Engaging Communities through Outreach
by Teresa Nichols
To foster global teaching and learning throughout Indiana and around the country, the Global Center supported several initiatives in 2020 for different audiences.
Outreach
The Bridges: Children, Languages, and World program gave young learners the opportunity to explore less commonly taught languages and world cultures, both in-person for those in the Bloomington area before March and then virtually for those around the state in the Fall.
As the Lotus Arts & Education Foundation found new creative ways to encourage children and community members to explore world music and cultures, the Global Center contributed to its world music festival outreach kits and its Lotus Lantern and Luminaria project, which celebrated lantern traditions from around the world during Bloomington’s long winter nights.
In partnership with IU’s University Club and with the Meadowood Retirement Community, the Global Center and IU’s Area Studies National Resource Centers facilitated the Great Decisions program for senior community members to discuss critical global issues.
The Global Center also collaborated with 12 other area studies centers and programs to support attendees at the Indiana Foreign Language Teachers Association annual conference to raise awareness of the multitude of world language and cultures offerings at IU.
Through the GALACTIC initiative, the Global Center and partners supported globally-infused college and career preparation workshops for traditionally underrepresented high school students in Indiana. In March, GALACTIC supported leaders from the Association for American Colleges and Universities and the Smithsonian Institution to lead “Jumpstarting Indigenous Global Studies” workshops for educators at Navajo Technical University (NTU) and Diné College. GALACTIC also supported NTU’s Professor Sharon Nelson’s attendance at the American Center of Oriental Research’s faculty seminar on ‘Sustainability at the Margins’ which took place in Amman, Jordan.
In October, the Global Center participated in the first international zoom speaker event for the Mongolian University of Science and Technology, when Dr. Teresa Nichols (IU) and Dr. Sara Bartlett Large (Lasell University) gave a presentation on research methods and writing to students and faculty. Due to different COVID-19 experiences and policies in Mongolia, it was a pleasure to talk with students during an in-person event and to participate in an international event.
