President’s Award for Global Learning Launches Faculty Programs for 2025
The President’s Award for Global Learning is a prestigious experiential learning program that advances The University of Texas at Austin’s strategic mission to impact society and change the world. Three faculty teams at UT Austin, partnering with international universities and nonprofit organizations in India, Japan, Sweden and Denmark, have been selected to receive the 2024-2025 award.
The projects address timely and critical global issues, examining climate change through the lens of media arts, cultivating resilience in sustainable cities and measuring the impact of service-learning projects. Students who participate will engage in project-based teams with international partners and faculty mentors to research and propose solutions to these complex issues.
A signature initiative of UT Austin’s International Board of Advisors, the President’s Award was created with the objective of invigorating international engagement between the University and the world, combining interdisciplinary faculty collaboration and transnational institutional partnerships with cross-cultural work and research opportunities for students.
To be considered for selection, teams of 2-3 faculty members from different disciplines conceive research or service projects that address challenges in a specific area of the world. Each proposal involves collaboration with an international partner institution in its designated region and supports the participation of 15-18 UT Austin students.
After faculty proposals are accepted, students from various disciplines form teams and propose projects that operate within the established themes. Students whose projects are selected then enroll in courses taught by the faculty teams and international partners, also embarking on trips abroad to complete in-country work during the program.
Selected faculty receive $5,000 per program to support student projects and class activities, $10,000 to support a graduate assistant and a $14,000 honorarium for each faculty member. The award also includes fully funded travel for both faculty and students.
To date, UT Austin has invested more than $4.3 million into this ambitious and transformative program, supporting 187 undergraduate students and 60 faculty members in projects engaging 19 countries.
Students interested in the President’s Award for Global Learning can attend an information session and must submit an application in PDF format to presidentsaward@austin.utexas.edu by 5 p.m. on November 1, 2024.
Please join us in congratulating the faculty recipients of the 2024-2025 President’s Award for Global Learning on their winning proposals:
Japan
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.
Faculty team members:
Erin Reilly, MFA, Professor of Practice, Stan Richards School of Advertising and Public Relations, and Director, Texas Immersive Institute, Moody College of Communication
Kate Freer, BFA, Assistant Professor, Department of Theater and Dance, College of Fine Arts
International partner:
Keio University, Tokyo, Japan
Sweden/Denmark
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.
Faculty team members:
Michael Baker, MFA, Associate Professor of Practice, Department of Arts and Entertainment Technologies, College of Fine Arts
Jessie Contour, MFA, Associate Professor of Practice, Department of Arts and Entertainment Technologies, College of Fine Arts
Gray Garmon, MArch, Associate Professor of Practice, Department of Design, College of Fine Arts
International partner:
Malmö University, Malmö, Sweden
India
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.
Faculty team members:
Janet Ellzey, Ph.D., Professor, Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering, Cockrell School of Engineering
Farya Phillips, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor, Assistant Professor of Health Social Work, Steve Hicks School of Social Work
International partner:
Church’s Auxiliary for Social Action, Tamil Nadu, India
