International Center Faculty Grants Awarded

Seven faculty members have been awarded International Center Faculty Grants for the 2013-14 academic year.

Grant recipient Donna Menhart of The Hartt School (far left) is pictured with Kodály colleagues at the International Kodály Symposium in Hungary.

The International Center is pleased to announce the Faculty Grant Recipients for the 2013-14 academic year. This grant program provides support to faculty who are seeking ways to expand and strengthen international dimensions of their teaching, research, and engagement at the University of Hartford.

Each year, the Center awards grants to full-time faculty members who strive to do work that improves the international understanding of the campus community and includes efforts that have an impact on students' experiences in the classroom. Support is also given to develop a study abroad course or cultivate relationships with universities abroad through strategic bilateral agreements.

For more information about the International Center Faculty Grant Program, please contact Sarah Reuter at 860.768.5101 or reuter@hartford.edu, or visit the International Center website.

Following are the grant recipients for 2013-14.

– Donna Menhart (The Hartt School) to support travel to Hungary to present at the International Kodály Symposium in an effort to further her research on the Kodály method. This symposium will provide her with new methods and skills that she can incorporate into her curriculum and share with her music education community. Menhart provides cross-cultural experiences for students by emphasizing world music and dance in her courses.

– David Pines (College of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture) to support the development of the interdisciplinary engineering course ES 393, Pathways to Sustainability: A U.S. and European Perspective, with two of his CETA colleagues, Tom Filburn and Cy Yavuzturk. This unique course will enable three faculty to co-teach a course abroad that will facilitate student learning on the important global issue of evaluating the sustainability of alternative energy resources.

– Ladimer Nagurney (College of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture) to support the pilot student collaboration project with Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden for this upcoming semester through the procurement of technology for the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Nagurney will travel to Sweden in the spring to assess the project and further develop this collaborative relationship with the university in Sweden.

– Amanda Carlson (Hartford Art School) to support a program entitled Women, Art and Culture of West Africa, in which she will lead students to Nigeria and Ghana to work on a field study project that focuses on the roles and images of women in Calabar Carnival and on building leadership skills in the arts. The grant will also support her teaching and final research for her book manuscript, Gender, Art and Writing in Cross River State, Nigeria.

– Andy Hao (Barney School of Business) to support travel to China to meet with the University of Hartford’s international partner, IDP in Beijing, to work on outreach and recruitment efforts in China. Hao will also be working on the development of joint online case studies for students on our campus with students in China.

– Laurence Gould (College of Arts and Sciences) to support travel to The International Symmetry Association Festival in The Netherlands. Gould is deeply involved in the conference through chairing and organizing multiple symposia as well as giving a research presentation and a lecture. Gould will work in collaboration with both the Hartford Art School and The Hartt School on the development of faculty exchanges and a short-term study abroad program.

– Bharat Kolluri (Barney School of Business) to support his four-fold project to travel to India to conduct research on the interrelationships between stock and bond returns in India and collaborate with his co-author on several articles to be published. Kolluri also will teach MBA courses while in India. In addition, he will work with the International Admissions Office, as he has done in the past, to assist with recruiting efforts at the undergraduate and graduate levels in India.