Grant Abstract
Strengthening International Studies and Foreign Languages at Illinois Community Colleges Through Partnerships: A Consortium Between Joliet Junior College and College of Lake County
Joliet Junior College (JJC) and the College of Lake County (CLC) have for more than two decades continuously sought new and innovative ways to internationalize their general education curricula and to improve and expand their world language courses. Both have seen the problems that adversely affect enrollment in these courses at community colleges: lack of funds, lack of awareness, and lack of time, on the part of students who are often low income, first generation, and/or working adults. We propose a consortium project that will share our resources and collective as well as individual strengths to help overcome these enrollment issues, and create a new, cost-effective international education model that can be replicated by other community colleges nationwide. We will address four grant objectives:
- To further internationalize the general education curriculum with 39 new courses and modules with a focus on India, Japan and Jordan;
- To enhance foreign language offerings by (a) developing two semesters of Conversational Hindi, (b) developing one additional semester of Conversational Japanese and (c) enhancing existing Arabic and Japanese courses with cultural content;
- To develop 3-week study abroad immersion programs for students in India, Japan and Jordan;
- To develop a Certificate in International Studies (the first in Illinois)
To achieve the first two objectives, 30 faculty from JJC and CLC will work with scholars from the University of Chicago's Centers for South Asian Studies, for East Asian Studies and for Middle Eastern Studies to focus research and subsequent development of 39 new modules and courses with content on India (2010-2011), Japan (2011-2012), and Jordan (2012-2013). We will also draw on the expertise of relevant Illinois institutions such as the Indo-American Center of Chicago, the Japan America Society of Chicago and the Sister Cities Association of Chicago.
Language faculty from the University of Chicago, the University of Illinois-Chicago, and Northern Illinois University will assist in the development of Hindi and cultural enhancement of existing Arabic and Japanese courses. CLC and JJC will establish videoconferencing protocols for the language courses so that students at both institutions can enroll in these grant developed critical language courses.
With the new available grant support for student study abroad, we will develop 3 week study abroad immersion programs in India, Japan and Jordan. These programs will offer students a country-specific language course, a 'Culture and Society' course which will include a service learning component, and one additional general education course open to native students at the host international institution.
The proposed internationalization of courses with focus on countries not currently represented well in our curricula brings both JJC and CLC to a total world representation in the curricula to develop an authentic, practical Certificate in International Studies that will build on existing degree programs such as Business, Horticulture and Culinary Arts -- an option that will enhance employability for community college students in our global market.
CLC and JJC will more than match the requested federal funding with both institutional and matching dollars to achieve all the project objectives. We are jointly committed to institutionalizing all activities funded through this grant. All efforts will build on our existing successful accomplishments, including previous Title VI-A grants at both colleges. The project will help ensure continued internationalization not only at CLC and JJC but at all Illinois community colleges which adopt our model: short-term study abroad, internationalized modules and language courses shared through distance learning, and a practical Certificate in International Studies.
Courses Developed with India Focus (2010-2011)
Year of India Activities (2010-2011)
Year of Japan Activities (2011-2012)