The President’s Award for Global Learning is the inaugural program of the International Board of Advisors and is administered through the collaborative efforts of the President’s Office, the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost, and Texas Global.
2025-2026 Project Profiles
Decentralized Solutions for Global Water Scarcity and Security
This global learning opportunity addresses socio-technical dimensions of water scarcity through two decentralized water treatment technologies: community-scale desalination at Solar Water Farms and household-scale Moringa oleifera filters in Tanzania and Kenya. The program will establish a “living-learning lab” at the University of Dodoma in Tanzania for international water research and learning.
Global Challenges in Hearing Loss: An Australian Immersion Experience
This program, based at Macquarie University’s Australian Hearing Hub, offers students an immersive experience in hearing health through research, innovation, and service delivery. Students will visit leading institutions like Cochlear Ltd. and the Shepherd Centre, gaining exposure to cutting-edge auditory technology and pediatric interventions. The students will focus on hearing loss, its intersections with cognition, equity, and global health, and includes seminars, collaborative projects, and cultural experiences. The program fosters global awareness and culturally responsive solutions to the worldwide challenge of hearing loss.
2024-2025 Project Profiles
Cultivating Resilience: A Comparative Study of Urban Agriculture, Technology, and Resilience in Central Texas and Öresund Scandinavia
This program focuses on the role of public policy, urban design, agriculture and technology in creating resilient and sustainable cities. Students will examine how Austin, Texas; Malmö, Sweden; and Copenhagen, Denmark are enhancing their resilience plans to build a sustainable future. Students will use human-centered design to research, propose and prototype a variety of potential projects centered on urban agriculture, technology and resilience.
Haiku Horizons: Bridging Cultures through Creative Technology and Immersive Experience
This program will engage students in a partnership with Keio University, leveraging the traditional Japanese poetic form of haiku to design immersive educational experiences that highlight the impacts of climate change. Students will address the global challenge of climate change through the prism of the wabi-sabi philosophy, exploring the interconnectedness of nature, technology and human creativity. The goal is to create a bridge between cultures using global partnerships and interdisciplinary approaches to media arts that will promote lasting engagement on climate change.
Impact of Service-Learning Projects on Rural Communities in India
This program will develop best practices for service-learning projects by assessing the needs of partner communities and evaluating the long-term effects of interventions. Students will partner with Church’s Auxiliary for Social Action NGO in Tamil Nadu, India, to develop protocols for engaging with rural communities and assessing the impact of three previous projects completed by the Texas Global service-learning initiative, Projects with Underserved Communities (PUC). This program builds a unique collaboration between the President’s Award for Global Learning and PUC, an innovative project-based, service-learning collaboration formed between Texas Global, the Cockrell School of Engineering and the Steve Hicks School of Social Work.
Program Administration
Stephanie Cushey
Senior Administrative Program Coordinator
Laura Caloudas
Assistant Director of Experiential Learning, Education Abroad
Sonia Feigenbaum, Ph.D.
Senior Vice Provost for Global Engagement and Chief International Officer