Fulbright-Hays Group Project Abroad: “Nepal in the Contemporary World”

12 June – 13 July 2009

Sponsored by:
Asian Studies Center
Michigan State University
International Education Program Service
U.S. Department of Education

Application Deadline: 24 April, 2009

The MSU Asian Studies Center seeks fifteen teachers from elementary and secondary schools across Michigan’s diverse school districts for a study abroad experience in Nepal in June and July, 2009. The Fulbright-Hays Group Project Abroad is a four week study abroad experience for Michigan school teachers which focuses on world history, world geography, citizenship and democracy, social studies, humanities and other social studies programs.

Eligibility

• Michigan elementary or secondary school teachers of world history, world geography, citizenship and democracy, social studies, humanities and other social studies programs
• Administrators at state departments of education, higher education institutions or school districts who are responsible for planning, conducting, or supervising programs at school systems at all levels
• Faculty members at higher education institutions engaged in curriculum for international education

Program Details

A group of approximately 17 educators will participate in the study program. It will include a homestay experience, visits to schools, and trips to important historical, cultural, and religious sites.

Costs to participants include:

• Attendance at a pre-departure session to be held at a central location in May and a post-program meeting in August.
• Visa fee ($40 for 1 month stay in Nepal)
• Modest gifts for host families and partner school teachers

For program brochure and registration forms, please choose from the menu items to the left.

Instructors

The seminar modules included summer 2009 program will be taught by host country scholars. Murari Suvedi, Asian Studies Center core faculty member and professor in the Department of Community, Agriculture, Recreation, and Resource Studies will oversee the program. A native of Nepal, Dr. Suvedi taught courses in agriculture extension and rural development at the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science in Nepal for eleven years. He also taught courses in Nepal as a Fulbright Senior Scholar.

Lynne Mark will serve as the bilingual curriculum specialist. Mr. Mark was a Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal from 1973 to 1976, and served as a liaison in Nepal for a former MSU program in the late 1970’s. He is conversational in Nepali and will help to bridge both the language and cultural gaps between the group project abroad educators and their Nepalese counterparts.

Participant Responsibilities

• Prior to departure participants will be required to read lesson materials for the in-country seminars as well as memorize phrases from Nepali language study materials.
• Program activities will include a series of special seminars and site visits, a stay with a host family in Pokhara, and team teaching with a fellow Nepalese educator in a local school.
• Participants will develop two (2) lesson plans to be included in a comprehensive study guide on Nepal, and will be expected to acquire educational materials to integrate international and cross-cultural studies into curricula in Michigan. Click here for examples of lesson plans developed during the 2002 Nepal program. (http://isp.msu.edu/nepal/)

For more information, contact:
Murari Suvedi , program director
E-mail: suvedi@msu.edu