Four Stanford Global Studies centers receive federal funding to support international research, education, and outreach

Encina Commons is home to the Stanford Global Studies Division.

The U.S. Department of Education has selected four Stanford Global Studies (SGS) centers as Title VI National Resource Centers (NRC), which collaborate on programs to broaden opportunities for instruction and research on critical global issues, strengthen access to training in foreign languages and area studies, and internationalize K-14 curricula.

The Center for East Asian Studies, the Center for Latin American Studies, and the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies were designated as NRCs in their respective world areas. In addition, for the first time, Stanford Global Studies earned a designation as an International NRC. Collectively, these centers will bring in more than $7 million over the course of the grant period.

“Universities across the country apply for these highly competitive awards every four years,” said Professor Jisha Menon, Fisher Family Director of Stanford Global Studies. “We are immensely proud of the faculty and staff in our area studies centers for this accomplishment, which underscores Stanford’s excellence in global studies and language instruction.”

Each center was required to demonstrate the quality and breadth of their course offerings and language programs, the strength of their library collections, and the university’s commitment to the subject area, explained John Groschwitz, associate director of the Center for East Asian Studies. Only 63% of the 155 proposals received funding, making this grant cycle highly selective.

“We are honored that Stanford Global Studies' good work was recognized with its designation as an International NRC,” said SGS Executive Director Katherine Kuhns. “This funding will allow us to engage in new and exciting partnerships with our colleagues in the School of Education and the School of Humanities and Sciences.”

The NRCs foster vibrant intellectual communities for students and faculty across the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and professional schools. The interdisciplinary, transregional scholarship that takes place in these centers is essential to tackling many contemporary challenges, including climate change, infectious disease, and migration. In a complex, interconnected world, the role of the NRCs has never been more critical.
Jisha Menon
Fisher Family Director, Stanford Global Studies

In their proposals, the centers outlined projects to expand language and area studies training and increase outreach to K-14 educators. Many of these projects involve close collaboration with other campus units, including the Center to Support Excellence in Teaching, the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education, the Center for Spatial and Textual Analysis, Stanford Libraries, and the Language Center

“Critically, this funding will enable us to continue offering a diverse range of outreach activities and expand opportunities for K-12 educators, community college faculty and students, and the public,” said Kristyn Hara, SGS academic and outreach manager. “We are especially excited to launch a new leadership program for administrators at community colleges and Minority Serving Institutions who are committed to building institutional capacity and advancing innovative programming in support of international education.”

The Center for Latin American Studies plans to use this grant to strengthen its work as a research center and establish new partnerships to support educators across the country in their teaching about Latin America, explained Elizabeth Sáenz-Ackermann, the center's associate director. "We are particularly excited about our new partnership with the Connie L. Lurie College of Education at San Jose State University, which will expand professional development opportunities for pre-service and in-service teachers."

With Title VI funds, several centers will also be able to provide millions of dollars in funding to students for Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships, which support the study of modern foreign languages. These fellowships are a key component of graduate support at Stanford, helping draw some of the strongest area studies students to campus.

“The grant will enable us to secure advanced level instruction of languages and new course offerings on countries and regions that dominate the current global news,” said Professor Amir Weiner, director of the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies. “This applies to languages that are in high demand yet have been less commonly taught, such as Ukrainian, Polish, and Kazakh. New team-taught, interdisciplinary courses such as From Plato to NATO: History, Politics, and Culture of the Eurasian World and Protest and Dissent in the Post-Soviet Union will expand our curriculum and aim at larger audiences than ever, from first-year students in the COLLEGE program to graduate students.”

In the Center for East Asian Studies, FLAS fellowships will support master’s students researching in diverse areas such as the semiconductor market, China’s foreign policy in South Asia, and U.S.-Korea relations, added Groschwitz. “We are excited and proud to be expanding access to global research and teaching to our studentsand students and educators throughout the state and across the nationas an NRC.”

In today’s global landscape, the NRCs play an increasingly important role, Menon emphasized. “The NRCs foster vibrant intellectual communities for students and faculty across the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and professional schools,” she shared. “The interdisciplinary, transregional scholarship that takes place in these centers is essential to tackling many contemporary challenges, including climate change, infectious disease, and migration. In a complex, interconnected world, the role of the NRCs has never been more critical.”