Illinois College Proposal to The Henry Luce Foundation Luce Initiative on Asian Studies and the Environment (LIASE) Illinois College respectfully requests a $391,310 Implementation grant to advance our Asian Studies and the Environment Initiative. We pledge to match this investment of Foundation funding with College funding of $27,215. We plan to strengthen intellectual connections among faculty and students studying the environment, sustainability, and Japan. Our goal is twofold: 1) to infuse information about Japan across our STEM curriculum, so that every student is highly likely to encounter learning about Japan as part of their education, and 2) to Ritsumeikan University and Illinois College dignitaries pause for a photo at our March 2014 International strengthen Illinois College as a destination for Symposium on Science, Sustainability and Teaching. L‐R are Jun Nakajima, Director of the Ritsumeikan University students and faculty seeking to study and research Research Center for Sustainability Science; Motoki Kubo, Japan, the environment, and sustainability. We will Vice‐Dean of the College of Life Sciences at Ritsumeikan; Illinois College President Barbara Farley; and Illinois College continue to develop a program to create and Provost and Dean of the College, Elizabeth Tobin. support curricular connections between Japanese Studies and all faculty teaching about the environment. Our initiative is built upon two important foundations. Illinois College began a special relationship with Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan, 27 years ago. Our partnership with Ritsumeikan University and our more recent relationship with Kanazawa University gives us a head start in developing the personal relationships necessary for successful collaboration. As a result, our program will allow Illinois College students and faculty direct access to environmental scientists from Japan. Our partnership with the Henry Luce Foundation, through our Exploration grant, began an intense process of identifying a strong cohort of scientists and environmental scholars ready to begin the challenges of changing course units, learning about a different culture, and preparing students to think about the connections among the environment, sustainability issues, and Japanese culture. Our partnership with Ritsumeikan prepared us to make good use of the Exploration grant. Our experience with the Exploration grant began a process of change among our scientists and environmental scholars that the Implementation Grant can bring to fruition. We expect the Implementation Grant will integrate the study of Japan across the science curriculum at Illinois College, with long-lasting positive benefits. Our project will promote this interdisciplinarity through increased use by science faculty of global examples including Asia; symposia involving faculty from both institutions, other U.S. scholars, and Illinois college students; fostering research experiences for Illinois College students in Japan; and strong personal collaborations among our institutions’ scientists and environmental scholars. We expect to engage students from all science disciplines. 1 Narrative Proposal narrative A. Start date, proposed activities and work plan. Illinois College respectfully requests a $391,310 Implementation grant to support a four-year Initiative to expand our Asian Studies and the Environment Initiative. Illinois College began a special relationship with Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan, 27 years ago. Groups of Ritsumeikan students visit Illinois College for four weeks each February to learn about U.S. culture and the English language. Our exchange agreement allows other Ritsumeikan and Illinois College students to study full time at the other institution. Faculty regularly exchange visits and scholarly knowledge. What We Want to Accomplish. Illinois College and Ritsumeikan University are embarking on a program to further expand the in-depth collaboration in environmental studies and the sciences that was begun under our LIASE Exploration grant in 2012-2014. Until the LIASE Initiative began, most of our faculty collaborations and student exchanges had been based in the humanities and social sciences. There had been a small increase in the number of Japanese students from the sciences participating in the four- week Intercultural Exchange Program (IEP) held on our campus; however, the language and cultural immersion program had not provided an intentional opportunity for scientific dialogue. The LIASE program has provided incentives for students to think in new ways about Japan and our relationships with Japanese people and institutions. Under the Exploration grant, we created opportunities for students in the sciences to develop awareness of Japanese environmental issues by bringing science faculty from Ritsumeikan University to meet and present to students here, and by taking our students to Japan to tour environmental facilities, learn from Ritsumeikan faculty and work alongside Ritsumeikan students in labs. Students who participated in Exploration activities included Environmental Studies, Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, and Psychology majors. The LIASE Initiative has strengthened intellectual connections among faculty and students studying the environment, science, and Japan. It has broadened literacy among Illinois College science faculty about Japanese language and culture. Our Exploration Initiative has promoted interdisciplinarity through increased use by some science faculty of global examples including Asia, deliberate connections across courses in diverse disciplines, and fostering individual relationships among Illinois College and Ritsumeikan University scientists and students. The proposed Start Date for the project is April 1, 2015, although the first activity in our plan will take place in November 2014, fully supported by Illinois College funding. Activities. We propose over the next four years to add depth and breadth to our Asian Studies and the Environment Initiative in a comprehensive program involving 12 activities, as explained in the table on the following page. 1 Illinois College Initiative on Asian Studies and the Environment When Participants Activity November Illinois College 1) President Barbara Farley and Prof. Koepp will travel to Japan 2014 President Farley, in November to broaden Illinois College’s network of Prof. Bob Koepp relationships with key Ritsumeikan University administrators. Fall 2015 4 Illinois College 2) Illinois College environmental studies and science faculty faculty travel to Ritsumeikan for one week to establish and/or strengthen connections with scientists in Ritsumeikan University labs and scout locations for future Research Abroad internships. Summers: 10 Illinois College 3) Illinois College Curriculum Development Group seminars, 2015, 2017 faculty (5 each, in resulting in environmental studies and science faculty members 2 years) developing new courses or course components. 2015, 4 Illinois College 4) Travel for Illinois College environmental studies and science 2016, faculty (1 each, in faculty members to establish or strengthen relationships with 2017, 2018 4 years) colleagues at Ritsumeikan (two weeks per trip). Faculty & Administration Entire 4 or more Illinois 5) Japanese language training to deepen the knowledge and grant College faculty skills of Illinois College environmental studies and science period members faculty. Summer 2 Illinois College 6) “Views of Japan” BreakAway to introduce students to Japan 2016 faculty members, and its culture through a short‐term study‐tour. This tour will be 10 IC students led by Prof. Kevin Klein, who is a primary participant in LIASE. Spring: 15 faculty and 12 7) International Symposia on Science, Sustainability and 2016, 2018 students will Teaching, involving Illinois College and Ritsumeikan faculty and present students. We expect 60‐75 participants at each (2) symposium. Both Summers: 2‐4 faculty and up 8) Students in International Studies 462 course will conduct 2016, 2018 to 12 students Student‐Faculty Research on environmental issues in Japan during student‐faculty research trip led by IC faculty; three‐week trips in two years of the grant. 2015, 4 Ritsumeikan 9) Graduate Student Interns at Illinois College from Ritsumeikan 2016, University University, under the direction of four or more Illinois College 2017, 2018 graduate students faculty in science, environmental studies, and Japanese studies. Costs include stipends for Illinois College faculty who facilitate and supervise the internship. 2016, 6 Illinois College 10) Research Abroad Program ‐ Illinois College students conduct 2017, 2018 students individual research internships in labs at Ritsumeikan, under the (probably 2/year) joint direction of Illinois College and Ritsumeikan faculty. 2016, 2017 3 Illinois College 11) Illinois College student internships in Japan including or 2018 students, working language‐intensive learning periods. Arranged through Illinois Students under the College’s affiliation as a Cooperative Institution of the Japan direction of Center for Michigan Universities, this is a shorter research faculty in Japan experience than the Research Abroad Program. Entire Faculty will review 12) Stipends for Japanese‐fluent Illinois College faculty who grant 5 or more papers collaborate (outside their area of discipline) with science faculty period researched in to review papers for which students conduct research in Japanese, yearly. Japanese. The beneficiaries are the students who conduct their research