Rwanda featuring first-person engagement and cultural immersion opportunities and post-trip follow-up and dissemination activities, which will include a day-long Rwandan genocide and social justice issues seminar for K-12 educators in the greater Kansas City area.

“The world is becoming more interconnected than ever before and our programs and grants are helping students to acquire the skills, knowledge, and understanding they will need to compete on equal footing for 21st-century careers,” said U.S. Secretary of Education John B. King Jr. “Employers from a cross-section of education, business, and government are expecting our graduates to be able to communicate and collaborate with peers in a global context. The grants help to achieve exactly that, by providing teachers, students, and our communities with the opportunities and resources for ensuring our nation’s capacity for global competitiveness.”

Avila University will accept applications from interested K-12 educators through January 13, 2017.

For additional information, contact Dr. Karen Garber-Miller (Project Director) at Karen.garber-miller@avila.edu or (816) 501-3663.

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