The first cohort of ICGC/MacArthur Scholars joined the program in fall 1989. Twenty-five years later, with a new cohort of fellows set to join us this fall, we have much to celebrate and exciting possibilities ahead.
We invite the ICGC community to attend the events we are organizing throughout the year to mark this anniversary year. A special event will be held on November 14-15, 2014. Please save these dates! Be sure to check our website for forthcoming details about the November events and other anniversary-related events throughout the academic year.
ICGC held its annual spring dinner on May 8, celebrating the accomplishments of our ICGC Scholar graduates, Master of Development Practice graduates, and faculty & visiting scholars. The night’s event marked the many achievements of our community members over a shared meal and world music provided by Salif Keita. The program included remarks by special guests Associate Vice President and Dean of International Programs, Meredith McQuaid; Incoming Co-Director & Professor Frances Vavrus; and highlights of the year at ICGC by Director Karen Brown. ICGC’s faculty advisory committee was also recognized for their commitment to the Center.
It is with great pleasure that we introduce Dr. Frances (Fran) Vavrus as ICGC's new incoming Co-Director this fall.
Frances Vavrus
Dr. Vavrus has been actively engaged with our Center for many years and brings a strong commitment to our mission demonstrated through her work with ICGC: she is an affiliated faculty member and has taught in our DSSC and MDP programs, serves as one of ICGC's Faculty Advisory Committee members, and co-convenes the ICGC research circle on children's lives and livelihoods in the global south. Dr. Vavrus brings a wealth of experience and expertise in international education and research that will benefit the ICGC community. She will work closely with Co-Director Karen Brown to advance the work of ICGC. More details on our website!
The Centre for Humanities Research (CHR) at the University of the Western Cape, in collaboration with the SARChI Chair in Social Change at the University of Fort Hare and the Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change (ICGC) at the University of Minnesota, is currently hosting the 2014 Winter School on the theme of Race for the Humanities, Cape Town, July 3-20, 2014 (retreat 7-11 July). Five ICGC scholars will participate in the workshop with faculty and graduate students from our partner institutions. University of Minnesota Mellon Research Chair Helena Pohlandt-McCormick, CHR Director Premesh Lalu, and Fort Hare SARChI Chair Gary Minkley organized this year’s events.
Fellowships
Our graduate fellowship program remains at the heart of our activities with the support from collaborating partners including the University of Minnesota’s Provost’s Office, Global Programs and Strategy Alliance, Office for Equity and Diversity, Graduate School, and six college partners. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Compton Foundation have provided funds supporting many of our graduate fellows.
This fall we welcome a cohort of 13 new ICGC Scholars from eleven departments and five colleges, and a new Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellow. Our new scholars bring a range of disciplinary perspectives and personal backgrounds, coming from the U.S., Zambia, Tanzania, Turkey, India, Thailand, Republic of Korea, Mozambique and Kenya.
UWC Partnership
Visiting Research Mellon Chair
Leslie Witz
ICGC is delighted to have Leslie Witz, Professor of History at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) serve as the University of the Western Cape Mellon Research Chair during the period 2014 - 2015. He joins University of Minnesota Research Chair Helena Pohlandt-McCormick who has been in residence at UWC during spring and summer of 2014 working to foster collaborative initiatives including the July 2014 Winter School. Professor Pohlandt-McCormick is also working closely with a number of UWC graduate fellows and participating in joint research and teaching plans.
Helena Pohlandt-McCormick
The Research Chair is a critical element of our ongoing collaboration in graduate education and research with the Centre for Humanities Research at the University of the Western Cape. Since 2006, the ICGC and the CHR have been involved in an ongoing research project on altering the relations of knowledge exchange between universities in the north and the south, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
The Mellon Research Chair is targeted toward deepening the existing collaboration. As Mellon Research Chair from UWC, Professor Witz will play a leadership role in fostering interdisciplinary intellectual exchange between the partners and spend one semester at the University of Minnesota and the other at UWC. During his semester at Minnesota, he will teach an interdisciplinary graduate seminar and offer a public lecture.
Through the partnership between ICGC and the Centre for Humanities Research (directed by Professor Premesh Lalu, an ICGC alumnus) at the University of the Western Cape, our collaborative graduate education and faculty research initiative offers faculty and student exchanges; graduate student fellowships; and joint research projects, workshops, conferences and courses. Current activities include an ongoing faculty and doctoral fellow exchange program with faculty and students from each institution spending time conducting research and engaging with students and faculty on the partner campus for periods of two to six months.
Tyrone August
Tyrone August, our spring 2014 visiting scholar, is a doctoral student at the University of the Western Cape's Department of English and a fellow at the university's Centre for Humanities Research. Tyrone previously worked as a journalist on several daily and weekly newspapers as well as various monthly magazines in Johannesburg and Cape Town including as editor of the Cape Town daily newspaper, the "Cape Times." His dissertation research is a re-evaluation of the poetry of the South African writer Dennis Brutus (1924-2008).
Geraldine Frieslaar
ICGC is also pleased to announce that our fall visiting scholar will be Geraldine Frieslaar. Geraldine is a practicing archivist at the UWC Robben Island Mayibuye Archives and doctoral fellow at the Centre for Humanities Research based at the University of the Western Cape (UWC), South Africa. Her Ph.D research explores the biography and the history of the archive by focusing on the making of the International Defense and Aid Fund (IDAF) as an archival collection.
Our Master of Development Practice students are working in teams this summer on projects in collaboration with local partners in Kenya, Jamaica, Ecuador, Vietnam, & Ghana. Faculty mentors work with each student team to support their learning experience.
Research Circles
ICGC, in partnership with the Office of the Vice President for Research, supports collaborative and interdisciplinary research circles involving ICGC faculty and students. Supported research projects relate to ICGC’s academic mission through a focus on global change; addressing issues of peace, conflict, security, social and environmental change, justice, human rights, development and international cooperation.
The research circles bring participants together for a period of sustained interaction (one to two years) around a theme of common interest and across disciplinary lines to explore innovative research agendas with a global, international, or transnational focus and to develop the bases for continued collaboration.
