The Center supports all university departments in developing internationally focused courses and learning experiences for students. Support includes seed grants for course development, faculty workshops, and assistance in building short-term courses taught by Western faculty abroad.

History 417D - The History of U.S.-Latin American Relations

Quarter:Winter 2009
Days: TR 2-3:50
CRN:14114

Description: This course explores the political, economic, social and cultural repercussion of US-Latin American relations from the mid-19th century, when the U.S. began to replace Great Britain as the pre-eminent foreign power in Latin America, to the present. The class also considers the way in which varying internal conditions in Latin America have allowed very different responses to U.S. influence and intervention, and even created circumstances under which Latin Americans have had considerable influence over U.S. policy and culture.

History 390 - The History of Canadian-American Relations

Quarter:Spring 2009
Days: TR 10-12
CRN:22778

Description: Canada and the United States share the world’s largest trade and security relationship, the world’s longest undefended border, and a wealth of social and cultural relationships. This course will examine the conflicts and cooperation that have gone into the changing relationship between the United States and Canada, from hostility to accommodation to partnership to wariness, emphasizing significant political and diplomatic developments within an economic, social and cultural context.

Seed Grant winners:

Name of Applicant: Shannon Dubenion-Smith
Department: German Section, Modern & Classical Languages
Amount Awarded: $1500.00
Title of Project: Icons of a Border Installation: Integrating Multi-Media History Into German 306
Purpose of Project: In 2006, a traveling photo exhibition, Icons of a Border Installation, was conceived at the University of Paderborn in Germany in commemoration of the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 2009. This exhibition will be displayed at the Wilson Library from April 21 to June 2, 2009, brought to Western with funds from the Goethe Institute of San Francisco. The German Section of the Department of Modern and Classical Languages proposes the revision of the existing German conversation course 306, which will be offered in spring 2009, to make its focus Berlin. In this way, the exhibition and a series of proposed events can be integrated into the course. These events include a pair of guest lectures by an American scholar of German history and an educator from the former East Germany. We are requesting the seed grant to fund their travel expenses.

Name of Applicant: Janet Xing
Department: Modern & Classical Languages
Amount Awarded: $1500.00
Title of Project: Modern Chinese Language and Society
Purpose of Project: With the continuous economic growth in China and its increasingly important role in the world platform, it is arguably the most important mission for colleges like Western situated in the Pacific Rim to equip our students with skills and knowledge about China, Chinese society and the languages of Chinese, so that they can face the challenges from China and the rest of the world after they graduate from Western. After observing a campus-wide need for a survey course of the languages in China and Chinese society, It was proposed that the Center for East Asian Studies add a new GUR course entitled Modern Chinese Language and Society (EAS230) in 2004. The course was enthusiastically supported by the Center for East Asian Studies and ACC and has been offered twice since it was approved by ACC and GUR. The Seed Grant for International Curriculum Development will be used to develop a comprehensive curriculum for the course.