Spotlight: Education Abroad Updates & Global Independent Study Grant Cancellation |
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Last week, the University of Michigan announced that winter 2021 study abroad programs have been canceled. Given this announcement, budget challenges due to COVID, and the fact that most countries remain on the UM travel restriction list, the Office of Global Activities was not allocated funding for Global Independent Study (GIS) Grant and thus the GIS grant is canceled for the 2020-21 academic year.
Although the Global Independent Study (GIS) Grant has been canceled, a decision regarding international travel during the spring/summer term has not yet been made. Please note that a Global Independent Study course is different than the GIS grant. Thus, if sp/su 2021 travel is allowed, it may still be possible to complete a Global Independent Study course while seeking funding external from the Office of Global Activities (e.g. UM International Institute, etc.).
At this time, we anticipate that the U-M International Travel Oversight Committee will make a final determination about sp/su 2021 travel by late January. We will be back in touch with updates regarding global travel in early February.
If you have any questions about what this means please email ssw.oga@umich.edu
Katie Lopez
Kaisha Brezina
Office of Global Activities
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Date: Sept 15 - Oct 15
Brief Description: Latinx Heritage Month is celebrated nationally from September 15th - October 15th. Currently the Office of Multi-Ethnic student affairs (MESA) helps support the Latinx Heritage Month efforts at the University of Michigan. Events will be held throughout the month to celebrate and uplift Latinx stories, heritage, identities and uplift community through various virtual events. This year, LatinX Heritage Month at U-M aims to highlight the Afro-Latinx identity and create awareness about Anti Blackness within the Latinx community.
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Brief Description: In hopes of creating a robust list of activities and events for the U-M community to participate in, we’re asking students, faculty, and staff who have participated in, or are currently participating in, any form of international education (study abroad, exchange student, volunteering/interning/working abroad) to submit a proposal for the following video ideas, but not limited to:
- Language lesson
- Dance lesson
- Cooking demonstration
- International book, movie, song list
- Walking tour of your city (using Google Maps or other photos/visual aids; for international community members only)
Videos should be short and simple ranging from 3-5 minutes long. If you require video editing assistance, please indicate on the form below. Please complete this google form by October 8, 2020 if you’re interested in making a video for IEW.
If you are a U-M department or member of a U-M student organization and would like to host a live virtual event during IEW, please see Section 2 of this google form to submit your event.
Last but not least, we will be curating a list of international music, books, and movies. If you’d like to add to our list, please use the google form above. Please see section 3 of the google form.
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Dates: Oct 1 - Oct 23 & Oct 12 - Dec 5
Brief Description: Ibrahim Mahama, internationally known Ghanaian artist and Director of the Savannah Center for the Arts in Tamale, Ghana will present his work in a large-scale public art installation. Mahama's work acknowledges the troubling histories of colonialism and slavery in the Western world, and the labor of Black and brown people behind global exchange. At the same time, the work and overall project speaks to building new worlds out of failed systems, futures out of disappointments, asking the question, "What can we do?"
“In-Between the World and Dreams” is a multivenue project led by the U-M Institute for the Humanities Gallery, with exhibitions of Mahama’s work at three locations:
- Oct. 1-23: U-M Museum of Art, 525 S. State St., Ann Arbor
- Oct. 1-23: Institute for the Humanities Gallery, 202 S. Thayer St., Ann Arbor (viewing from the gallery window only)
- Oct. 12-Dec. 5: Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, 315 E. Warren Ave., Detroit
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Date: Tuesday October 6 at 12 pm EDT
Brief Description: The Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program offers fully-funded summer language institutes for U.S. university students and is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The CLS Program offers intensive summer language institutes in thirteen critical foreign languages. To receive the webinar information email Katie Gass, the ONSF program assistant at kgass@umich.edu
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Date: Tuesday October 6 at 1 pm EDT
Brief Description: The International Institute Fellowships & Grants is presenting the first Foreign Language & Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship Info Session. FLAS is a great opportunity for students at all academic levels to apply for funding to study less commonly taught languages along with area/regional studies. This federal fellowship is through the US Department of Education and provides tuition support and a stipend for both Summer and Academic Year fellowships.
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Date: Wednesday October 7, 2020
Brief Description: Puentes is a cross-discipline Latinx graduate student program, which is a completely student-run program composed of Latinx graduate students whose mission is to create an equitable space that centers the intersectional identities of incoming graduate students. The Puentes welcome program will cover various aspects of graduate life—all through a Latinx student perspective. Students will also have the opportunity to build community with other graduate students across departments!
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Date: October 12, at 4:30 pm EDT
Brief Description: This joint effort between LACS and the Latina/o Studies Program brings together scholars whose work thinks about past and present efforts to topple physical monuments to historical figures across the Americas. As the United States recognizes "Hispanic Heritage Month," we push for thinking that cuts across borders. We highlight the hemisphere's interconnected histories of racism, colonialism, conquest and slavery that are at the center of both efforts to memorialize certain figures and stories, and efforts to upend these commemorative structures and the narratives they support.
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Date: Friday October 16, 3 - 4:15 pm EDT
Brief Description: The Intercultural Leadership Seminar (ILS) is designed for international and U.S. students who want to learn how to be more effective in a global environment. ILS includes brief lectures, discussion, experiential activities, and small group work. A certificate of completion will available to students who attend all three sessions, with the first session being in September.
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Date: Monday November 2, at 11:00 am EDT
Brief Description: The International Institute will be holding an informational webinar on the Master in International and Regional Studies (MIRS) program for prospective students. MIRS combines an interdisciplinary curriculum, deep regional/thematic expertise, rigorous methodological training, and international experiences to enable students to situate global issues and challenges in their cultural, historical, geographical, political, and socioeconomic contexts and to approach them in diverse ways. This session will discuss topics related to the program structure, funding and financial aid, specialization tracks, dual-degree opportunities, and admissions requirements for students interested in applying for the Fall 2021 term. RSVP required to atted: http://myumi.ch/v2jDR
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Date: November 13 & November 19
Brief Description: At our Taste of Culture events, the International Center celebrates the culture and traditions of various holidays around the world. On Friday, November 13 join for a Diwali celebration and on Thursday, November 19 join for a Thanksgiving celebration.
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Date: November 13 -14, 2020
Brief Description: The Generation Mental Health Campus Chapter at the University of Michigan is excited to announce the first annual conference, Global Mental Health: Today and Tomorrow. The conference will feature keynotes, panels and design thinking workshops led by experts in the field; mentoring sessions where students can access personalized advice for progressing in their careers; and a student project showcase providing students the opportunity to present about their community work and/or research to a global audience.
Early bird student tickets cost just $5 if students buy them before October 4.
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Brief Description: This is an intensive case management position working with the Preferred Communities program, which is a yearlong case management program for recently arrived refugees through Jewish Family Services of Washtenaw County. To learn more about this position and others offered through Jewish Family Services visit JFS' application site.
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The new COVID-19 Emergency Funding Application is now available. Students can apply for support to address unexpected COVID-19-related costs such as medical expenses, travel costs, or computing/technology expenses required to study remotely. A FAQ page about this funding can be found by clicking the link above, go to section, "Cost & Aid" and check the question, "Can I access CARES Act Emergency Funding?" to learn more.
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Please contact the SSW Office of Student Services (ssw.finaid@umich.edu) if you are in financial hardship due to COVID-19. OSS staff will assist you to find funding to support you.
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If you are facing financial hardship due to COVID-19 or any other unforeseen situation, the Dean of Students Office stands ready to assist you. Students must contact the Dean of Students Office by phone (734-764-7420) or email (deanofstudents@umich.edu).
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CEW+ is able to offer small emergency grants to current U-M Ann Arbor graduate students. These grants are for unexpected financial emergencies that threaten to derail degree progress including funding issues that are a result of COVID-19.
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Fall Term 2020 FAQs for New & Continuing Students |
The International Center has recently added these Fall 2020 FAQs to the International Center's COVID-19 Updates page. The webpage will be updated with new information as it becomes available. If you have other questions and concerns, please email the International Center at icenter@umich.edu.
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"This document was initially directed at ways for how to turn fieldwork that was initially planned as using face-to-face methods into a more ‘hands-off’ mode. However, people have added useful material about ‘born digital’ research (content already generated on the internet by online interactions), which provides an alternative source of social research materials if researchers decide to go down that path."
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This three session video workshop will focus on understanding anxiety, learning strategies to manage anxiety, and developing a plan to apply the strategies on a daily basis wherever you are during the Pandemic. |
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SSW has listed resources and information on this web page related to tuition costs, financial aid, employment, health insurance and general questions and support. |
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Can I get COVID-19 from food? What precautions should I take in grocery stores? Is food/grocery delivery safe? Find the answers to these and many other frequently asked questions about COVID-19 and food here. |
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Global Impact: News Story of the Week |
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*All news stories presented are likely to include bias. Please be aware of this as you read the article. If interested, we encourage you to read further about the topic at your own discretion. |
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Mayeni Jones and Naomi Scherbel-Ball
"Despite only having seven doctors for every 100,000 people, Senegal has been widely praised for its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. The BBC's Mayeni Jones and Naomi Scherbel-Ball look at how the country has managed to keep Covid-19 in check.
In April they clubbed together to release Daan Corona, meaning "Defeat coronavirus" in the local Wolof language.
There are also colourful murals on the walls of Senegal's oldest university calling on students to share the right coronavirus prevention techniques with their classmates, rather than sharing coronavirus..."
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Kevin Connolly
"It took nearly 500 days of political horse-trading for Belgium to welcome in a new coalition government, led by Alexander De Croo. And it's the second time in 10 years that Belgians have seen that happen.
The deal was done only by excluding the two main Flemish separatist movements N-VA and Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest) - the top two parties in the May 2019 election.
Their exclusion could increase pressure for the break-up of Belgium's Dutch-speaking north and French-speaking south. And yet the seeds of doubt were sown from the moment Belgium was born in 1830..."
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Email ssw.oga@umich.edu if you have any questions.
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