Yesterday Indiana University in Bloomington announced it was the recipient of a three-year $400,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education that will be used, in part, to create distance education courses in Russian and environmental science. IU will be working with Tyumen State University in Russia and Tyumen State Agricultural Academy. Tyumen is in western Siberia with 600,000 people.
The grant is through the Dept. of Ed’s Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education. According to IU, "the ultimate goal is for faculty and students from both countries to gain a deeper knowledge and fuller appreciation of Russian and U.S. environmental problems, an example of a global issue deeply rooted in political, cultural, economic, sociological and even linguistic contexts.”
The project will also provide the opportunity of study abroad and internships for students. One four-week distance learning course is called “Global Environmental Problems and Solutions” and will be offered to students at IU Bloomington, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, and the two institutions in Tyumen. Students will be able to study Russian and English and environmental science and policy. The courses will begin the summer of 2010. IU students will be able to earn a new 22-credit academic certificate in international environmental science through the School of Public Environmental Affairs.
As IU noted, it has a long history of offering courses in Russian language and culture through its Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures. Its Russian and East European Institute was established in 1958.
For more info see http://newsinfo.iu.edu/ .
