UAF SELECTED TO PARTICIPATE IN GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP PROJECT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 11, 2002

Fairbanks, Alaska – The University of Alaska Fairbanks is one of ten colleges and universities selected to participate in a project aimed at preparing college students for responsible global citizenship.

The "Liberal Education and Global Citizenship: the Arts of Democracy," is a curriculum and faculty development project designed to prepare future college graduates to become more informed, socially responsible and engaged citizens of the nation and the world. The project will assist participating institutions as they provide students with a sophisticated understanding of their increasingly interconnected but unequal world. Philosophy professor Norm Swazo will be the team leader for UAF.

"Our involvement will contribute to innovations in the undergraduate curriculum at UAF and increase faculty development opportunities," said Swazo. "This is an exciting opportunity for interdisciplinary collaboration and we are pleased to have beenselected."

Schools were chosen from a competitive pool of applicants who demonstrated a commitment to expanding the investigation of global knowledge, spurring greater civic engagement and social responsibility.

Caryn McTighe Musil, vice president for diversity, equity and global initiatives and the project director at Association of American colleges and Universities said, "At this moment in our nation’s history, the academy is committed to moving this agenda to the center of higher education reform efforts. The world is plagued by violence and injustice and a host of complex problems that need sophisticated, collective solutions. Higher education is clearly one of the places to address these problems by educating students in ways that promote active engagement and a sense of shared obligation to humanity as a whole, regardless of national boundaries."

The three-year project will support faculty teams as they work to develop curricula. Team members will participate in a four-day faculty institute, an online global seminar, and working forums at AAC&U regional and national meetings. UAF will also receive grant funds to support campus-based faculty development activities and will have access to an advisory board of national scholars. The project is sponsored by the Association of American Colleges and Universities and supported by the Fund for the Improvement of Post Secondary Education of the U.S. Department of Education.

The core team from UAF includes:
Norm Swazo, UAF Department of Philosophy
John Leipzig, Dean, UAF College of Liberal Arts
Mary Ehrlander, UAF Department of History
Karen Erickson, UAF Department of Political Science
Kanaqluk (George Charles), UAF Department of Alaska Native Studies
David Koester, UAF Department of Anthropology

Participating institutions (funded by FIPSE):
Albany State University - Albany, GA
Beloit College - Beloit, WI
CUNY-Brooklyn College - Brooklyn, NY
Heritage College - Toppenish, WA
John Carroll University - University Heights, OH
Pacific Lutheran University - Tacoma, WA
Rochester Institute of Technology - Rochester, NY
University of Delaware - Newark, DE
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee - Milwaukee, WI

Affiliated campus
American University of Paris Paris, France

FIPSE is providing a grant of $609,497 to support this project. This represents 62 percent of the total cost of the project with the remaining 38 percent funded by AAC&U. Updates and information about the project can be found at http://www.aacu-edu.org.

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Contact: Team leader Norm Swazo, UAF philosophy department at (907) 474-7343 or e-mail: ffnks@uaf.edu or Dean John Leipzig, UAF College of Liberal Arts at (907) 474-7231 or e-mail ffjsl@uaf.edu.

CJB//04-11-02/02-061