2023 Highlights from the Global Center Director
By Eli Konwest
Dear friends, colleagues, and supporters,
2023 was another year of transitions for the Center for the Study of Global Change. We have moved into the new Ferguson International Center across the street from our previous location, the Global and International Studies Building. With the physical move, we have administratively moved back into IU Global, our home before the founding of the Hamilton Lugar School. This shift will enable us to make an even bigger impact across the IU system and state. We hired several new staff in 2023 as well, including Lisa Bidwell and Megan Straughn, the Global Center’s Administrative Assistant team. We also welcomed a new Postdoctoral Fellow in International Sustainable Development, Daniel Shephard, a recent graduate from Columbia University. You can read more about his background and projects here.
Long time collaborators from DEEP Arts Rochester, Deborah Haber and Casey Filliaci, visited IU in the Spring to connect with more IU faculty and students.
We are also proud of some accomplishments by our faculty collaborators. Vesna Dimitrieska, IU Global Education Initiatives Coordinator, was the recipient of the ACTFL Leo Benardo Award for Innovation in K-12 Language Education. Dr. Dimitrieska spearheads several joint initiatives with the IU International and Area Studies Resource Centers including Global Literacy Invitations, Principal’s Academy, Global Deliberations Collaborative, and more. She is also a passionate advocate for world language learning and dual language immersion across Indiana. In summer 2023, Elisheva Cohen rejoined the Global Center team part-time as she led some initiatives with IU Global, including work around the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and campus-wide efforts to advance global learning.
The Global Center supported the travel of Amadou Beidy Sow, Senior Lecturer in Bamana and African Studies to deliver and participate in workshops in Bamako, Mali and Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
We invite you to join our listserv or follow us on social media to learn more about our upcoming events and opportunities in 2024. Read on for more in depth discussion on our work in 2023 including the successful conclusion of our grant through Interfaith America as part of the Muslim Voices Public Scholarship project, our impressive fellowship and scholarship recipients, the continuation of the Global Workforce Initiative, and the Global-Community Engaged Learning Institute. Thank you for reading.
All the best to you from all of us!
