Marian University was recently awarded an IDEAS grant and has been selected to receive funding support from the U.S. Department of the State’s Increase and Diversify Education Abroad for U.S. Students (IDEAS) Program. Marian is one of 44 colleges and universities across the United States that will use the IDEAS grants to create, expand, and/or diversify American student mobility overseas in support of U.S. foreign policy goals. This U.S. Government program is funded by the U.S. Department of State and supported in its implementation by World Learning.
Marian University Professors Wendy Westphal, Ph.D., and Yuriko Ikeda, Ph.D., wrote the winning grant. “It was really important to receive this grant as studying abroad is a wonderful way to enhance a student’s appreciation of global communities,” Westphal, Ph.D., explained.
Since 2016, the IDEAS Program has awarded 145 grants to 139 institutions in 48 states and territories to create, expand, and diversify their U.S. study abroad programs in 71 countries across all world regions. In addition to the IDEAS grant competition, the program also offers opportunities for faculty, staff, and administrators at U.S. colleges and universities to participate in a series of free virtual and in-person study abroad capacity building activities.
“I’m pleased about this grant since it will allow more students the ability to have a unique academic experience in a new culture,” Ikeda, Ph.D., said.
For a full list of 2022 IDEAS grant recipients, as well as information on a free IDEAS webinar series on building study abroad resources for U.S. campuses, please visit the IDEAS Program website at www.studyabroadcapacitybuilding.org. Funded projects are supporting such activities as developing new international partnerships and programs, training faculty and staff, internationalizing curriculum, creating resources to engage diverse student groups in study abroad and creating virtual and hybrid exchanges. For more information about Marian University’s study abroad opportunities, click here.
For further information about other study abroad resources and other exchange programs offered by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, please contact ECA-Press@state.gov and visit https://studyabroad.state.gov/